To Self-Publish or Not to Self-Publish?

I’ve decided to self-publish my romance novel Loved and Lost.  If you’re considering whether to go this route, here are the things I took into consideration. I hope my process can make your decision easier.

I found the whole publishing process to be daunting. One of the biggest issues is a certain kind of snobbery throughout the entire process, the whole “if the synopsis isn’t good enough then we will not even open the attachment…the first grammatical error that I hit I will stop reading…we don’t consider work from unpublished authors”…but…but…how does one become a published author if no one will consider your work?

Before I looked into any kind of publishing, I was under the naive impression that if you had a good strong story base then the Agent/Publishing house would pick up your work and guide you, helping you with the plot and the grammar and then to assist you with the marketing of the book.

But apparently not.  You now need to have a strong social media base so that you can conduct your own marketing.  You also need to be an editor, and a proof reader.  So if the author is doing all that, what’s left for the Agent/Publishing house? Only to collect whatever meager profits there are,  it seems

So after taking all of that on board, and the fact that even the likes of great authors like JK Rowling get turned down, it seems like there had to be a better way.  That’s when I decided to follow the self-publishing route of authors like E.L James. The ‘50 Shades Of Grey’ books were initially self-published.  

Don’t get me wrong I’m not under any false pretense that this will make me rich.  I’m fully aware that that will not be the case, but I do feel that the way forward is to cut out the middle man and just go for it.

Here is my process:

‘Loved and Lost’ was tested by neutral readers.  I offered it out on twitter to strangers so that I could get true feedback on what I had written. This helped me a lot.  

The general response was that I had something with this book, a story that, especially women, could relate to and I used my readers feedback to continue to make improvements to Loved and Lost.

So what’s stopping more people like myself from joining Amazon and pushing that self-pub button? There are some important steps that need to be done first and some of them can be costly.


1.    Editing.  The cost of getting that final edit done.  This I have found can be a right sticking point.  It will cost you money but it needs to be done.  It does seem to be the biggest reason stopping people from going for it.
2.    The book cover.  Again a cost unless you are design savvy yourself.
3.    Marketing. One of the best marketing tools today is social media and guess what? This is free. Follow a few simply rules like tweet a lot and retweet. This helps to build up connections worldwide and whilst you are at it, it also helps to build some really great friendships.
4.    Proof Reading.  Again this can be costly but again I have used social media for this. I offered ‘Loved and Lost’ out to readers for constructive feedback.  I had a good response and I used that help to improve ‘Loved and Lost.’
5.    Printing.  Again, this costs, but nowadays, this is an extra.  Most people have kindles or e-readers so do we need to have to have the book in print? While I would love to have ‘Loved and Lost’ as a hardcopy, for now I’m willing to settle for an e-book. After the book has been out for a while and generated some sales, then I can add on the print version.

One of the larger issues (and this goes back to the snobbery of publishing) is whether you can yourself a published author if you self-publish?  

Here’s the thing, you don’t need the publishing industries permission anymore.  If you publish a book, you’re a published author.  Just ensure you have an ISBN number and you’re good to go. Or if you chose to publish on Amazon then a an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is not required to publish content with Kindle Direct Publishing. Once your content is published on the KDP web site,Amazon.com will assign it a 10-digit ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number), which is unique to the eBook.


The world has changed and the publishing world is quickly changing with it.  If you have a story that’s worth telling… then tell it.

AllisonSarah: The witty and intriguing I, Humpty by Eric C. Wild...

AllisonSarah: The witty and intriguing I, Humpty by Eric C. Wild...: The witty and intriguing I, Humpty by Eric C. Wilder I, Humpty is a collection of mock tabloid style short stories, mixing classic chil...

The witty and intriguing I, Humpty by Eric C. Wilder

I, Humpty is a collection of mock tabloid style short stories, mixing classic children’s fairy tales with modern day life. I Humpty flows easily and is fun to read, starting and ending with the story of Humpty himself.

Through the pages we visit the quirky world of many of the charming fairy tale characters that we all grew up with, discovering the dark truth behind our old time favourites with just the right fusion of adult humour bringing the works to life and providing you with endless belly crunching laughs.

Uncover the reality behind the Hansel and Gretel scandal, be a fly on the wall of some of ‘Fairy Tale Lands’ most prestigious marriages and will we even discover what part of Pinocchio’s body grows when he tells a lie...

Treat yourselves to a copy of  I,Humpty

As it is my friend Eric Wilder is not only a fantastic author, but he has many projects under his belt, so it is with my great pleasure that I introduce to you this great guy.



So Eric let’s get to know you, tell us about Mr Wilder.

Well, I could tell you that I’m an author, a designer, or a blogger. What I should say is that I spend the majority of my time responding to the whims of my adorable children. You can follow my exploits at the following social media sites:



Twitter: @grimmreport

Tumblr: grimmreport.

Google+: +grimmreport

Ello: @ericwilder



In Mr. Wilder’s words tell us about I Humpty.

I, Humpty is a collection of mock-tabloid satire marrying the reality of everyday life with popular elements from fairytales, folklore, and nursery rhymes. Rejoice with the Beast as Belle grants him permission to convert the den into a man-cave. Learn why the third little pig grows weary of his live-in brothers. Follow the courtroom drama of Rumpelstiltskin’s indictment in the Straw-To-Gold Scandal. I, Humpty covers all of these stories and more.



Have you always had a passion for mixing up fairy tales with modern day life?

For the last couple of years I’ve run a fake news site called the Grimm Report, from which all the articles within I, Humpty were selected. There were many reasons why I created it. Much of which was fueled by my time spent working at home while raising my two children. There is a great immersion in fairytale and nursery rhyme with this scenario, and great longing for more mature subject matter as consequence. Somewhere along the line, those two items merged in my brain, and I started spewing it out onto the Internet.



Is I, Humpty your first published book?

Yes and no. This is the first book I have published comprised solely of my own work. I have published an anthology of other people’s writings, as well as collaborated on comic



What are you currently working on?

After spending over a year writing fake news reports I’m trying my hand at writing a mock biography. I love satire. I’d like to take the writing style that I developed with I, Humpty and really blow it out.



What is your writing routine? (do you listen to music, eat sweets, drink coffee?)

Lot’s of coffee. I write down what I can when I can. I have to watch a two-year-old the majority of my time, so I have to pick and choose my moments. I’ll grab whatever scrap of paper I can find when I think of something to write down or I’ll forget it. Sometimes I’ll dictate ideas into my phone. When I can, I’ll compile the jumbled mess and hope for the best. Usually that’s sometime after 9 pm.

What is the next book on your reading list and what are you currently reading?

Currently I’m reading Becoming Josephine by Heather Webb. I read a little bit of everything, but a lot of memoirs and historical fiction. The style of I, Humpty, and my next project, combine fantasy with a news-based narrative. It takes a great deal of influence to develop that. I could be reading a science fiction one day, and a senator’s battle against the mortgage crisis the next. Follow that with a movie star memoir. It’s a pretty broad range, but it keeps the ideas flowing for what I want to create.



Name your five fantasy dinner guests.

Let’s see…

Hmmmm... (you hear the cogs turning) 

Belle, Quasimodo, Mad Hatter, Puss N’ Boots, and The Easter Bunny.



The dish that you would supply to the fantasy dinner party?

Scrambled egg.

As always Eric or Grimmy as I like to call you, you have been amazing and such great fun. I really can't thank you enough for giving up some of your precious time to join me on my blog it really means a lot.

Thank you Karen for including me on the blog hop path. I have been following the chain and reading with interest why other people write and it appears we all have one thing in common and that is because we have to.

So I don't think my reason is anymore unique then anybody else's instead I'll give a little insight into me, my processes and when the urge started.

One thing I would like to ask is how many of my writer friends had imaginary friends as a child? As I think this is when my story telling began, I would squeeze behind the sofa and according to my mother talk in a range of different voices to my invisible people acting out my games. Hum yes okay that now sounds strange ... but I think it was just my way of releasing the story's before I could write...

Okay moving on.

Once I learnt to write there was no stopping me, little bits of story's emerged and on any little bits of spare pieces of scrap paper. Some of which I still have today (*cough cough* although my childhood was not THAT long ago)

Every school report was the same Allison loves to read and has a very vivid imagination but her spelling is a problem, she spells how she speaks...thus been a big issue as people from Hull have a strong accent and pronounce words very differently to how they are spelt in the Oxford English Dictionary. As this was a constant struggle for me I lost my confidence and only ever wrote my story's for my best friend and this is how Perditor was born.

I wrote the story from a game that we played together and she illustrated the book, we planned that one day we would get it published by working in this way. To this day Perditor still sits on the shelf. Bless it...it's still there only it's need to be told was not as strong as "Loved and Lost" and the second book "Twisted Love" they were much more impatient.

Back onto the WHY.

Nagging - I'm sure many of you will feel this too, the constant niggling of the characters and for some reason the more you ignore them the louder they shout.

Day Dreaming - Then the take over. Until I give in and start tapping away I find that I fall into a constant state of zombie like day dreams acting out scenarios in my mind.

The Actual Writing - I'm not a writer that needs to plan the plot, I just write as it comes out, I scribble down parts of the story as they develop in my mind and then I slot those parts in as the story develops and yes as wrong as it is I have also written a story ending when I was only part of the way through the story. I can't explain why I tend to "scatter" write it's just the way I work.

Well the above is my take on WHY I write and now I'm going to introduce two amazing lady's to the chain.

My good friend and supporter Serena Louise and the author of the brilliant "Madeline" Serena has helped me no end with Loved and Lost and for that I'm eternally grateful

"I'm a writer. At least, I'd like to think so. I write. I think about writing. I'm in love with my characters, and they are my first thoughts in the morning and last at night. I'm obsessed by people that don't exist. By that little analysis, I like to believe that I am a writer, unpublished or not. The unpublished bit might be over one day, but even now in the trenches of an unfinished or unedited novel I think that I am exactly that."

Serena's blog http://serenaswritingroom.blogspot.co.uk/

Introducing Miss Scarlett Fslame I'm not sure if Scarlett will remember but her blog was my inspiration to blog and I'm honoured that she agreed to take part in the blog hop with me.

"Flame haired girl writing her second novel...Well hello there and come on in and take a seat. Let me introduce myself, my name is Scarlett Flame and this is my Blog. I will share books, reviews and my adventures (when I have them) so please visit often. Writing and reading are my two main passions and I hope to share them with you"

Scarlett flames blog http://missscarlettflame.blogspot.co.uk/

Over to you lady's I look forward to your post.

I have had quite a lot on over the last few months and haven’t really had the time to write, blog, or review books. I apologise to both the authors that have been waiting for my reviews to arrive.



Firstly I would like to say Sorry to the wonderful Karen Farris and thank you for sending me the third and Final book in the grumbles series “How Many Pills”

I have now finished the final book in the truly brilliant Grumbles trilogy ‘How many pills did you take?’ and laughed along with the brilliant author with ever page turn.

The plot is gripping to the end as all of the secrets and strange moments that Petite the undercover agent and her side kick the adorable Toga had to face begin to unfold.

Will Petit and Toga get to the Spudapalooza in time to bring down the wicked evil twin of her beloved Hector? Who is ‘M’ and why do the baddies always seem to be able to track Petite and Toga down? And will we ever get to use one of those fabulous cabbage bombs.


And then onto the truly amazing Terry Tylor, Sorry for all the waiting around and thank you for the opportunity to read “Round and Round”



Round and Round By Terry Tyler, this book another of Terry’s masterpieces, I simply love this lady’s work she always writes about the things that most women actually think about in life and this story is no different.

The story follows Sophie thought her life leading up to her 40th birthday. Unhappy with her current love life and felling trapped by her mother’s words of “Life Ends at 40”  and the fact that the dreaded day is looming Sophie finds herself asking the age old question of what if, but with the help of an unexplainable force lead by her adoring old Aunt Flick, Sophie is given an insight as to how her life would have turned out if she had chosen to follow the “Other” paths on offer.



Again lady’s I’m sorry for making you both wait, I know how horrible it is when you are waiting for feedback or reviews.


I would also like to thank both ladies for giving me the opportunity to read and review their work.

Interview with Rosalind Rendle

In All Crises – Drink Tea

‘Peace of Time’ is a lovely summer time read that is simply perfect to pick up and get lost in whilst lounging on your sunbed.

‘Peace of Time’ is based around a twenty four month time scale in the life of Jenny a kind hearted school teacher. Jenny discovers a new friendship along the way after an accident involving one of her pupils, then finds herself traveling along the dark path of infidelity whilst trying to uphold her strong beliefs in the principle of marriage.

Rosalind Rendle writes with a lot of detail building her characters and bringing them to life. She takes time in her writing to grow each individual and develop their part in Jenny’s story.

To download visit Amazon UK
Peace of Time Amazon UK

To download from Amazon.com
Peace of Time US


So before we get started tell us about Rosalind Rendle the person.


I’m a retired primary school head teacher and I’m loving the freedom I have now. This would be freedom to eat lunch without running around doing six other things; (yes, I like food); freedom to dog walk when I see the sun; freedom to leave France, where we have lived since retiring and visit children and their families, freedom to pursue the thing I’ve wanted to do for a very long time – WRITE. My Mum was a published author many times over and she always urged me to get on with it but I never seemed to have the time. Now, I’m doing it.

In your own words tell the readers about ‘Peace of Time’

The story has a teaching background but the main focus is a girl discovering what is important to her in both male and female relationships. Trust and loyalty are paramount to her and appear throughout the story in various guises. When she is tested she demonstrates those qualities. Can others be the same for her?

You chose the self-publishing route, this is a path that is quickly becoming more popular with authors these days. What helped you to decide that this was the path for you?

It has taken me a while to discover and evaluate all the options that are available currently. The ‘big’ publishing outlets are extremely hard to break into and are reluctant to take on an unknown, especially in these times of austerity. I was not fully aware of the range of Indie publishers and self-publishing seemed a realistic option.

Through the process I learned a huge amount about presentation, including front covers and some about marketing.

I’m glad I took that route for that book, although for the next I may well re-evaluate and take a different route.

I personally think that some of the best book that I have read are by self-published authors, but being self-published can carry some prejudice from traditionally published authors. What are your thoughts on this?

I, too, have read some excellent work from self-published authors which I could name if asked. However, I do think it is not recognised in the same way as other methods of publication. For example, I joined the RNA as part of their New Writers’ Scheme this year. If my next book is accepted by even a small publishing house it will be eligible for one of their awards. If I self-publish, it won’t. I suppose there are some self-published books which do still need a lot more editing and proof reading before they are of an acceptable standard.

How much of your own teaching experience have you used to write the book? If not how did you develop your ideas for the book?

Some of the anecdotes in the book are from personal experience but none of the characters are a copy of any individual. More, they are each a composite of several plus, some imagined traits. The settings are developed in a similar way. The plot is partly from my own experience but mainly from that observed from people I know well. There always seems to be a dose of added ingredient that develops itself despite the fact I have written a well-defined synopsis before I start.

I normally write stories that seem to grow inside of me then niggle away until I tell them. Would you say ‘Peace of Time’ was a story that you just needed to tell?

I was always busy with a growing family and trying to balance the development of my career. I first had the idea for this story when I was in my twenties, ie many years ago. Only now have I time to really get to grips with such a long and concentrated task. I’m loving it. I have a second book which I am currently editing and a third I have started writing. The fourth is in my head nagging to come out. There’s no stopping me now I’ve started.

Is being a story teller something that has always been a part of you?

I have always enjoyed the process of research and writing. This frequently involved producing long essays, dissertation papers and policy documents, though, as well as stories that young children seemed to enjoy.

It’s much more fun now. 

Let’s have a few fun questions

Cats or dogs?

Definitely dogs. We’ve always had a least one, apart from a short spell after the children had left home and we were both still working. We got a cat then and she’s 16 now but dogs are by far better companions, for me.

Tea or coffee?

Tea, absolutely and if there’s cake to go with it that’s even better, any type will do and as big a slice as possible.

And one of my favourite questions: your top four dinner guests, using past and present iconic people?

This is a hard one…..Maybe I would choose:

Michael Portillo - I didn’t like him as a politician at all but he seems a right charmer as a TV presenter. I think he would be interesting to talk to.

Cliff Richard – cheesy, I know but I would be interested to hear about his motivations for his various interests such as owner of a vineyard, continuing with recording at his age, religion too, I suppose.

Jojo Moyes – I should like to think my books may be a little like hers in subject matter. I’d like to pick her brains.

Brendan O’Carroll (Mrs. Brown) – I’d love to hear more about his extraordinarily talented mother although when he’s not being serious he could upset the other guests greatly. That might be interesting too.

AllisonSarah: Book Reviews

AllisonSarah: Book Reviews:

New review featuring 'The Flower City Chronicles' By Karen Faris       

 @karenafaris Grumbles The Novel Book One: Take a Pill  @karenafaris What It Takes By ...