Remember that book I wrote? It’s been published.
To be fair, I didn’t get a publisher (believe it or not, I am the publisher). I got a printer. And a seller. And they’re called Amazon.
Yes, yes, I know, Amazon’s the Big Evil™ of the World. There’s a lot of things about Amazon that aren’t ideal. But if you want presence as a writer … your options are limited. And unless you’re able to pull a Pearl Jam and avoid the 800 kilo gorilla of the industry (and I definitely do not fall into that category), your book will eventually end up on Amazon, anyway.
In my case, it’s because of Kindle Direct Publishing, which lets me upload a PDF file and a cover image, and BOOM I have a printed book in my hand. (And an ebook copy on my Kindle … which I don’t have, but if I did, it would have the book.) Printing costs are included in the cost of the book. Buy a book, my costs are covered immediately, and you get a physical copy.
That’s for both paperback and hard cover editions, too. They’re printed on-demand (in Alberta, possibly all of western Canada, they’re printed in Achern, just west of Edmonton). And they look and feel like any book you’ve bought on any shelf. (My only wish is that the hard cover version had a dust jacket. They don’t do that, unfortunately.)
But Geoff, what did you learn through this entire process? Boy, am I glad you asked that.
The first thing, which is probably the last thing I realized throughout all of this, is that you shouldn’t try to write and publish a book on your own. That’s not to say you can’t – writers certainly do – but you need the support of others to get a quality product. Technology only goes so far – spelling and grammar checks don’t catch everything. Editors and readers go a long way to catch the things you didn’t. Choo Choo, in particular, came down within minutes of giving her a proof copy and told me that I was missing an opening quotation and had used “of” instead of “or”.
To wit: get proof copies. Even after all those editors and readers? My proof copy has notes on about 1/3 of the pages, because what you see in print is something different than on a screen. And I don’t think this an age thing either – I genuinely believe that you see differently on paper than on a screen. (Someone please do a PhD dissertation on this?)
People really want physical books. I’ve had this from friends, from readers, even from my own children (I kid you not, they even had me sign their copies). Even if you’re writing an ebook, consider a print version.
Lastly, I can. Those two words might seem really simplistic and obvious to some. I lack(ed) confidence in my ability to write something. Not some blog post, but an actual story with defined characters on arcs, a plot (mildly important, that), and have someone actually enjoy it. I had Imposter’s Syndrome on 45 dialed to 11. I had a few people tell me I should publish this while still very much in draft, but my own self doubt held me back. At least 3/4 of the reason for publishing this book was to prove to myself that I could do it.
One thing I didn’t need to learn? Use an actual artist. I can use Gen AI all the live long day, and I wouldn’t have gotten a cover this good. My friend Teak pretty much nailed it on the first revision. Because that’s what artists bring to the equation – real skill and talent. And it helped that Teak read the story, understood what I was doing. The cover reflects the feeling. Real artists, real results.
If you take anything away from all of this, I hope it’s that you can do it. You just need to find the right people to help you along the way. And even something as daunting as a novel is doable.
The Banshee is available on paperback and as an ebook now, and in hardcover on October 22.
