My Adventure Into Self Publishing

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The start of a great adventure

A few years ago I was working with various youth groups, particularly groups for girls. A lot of my work involved one to one mentoring with pre-teens and teenagers, who particularly needed help with their confidence and other issues that affect all young people. A common theme we talked about was the effects of bullying.

I was bullied at school, and I’m very aware of the long term effects if help is not given to the person who is being bullied, and those who are bullying others. I started to think about how I could help reach out to those who were being bullied, and considered how we could begin conversations in homes and schools, to help those who needed it the most.

After a very daft conversation with my husband about pigeons (yes I know it sounds weird) I started to think about writing children’s novels, and how fantastic it would be to write a fun children’s story, but with an underlying theme about bullying. You may wonder how on earth you could possibly combine a fun story with a serious issue like bullying, but I set out with this as my aim.

The whole process from thinking about writing a book to publishing it, took a few years, as with something as important as this, it needed time.

Self publishing verses traditional publishing houses?

I did consider going through the normal publishing route; sending my manuscript to various children’s book publishers, but this wasn’t just a book to me. I wanted to create a discussion, build a website with helpful information, such as ‘where to go for help,’ and raise funds for an anti-bullying charity. Self publishing has many positives and negatives, but for this venture the self publishing route was ideal for me. My ultimate aim was to help those who need help, and raise funds for charity.

I began to research the best route to self publish; I have to say that it is a minefield and if you are considering this route I recommend fully researching all the options before you begin, as not all self publishing businesses want the best for the author, and it can be a great money making scheme for them, with little return for you.

Self publishing has become very popular over the last few years, as being published through a publishing house can be incredibly hard. There have been many success stories of authors who have chosen this route to begin with (and only later being picked up by a publishing house) for example –

• GP Taylor – Shadowmancer
• William P Young’s – The Shack
• Beatrix Potter

The process

After a lot of editing, reviewing etc…I needed to consider the design of the book cover.  I could have designed the cover myself, but with the book cover being vital in its presentation, as with selling houses you need ‘curb appeal,’ books needs to have ‘shelf appeal’, to grab the attention of customers.

After a lot of research I asked about illustration on a business forum and I was very fortunate to be contacted by an illustrator and graphic designer – Sarah Miskelly. I jumped at the chance to work with her, as her design skills are wonderful and suit the children’s market.

I had finally chosen to self publish my book through Lulu, yes it’s based in America but they also have printers in the UK. I had to follow the official guidelines in accordance with publishing rules, such as ISBN’s the layout of the book and making sure the cover adhered to regulations, such as where to place the ISBN. The word document was changed to a PDF and uploaded to my Lulu account. I paid for the ISBN’s and waited to hear if my book had been accepted.

There are many things you can pay for such as editing, PR and so on, which can add up to thousands of pounds. The initial outlay was just £350.00 – which was for my book cover and ISBN’s.

Next was the waiting …. Finally the day came in April 2009; I bought a bulk order of books to sell through my website and gradually my book became available in places such as Amazon and Waterstones and other online and high street book stores around the world.

PR

When the day came for the book to be published, I was very fortunate to have the support and encouragement from BT Tradespace who wrote a blog about my book, written by our very own Bian, and a piece was written about my work in BT Today paper. BT Tradespacers kindly tweeted and linked to my website. My local newspaper included a piece and several knitting magazines featured my story. We also have a Facebook and Twitter page. As we are working with Bullying UK to raise funds for them and raise awareness about Bullying, we are mentioned on their website and Percy is included in their fantastic poster making tool.

Extras

Alongside the book, I developed a gift pack which included a card, bookmark, key ring, badge and book bags. I made contact with a fabulous knitted toy designer Alan Dart, who very kindly designed a Percy the Pigeon knitting pattern to go with the story and also contacted a t-shirt printer – Tees Online through BT Tradespace, for some of the designs to be available as T-shirts for adults and children. We also have Percy the Pigeon Balloons available through our website, designed and made by the talented Julie from Balloon Baboon. My latest is a pre-made Percy the Pigeon made from felt, which is beautifully made by another BT Tradespacer – Kate Murray, which will be available to buy next week..

All of the items have a set amount donated to my chosen charity – Bullying UK.

How easy/hard did I find it to promote it?

To be honest this has been very hard, as I am not a natural PR girl. I also didn’t really have the funds to do all the things I would have liked, but I do get huge numbers of visitors to my website daily, from around the world and have had many emails from people sharing their story with me.

Even though the subject of bullying is discussed much more openly, it is still very much a taboo subject and there is a long, long way to go. If you mention that your book refers in anyway to bullying, many assume it will be a negative, depressing book, but ‘Matty-boy and the Secret Pigeon Racket’ is a children’s novel with a fun theme of super spies and adventure, but it also touches on this sensitive subject, encouraging those who are being bullied to tell someone. With all of these factors it can be hard to find appropriate people to help you publicise it.

Some say you should hand out your book for free to literally hundreds to get the ball rolling, but if you don’t have the funds this can be very difficult.

The other difficulty is the perception of self publishing. Yes there are some truly awful books that have been self published, but there have also been many dreadful books that have published through the traditional route. There is a lot of snobbery in the publishing world and even though self publishing is getting better and not always seen as the dregs at the bottom of the bucket, it still needs a lot of work. Getting people to see past the self publishing can be tricky and needs a lot of commitment and dedication.

If I did this again, what would I do differently?

As I have mentioned I have found PR very difficult. To be honest I won’t become a millionaire, but that wasn’t why I began this adventure. I have been very grateful to those who have helped spread our message – ‘If you are being bullied, please tell someone.’

I would have saved funds to put toward someone helping me get into magazines and newspapers as I have found this difficult.

My Percy the Pigeon Knitting Pattern has been a huge hit, but I have been very disappointed at the lack of donations for downloading the knitting pattern. Alan very kindly designed the kit for me for free if it was available for free, with an emphasis on a donation to be made to my chosen charity from each download. Unfortunately I have learnt the hard way that not everyone wants to donate. It may have been possible to have raised a lot more funds if people had made a donation of just a pound from each download.

Positive experience?

In all it has been great, I know that my website is being used daily around the world; I have had a lot of interest in America, which has been interesting. I have been contacted from many children and families who have said, how much they have enjoyed reading the book, and how it has helped them as a family to discuss this difficult subject.

Considering Self Publishing? Here are some tips and hints

• Choose a subject matter you love and / or is an area of your expertise, as it will be much easier to write your book.
• Edit and Edit again – I did this about 20 times!
• Ask people to read your work and be prepared to hear what they have to say.
• Employ a designer/illustrator to do your book cover. Don’t use premade covers that are sometimes available in self publishing.
• Do a lot of research; join forums etc…to choose where you will publish your book.
• Be aware of scams and check everything first before leaping in with both feet with excitement!
• Be prepared to put in a lot of work! Don’t expect to write it, publish it and then wait for everyone to rush and buy your work!
• PR – get as much help as you can.
• Build a website with sections of your book, reviews, and extras… ebooks are a great addition.
• Don’t get disheartened … yes it can be hard, but keep at it.
• Tell everyone about your book; add a Facebook page, Twitter, and comment on blogs that is in your field of interest.
• Keep going!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I wish you all the best!

Final note

Bullying UK may have to close the doors in September if they do not raise more funds for their work, they need about £50,000. It is heartbreaking to know that this is a real possibility that this charity many no longer be here. Yes there are other charities who work in anti-bullying, but the work that this charity does, is essential in providing as much help as we can to those who need it.

Please consider making a donation –

http://www.justgiving.com/areyoubeingbullied

I would really appreciate it.

Buy the book – Matty-boy & The Secret Pigeon Racket

Join our anti-bullying campaign

Anita

Click the book to join us

About Anita Hunt
Anita Hunt specialises in botanical photography, and is the creator of beautiful, luxury greeting cards and gifts, inspired by the beauty of nature. You can join her on Twitter @NitaJoyDesigns and facebook. She is also a children's author and anti-bullying campaigner Are You Being Bullied?
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