Interview with Self-Published Author Jennifer Oneal Price

In our series of self-publishing interviews, we are talking today to a special education attorney in the Pittsburgh metro area who has received awards for her legal skills and advocacy.  As a former prosecutor, Attorney Jennifer Price is very familiar with the courts and believes in making sure every child has an opportunity to succeed both in school and in life.  Her boutique law firm provides services protecting and defending against abuses of the criminal justice system, as well as the educational systems.  With 10 years of experience, Attorney Price’s advocacy has resulted in successes, including getting criminal charges withdrawn, preventing children from getting expelled out of school and federal civil rights lawsuits. Aa a speaker, she has presented at seminars and workshops and has also made regular television appearances for her legal opinions. Her latest book is EmpowerEd: Using Real Case Examples to Look Deeper Into IEP Management.


You self-published your latest book, EmpowerEd: Using Real Case Examples to Look Deeper into IEP Management. Would you please tell us why you chose the self-publishing route? 

I chose to self-publish because timelines were important to me. When I did the research on the pros and cons of each, the one that stood out to me was having control over when your book was published. My book has some level of date sensitivity since I talk about cases from 2018, but just as importantly, I wanted to ensure it was published at the beginning of the school year. The beginning of
this book as a guide to help them really think through the issues and better analyze their situation in preparation for a meeting with the teachers.

the school year signifies a lot for parents, which includes noticing whether any changes to your child’s educational plan need to be made and meeting with the teachers to do so. It was for that reason, I wanted to have this book published at the beginning of the school year, so parents can use
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? 

I decided to self-publish.

What different online stores carry your book? 

Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Kobo

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? 

I have as a goal to get distribution to brick and mortar bookstores but I’ve done research on that as well. From what I’ve learned about the return rates for brick and mortar stores, I am looking to increase my sales through other avenues to get to a point where I can afford to take a hit on the return rate. I plan to accomplish that through independent bookstores and libraries.

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 used a professional cover designer named Laura Boyle. I love to read and know, from my personal experience, how book covers can make or break a purchase. I wanted to use someone who was not only a graphic artist but also understood the publishing world when it came to specifications for the different types of formats and distributors.
 
So where do you see self-published authors making the biggest mistakes overall? 

I see the biggest mistakes being in not having a professional editor familiar with their genre or content and not taking the cover design seriously. When I chose an editor, I made sure she, Lila Stromer, had a background in editing academic work. I knew my kind of editor would be a needle in a haystack but I was very fortunate to find one who was very familiar with editing nonfiction legal books. She had a wealth of experience in editing prior international law books for authors. She also helped me see things from a layperson’s point of view, without losing the essence of the book.

What do you believe the biggest advantages are when self-publishing? 

Having themcontrol. You can select who you want to to work with, as opposed to working with whomever the publishing company hires. You can decide when the book comes out, how the cover will look.

What was the hardest challenge for you to self-publish your book? 

The hardest part of self-publishing also comes in having all the control. Not only do you make all the
decisions but you need to know what those are. There was a very big learning curve in this process for me, including why an author would or would not buy their own ISBN or barcode.

They say self-publishers are control freaks. Do you think there is a lot of truth in that?

Yes, I think there is some truth to that.

Did you get someone to format your book for you or did you do that? 

I hired someone to format it. The same person who did my cover design also formatted the interior.

What steps are you taking to promote it? 

Book reviews, interviews with bloggers, podcast and radio interviews and press releases.

If you would like to find out more about Jennifer and her books, take a look at her website and follow her on Twitter.