Using the power of self publishing

Michael Harling moved to Sussex from Upstate New York in 2002 to marry a woman he met hiking in Ireland six months earlier. He is the author of three humorous books about his introduction and transition into expat life. Finding Rachel Davenport is his first novel. Find out why he has such a great opinion on self publishing.

No one, least of all myself, will deny that the advances in self-publishing have been a boon to writers, but like nuclear fission, this sort of technology has its dark side. The old adage, “Everyone has a book in them,” has proven to be true, and now anyone with access to an Internet connection and the ability to string a few thousand words together can become a “published” author. And many of them have.

While there is nothing inherently wrong with this, it produces an astonishing amount of chaff for readers to sort through and makes it awkward for people like myself, who have sidestepped into self-publishing. My book, Finding Rachel Davenport, was “traditionally” published by Prospera Publishing, under their Opis imprint, but only as an ebook. Being a book lover (“book” meaning something you can add to your home library or use to prop up a wobbly coffee table) I self-published a paperback version via Amazon’s Createspace, which means I now have to suffer withering looks from people who have just finished reading Zartog From Planet Yult—the 60,000 word sci-fi space epic that was pounded out on a Sunday afternoon and uploaded during Strictly Come Dancing—and endure their sarcastically uttered, “Oh, so it’s SELF-published…I see.”

But self-publishing is not going back into its Pandora’s Box, nor should it. Self-publishing is fun and easy and seeing your name on the spine of a paperback—even one you made yourself—is a thrill. I encourage everyone to do it, but that doesn’t mean you have to put the results up for sale.

So what should self-publishing be used for? The clue is in the name: publishing things for yourself. This is how I plan to use it, and how I would encourage others to use it, but to tell you about that, I first have to tell you about my grandchildren.

I have two, and they are the cutest, brightest little boys that have ever graced our world. (There, I’ve done my grandfatherly duty, now let’s move on.) Because I live in the UK and they live in the US, sending them gifts is not as straightforward as it could be and, because both my wife and I are literary people and Britain has such a deep literary history, we decided sending them books was the best way forward. So these boys have books — Winne the Pooh, Paddington Bear, the novels of Michael Morpurgo—so many that two inevitabilities lie in the future. First, when these boys finally get to reading age (they are currently 2 and 6 months) they are going to look at the piles of books and think, “Bloomin’ Nora” (well, maybe not), and secondly, we are going to run out of books. So I am considering writing my own.

This, happily, brings us back to self-publishing. Think of how thrilled a child would be (or, at least, should be) to have a book about him or her, starring in their own adventures. This is not a new idea—after all, that’s how Winne the Pooh got his start — but recent technology has made producing a book so inexpensive and simple that there is no reason not to do it. Write up a story your child, grandchild, niece or neighbor’s kid might enjoy, put in some illustrations if you have the knack, or nick some clip art from the web if you don’t (this is my preferred method), and give them the gift of a book.

I think there is no greater treasure, and in this day and age, with Kindles, video games, smart phones and social networking—it is more important than ever. Self-publishing doesn’t have to be about grabbing for a fast-buck, it can be about passing the love of books on to the next generation.

There are many places to self-publish, but I highly recommend Lulu www.lulu.com for personal projects. They have a wider range of options, higher quality and, more importantly, a “This is for my own personal use” option, and I like that they don’t just assume you are going to slap it up on Amazon the moment you are finished.
And, who knows, your kids may like the books so much they share them around and they might become popular and, well, there’s really no limit to our dreams, is there? But, more importantly, you’ll be making my life easier.

— Michael Harling

About the book:
Rachel Davenport works as a travel agent by day and a Wonder Woman style superhero by night. Her comic book antics do not translate well into the real world, however, and after her first mission goes horribly awry, she finds herself hiding from the police, the media and the criminals, as well as dodging nosy neighbor and juggling two would-be suitors.
Finding Rachel Davenport is a fun read with a quirky plot and an explosive ending.

Michael’s books are available, in both ebook and paperback, on:
Amazon UK
Amazon US

And for Nook from B&N

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