In my previous post, So Who Is Che Guevara’s Lovechild?, I explained that my New Year’s Resolution #1 is to do more to publicize the reviews I write of other authors’ work. With the end of January fast approaching, I thought it was about time I also explained my New Year’s Resolution #2. Which is all about publishing. Or self-publishing, to be more precise.
I entered the murky world of publishing rather late in the day. I was almost sixty when my first book, The Island of Whispers, was published in 2009. Since then, I’ve had another four books published by two publishers. Most of the five books have achieved a fair degree of success, The Bookie’s Runner, in particular, having made regular appearances on Amazon’s bestseller lists.
Last year, along with my cousin Phil Gisby, I co-wrote a little family biography called The Five Sons of Charlie Gisby, which I proceeded to self-publish using Amazon’s CreateSpace for the paperback edition and Kindle Direct Publishing for the Kindle version. The book proved to be immensely popular not only within the worldwide Gisby clan, but also among Kindle readers throughout the UK, and for many months could be found in the Top 100 Historical Biographies on Amazon.
Using the same free Amazon resources, I went on to publish another family biography, a couple of anthologies of stories from McStorytellers, the burgeoning Scots-connected short story website I founded in 2010, and several short story collections of my own. Under the by then well-established McStorytellers label, I also began to publish work on behalf of regular contributors to the site. Including those anthologies and my own collections, there are now more than a dozen McStorytellers publications.
Having learned the few technical ropes early on, I’ve found the whole self-publishing malarkey a very easy process. It is also tremendously satisfying. No queuing for months when you want something published. No frustrating communications with publishers; they’re all nice people, but their communication skills are piss-poor. Instant access to information about your books. And you’re in charge, in total control of the whole process.
Which brings me at last to my New Year’s Resolution #2. It is to extricate my books from the hands of those publishers and self-publish them under the McStorytellers label. I’ve achieved that already with two of the books. That first published novel of mine, The Island of Whispers, and my first collection of short stories, Ferry Tales, were both given a fresh look and re-published earlier this month. The rest will follow in a matter of weeks.
I entered the murky world of publishing rather late in the day. I was almost sixty when my first book, The Island of Whispers, was published in 2009. Since then, I’ve had another four books published by two publishers. Most of the five books have achieved a fair degree of success, The Bookie’s Runner, in particular, having made regular appearances on Amazon’s bestseller lists.
Last year, along with my cousin Phil Gisby, I co-wrote a little family biography called The Five Sons of Charlie Gisby, which I proceeded to self-publish using Amazon’s CreateSpace for the paperback edition and Kindle Direct Publishing for the Kindle version. The book proved to be immensely popular not only within the worldwide Gisby clan, but also among Kindle readers throughout the UK, and for many months could be found in the Top 100 Historical Biographies on Amazon.
Using the same free Amazon resources, I went on to publish another family biography, a couple of anthologies of stories from McStorytellers, the burgeoning Scots-connected short story website I founded in 2010, and several short story collections of my own. Under the by then well-established McStorytellers label, I also began to publish work on behalf of regular contributors to the site. Including those anthologies and my own collections, there are now more than a dozen McStorytellers publications.
Having learned the few technical ropes early on, I’ve found the whole self-publishing malarkey a very easy process. It is also tremendously satisfying. No queuing for months when you want something published. No frustrating communications with publishers; they’re all nice people, but their communication skills are piss-poor. Instant access to information about your books. And you’re in charge, in total control of the whole process.
Which brings me at last to my New Year’s Resolution #2. It is to extricate my books from the hands of those publishers and self-publish them under the McStorytellers label. I’ve achieved that already with two of the books. That first published novel of mine, The Island of Whispers, and my first collection of short stories, Ferry Tales, were both given a fresh look and re-published earlier this month. The rest will follow in a matter of weeks.
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So that’s one resolution I do intend to keep. Very soon now I’ll become a truly independent author and publisher. I’m looking forward to joining the growing ranks of those established and respected authors who have also had the courage to sever ties with their publishers and go completely “indie”. We’ll all be bravehearts together in the publishing revolution!
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