Literally Speaking: Rockin’ the Self-Publishing World

The positive feedback she gets in emails from readers and reviewers sustain her, however, and she has a new book coming out this coming fall. This one has a female protagonist named Millicent Marie. Her fans clamored for a book for girls, and the author happily obliged, although not without some struggle. As she wrote, “Nate’s voice was in my head. I was trying to write this new character and he kept popping in. I said ‘Go away!’ I was talking to this voice in my head; I felt like a crazy person. But I think we’re all crazy, all of us writers.”

Crazy enough to keep self-publishing? The author says yes. “From what I’m hearing from traditional authors who I’m friends with online, they still have to do a big chunk of their own marketing, so I don’t know that going the traditional route takes that away from you and I like having all the control. I’ve been approached by a couple of small publishers and I thought: ‘I’m already doing all the work and have already put out all the money.’ I like having the control and being able to play with my price and find out what works and doesn’t.”

“I’m happy I went the way I did. If someone has a book they believe in, this is a really great option. You just have to be prepared to put in the time it’s going to take to make things happen.”

There’s also the matter of liking what you do. “I feel really fortunate that I’ve found something I‘m so passionate about even if it took me 40 years to figure it out!”

The third and final “Nate Rocks" book is now being written. For more about Karen’s books see here.