Self-Publishing To Survive

With the second edition release of This Book Does Not Exist I’ve been getting some questions related to self-publishing, specifically, Why did you publish a book yourself?

Just under three years ago, I was emotionally distraught. I remember breaking down in tears on the bathroom floor one morning in October of 2009. In a last ditch effort for stability, I moved across country, from Los Angeles to Cleveland, driving 37 hours without sleeping. I had lost the love of my life. I had been writing a novel as therapy. When I got to Cleveland, I had to finish it. That was my only goal. About eight months later, at this at least, I was successful.

I knew “self-published” was a dirty word, code for “not good enough.” But I didn’t care what the literary elite thought. I needed to survive. If I didn’t get the book out of my system and into the world I knew I might not.

So I did.

Almost three years later, I’m still here. 

That counts for more than seeing TBDNE on display in Barnes & Noble.