Why I decided to self-publish

You only have to do a quick Google search online to discover that people regard authors who self-publish differently than their traditionally published peers. The overwhelming consensus appears to be that self-published books are ‘terrible’ and lack credibility. Yet, despite the odds, there are a select few who have done exceptionally well from their self-publishing ventures and become big names in their own right. 50 Shades of Grey and The Martian are books written by two such authors.

While the chances of becoming the next EL James or Andy Weir are slim, it’s not unheard of to hear of self-published authors who rake in a good living for themselves, despite the odds. Yet such success stories are few in the self-publishing world.

Why then would I choose to self-publish? The reasons are various, some echoing the sentiments of other self-published authors.

Greater control

The idea of having control over my work appealed, particularly given the subject of my non-fiction book, Prey. While I wrote Prey as a self-help book, it is still a very personal story and one that I felt I needed to introduce to the world myself. My healing journey as recounted in Prey was tied to the writing of my novel, The Diamond City, and I wanted both books to come out around the same time and to be promoted together.

It’s quite possible that a traditional publishing house may only have been interested in one book and not the other. Heck, they may not have been interested in either. Who knows? The fact is, I never approached a traditional publisher to find out.

It was always my intention to self-publish both books. While the story behind the writing of each connects them, both stand alone in their own right and would appeal to very different markets and audiences.

With self-publishing, I have total control throughout the development phase. I can choose an editor who I think would be the best fit for each book, and the same goes for a cover designer. If you go with a traditional publishing company, they are the ones behind the steering wheel, so to speak.  

Timing

The other appeal of self-publishing for me was timing, and timing is everything in the publishing industry. 

From what I understand, a lot of patience is required for those going the traditional route to publication as it could take many months or even years to see the ultimate fruits of your labours, and this is after you’ve completed your manuscript!

I also don’t enjoy committing to deadlines others set. I prefer to set my deadlines and work at my own pace.

This doesn’t mean tapping away at your keyboard and piecing paragraphs together into something that appears to make sense and hitting publish. Hell no! Definitely not, and I think this is why many self-published authors fail. They write something and think it works when in fact it doesn’t. It’s not ready by a long shot, but they’re too eager to bring their baby into the world when it’s still premature.

I have been honing my writing skills for years.

While writing has always been one of my strengths, writing a novel is something else and you only learn the craft of novel writing by doing it and that is by spending hours upon hours in the planning stages, then months upon months and most likely years perfecting your craft. You also need to read widely. There are no shortcuts, I’m afraid. It would be very rare for someone to whip up a novel in a matter of weeks or months and for it to become a best-seller. This has happened, but invariably the authors had written before, and it wasn’t their first attempt.

The initial idea for my novel formed in around 2002, after watching a documentary. In the months and years afterwards I drafted a screenplay which, to be honest, had many holes and wasn’t fully developed, but the bones of a good story were there. Several years later, I dusted off my spec script and drafted it into a fully-fledged novel. From the initial concept to the end product, 20 years have passed. Looking back, if I’d known it was going to take 20 years, I probably wouldn’t have even attempted it.

Yet my confidence grew and within that 20-year period I also wrote another spec-screenplay (another story I hope to publish as a novel one day), so by the time I met Luca and tackled Prey, I had been writing for a while. I didn’t just pick up my pen and start writing. Everything was very planned and considered at every stage of the writing process.

But now I’ve completed the writing, I feel my books are ready to be brought into the world. I don’t want to wait months or even years more to see them published via traditional means.

A challenge

After spending years stuck in a mundane job, I was up for a challenge, and self-publishing is most definitely that—an enormous challenge—but one I feel I’m up for and not insurmountable.

I believe in my writing ability and feel that the faith I have in my books will see me through. I believe both books showcase my writing skills and that I have delivered two quality books that provide value, whether that be through educating others about toxic people and relationships or by taking them on a wonderful adventure.

When facing any challenge, it’s always best to have a plan of attack. Successful publishing is almost always a collaborative effort and without enlisting the help of great cover designers and editors, it would be fair to say I wouldn’t get far.

Whilst I can’t avoid the hurdle of negative misconceptions from readers who shun self-published works, it’s my sincere hope that my hard work will pay off as the word spreads I can write and well.

It’s my belief that word-of-mouth is one of the best ways to publicise a book and, in time, more people will take a gamble on my books.

Whilst it’s no doubt true that most self-published books aren’t great, there are always exceptions.

Just because an author has taken it upon themselves to self-publish doesn’t mean their book is inferior. It could very well be a hidden gem, waiting to be discovered.

A good story well told

There’s no point entertaining the thought of self-publishing if you don’t have a story and the ability to tell it well.

While you can find ideas anywhere, coming across a story idea that others haven’t touched on before is almost impossible, but I wanted to write the most original story I could.

My initial plan had been to write crime fiction however, I felt I wasn’t the right person to write a crime novel, at least at the time.

It was one afternoon when I came across a documentary investigating white slavery and the raid of Baltimore, a small village off the south-west coast of Ireland, by Barbary pirates in the seventeenth century. As a former student of History the subject fascinated me. It was something I hadn’t heard of before and also something that resonated with me and didn’t let go.

At the time I watched the documentary, I had decided against novel writing, instead hoping to pursue the lucrative art of screenwriting. I wanted to write a screenplay and see my story up in lights. I’ve always been a dreamer!

While much has been written about subjects such as the Tudors and World War II, white slavery and seventeenth century terrorism was something that hadn’t been touched on and I thought the premise would make an excellent film. Whilst the spec screenplay was far from well-developed, it had promise. Even after failing to attract the attention of Hollywood agents with query letters (hello, who was I kidding?) some hope remained.

However, it wasn’t until several years later that I felt compelled to do something about it again. After penning the draft of my non-fiction book, Prey, my confidence in writing had been reignited, and I decided to revisit my screenplay. I came across articles suggesting that writers turn their screenplays into novels. The thought of writing a novel at that stage was daunting, but I thought, why not? What did I have to lose? I was stuck in a job I loathed, so I may as well give it a chance. I owed myself that much and my instincts told me this is what I had to do. Indeed, I needed to write this novel.

Six years after I began the novel, it is finally finished and I believe I have achieved what I set out to do and that is to write a good story. I hope people enjoy reading The Diamond City as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope it reignites people’s interest in history, especially areas that most have largely ignored, for through understanding history and learning from our mistakes in the past, we are in a better position to tackle problems we face in the present.