Interview with Self-Published Author Jean Hackensmith

In our series of self-publishing interviews, we are talking today to Jean Hackensmith, author of A Dream in the Wilderness, a historical romance. Jean has been writing since the age of twenty and is the mother of three and grandmother to four. She is married to Rick since 2018. Next to writing, her second passion is live theater. She founded a local community theater group in 1992 and has directed upwards of 40 shows, including three that she authored. She also appeared on stage portraying Anna in The King and I and Miss Hannigan in Annie. Visit her on X at https://x.com/Author911, Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/p/jean-hackensmith-61554012674412 and Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/32957713?ref=nav_mybooks.

You self-published your latest book, A Dream in the Wilderness. Would you please tell us why you chose the self-publishing route?

I've worked with two traditional publishers in the past, both small presses, and find it liberating to have total control over my book as I do through Amazon. I decide when the book will be published, not the publisher; I decide on the cover art, not the publisher; I decide how long or short the book can be, not the

publisher. And the list goes on. I highly recommend self-publishing for any new or established author.

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've been involved in self-publishing for quite some time now, so no, I didn't look any further. In fact, I have seven self-published books in print right now, one of them being my best seller to date, "The Promise," which has sold over 20,000 copies. I never looked for a traditional publisher, but just published "Dream" on my own.

What different online stores carry your book?

It is available exclusively through Amazon.

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 work with a graphic artist from South Africa named Ingrid Jones. (Gotta love modern technology that let's you work on a daily basis with someone on the other side of the world.) Ingrid is extremely talented, as one can see from my book covers. I first found her through a website called DesignCrowd and, after she completed a few covers for me, we decided to start working independent of of DesignCrowd. She has since created or recreated every one of my book covers, including some of my oldest books that were written thirty years ago. The new covers gave those books new life, also. Incidentally, I would highly recommend DesignCrowd for any authors just starting out. I originally paid Ingrid only $100 per cover, which obviously is extremely reasonable.

So where do you see self-published authors making the biggest mistakes overall?

Not getting their books professionally edited. I've read quite a number of other self-published books. Some of them are excellent, and some are atrocious. It's the latter who give self-published authors a bad name. I was a book editor in another life, so I'm able to edit my own works, though I still have three people read each book to check for typos. It's amazing what an author can just read over, because they are so close to the work. I've had a few reviews where people say one of my books was riddled with errors. I take great offense with that. I have a rigorous editing process, and the great majority of my readers say they find very few typos.

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

Getting recognition from the public. In short, getting people to read my work. It was tough in the beginning. Because of those few "horrible" books out there that I mentioned earlier, self-published authors have gained a reputation for being poor writers, which is not the case at all. I knew my books were good, but that didn't pay the bills. Honestly, I spent more money on advertising than I was taking in in the first few years just to try and reach potential readers. It paid off, though. I am finally in the black and making a decent living.

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

I format the books myself using Microsoft Word. Amazon is very specific about what they want and they walk you through the formatting process quite nicely.

What steps are you taking to promote it?

Facebook ads and a website. (www.jeanhackensmith.com). I read early on that Facebook/Instagram ads would bring the best bang for your buck. You can choose your monthly budget so as not to over extend yourself, and when you cap out that budget, the ad stops running. Also, creating the ads is incredibly easy.

Do you have any advice you’d like to share with other self-published authors?

Edit, edit, edit. I go through each of my manuscripts at least three times before I turn it over to my advance readers. And, in my experience anyway, a writer improves just a little with each successive book. I have 21 books in print now and like to think I've become pretty good at this writing thing. If you read my reviews on Amazon, for the most part, my readers agree.