You self-published your latest book, Where To?: How I Shed My Baggage and Learned to Live Free. Would you please tell us why you chose the self-publishing route?
I decided to go the self-publishing route after a contract with a traditional publisher fell through.
Take us through the process. You had an idea for your book, you wrote it, then you decided to find a publisher. What were your experiences with that? Or did you decide to self-publish without looking any farther?
Once I had finished writing and editing the book, I started to think of my options for publishing. I decided to pitch my book to smaller traditional publishers that didn’t require a literary agent.
I enjoyed going through the thought process to create the pitch materials and found it helped me really hone in on my audience and the selling points of the book. I sent out about a dozen pitch submissions to editors and was thrilled when one of the publishers that I was really interested in emailed me back saying they were interested in my book and wanted to review the full manuscript.
I sent it over and then waited for what felt like an eternity. I was at my gate in the Guatemala City airport about to board my flight when I got the email back from the publisher that every author dreams of:
“I am interested in publishing this book. After reading the first few chapters, I can tell you are a skilled writer who can communicate concepts easily in a style that keeps the reader’s attention. If the rights are still available, I’d like to present you with a publishing proposal.”
Every person at the gate stared at me when I whooped and jumped up and down. Of course I said yes. And then I waited again for the proposal. Ultimately, the proposal didn’t come. After more consideration, the publisher decided that the genre of my book was not in line with the genres that his firm published and withdrew his offer.
I was disappointed, but overall, I’d say that my experience pitching my book to traditional publishers was positive – and reaffirming given the fact that my book made it to the point of a proposal through a traditional publisher.
That feedback was what made me decide to self-publish. I knew the book itself was solid and that it would appeal to readers.
What different online stores carry your book?
Currently my book is available through Amazon.com.
Authors who go the traditional route have an edge over self-published authors in regards to distribution to bookstores. How did you handle that as a self-published author?
With my first book (using the hybrid publisher), I did get distribution to several bookstores. As thrilling as it was to walk into a bookstore and see my book there, and as much as I loved doing my book tour, the truth is that the bulk of my sales came through Amazon and Audible.
For Where To?, I have made the book available to bookstores and libraries through Amazon’s Expanded Distribution program, and have already seen some orders through the program.
On the other hand, self-published authors have the edge over traditional books in the regards that the author has all the control. I’d like to begin with your cover. Did you make it or did you have someone else design it? If you had someone else, can you tell us who it is?
I made the cover for Where To? It was a lot of fun. I made three versions and gave my Facebook and Twitter followers the opportunity to vote on which one they liked the best. A month or two later when I revealed the final cover, I had a number of people comment that “their” cover had won. It was a great way to get people engaged.
What do you believe the biggest advantages are when self-publishing?
For me it was all about being able to get my book out when I wanted to. For my first book, it took almost a year for it to be published. Once I decided to self-publish Where To? I was able to publish it in about a month.
There are definitely other benefits as well: as a self-published author you have the final say in everything – the cover design, the layout, which testimonials are featured on your book, which categories you feel the book fits in, pricing…everything. I know for some people all of those decisions may seem overwhelming, but for me, it was invigorating.
Plus, the royalties are greater with self-publishing!
Did you get someone to format your book for you or did you do that?
I did my own formatting. Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (which is also for paperback books as well) makes it really easy.
What steps are you taking to promote it?
I’m doing a number of different things to promote the book. I have it listed on my website, my Facebook author and Facebook company sites, Twitter and LinkedIn. It’s highlighted in my monthly newsletter to my customer base. I include information about the book on websites where I am a regular contributor. I’m doing a 3-month campaign where I pull out quotes from the book and post on social media. I’m also doing a virtual blog tour and am in the planning stages of doing some Facebook live events that will be similar to a book tour, but online. I’ve been on a couple podcasts and promote it on my own podcast as well. I’m in the process of submitting the book to various book award competitions, and I’ve run ads on Facebook and Amazon to promote the book.
The one area that I do need to spend more time on is getting more reviews of the book on Amazon.
Do you have any advice you’d like to share with other self-published authors?
Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do this! Everyone has a story to tell – whether it is one about their life or one that they’ve created in their mind – and when you share your story, you can connect with, teach, guide or entertain others. And that is a beautiful thing!
If you would like to find out more about Jennifer B. Monahan and
her books, take a look at her website
and follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
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