Me, writing a book ? No way!

by Susanne Hayase
(La Jolla, CA, USA)

I never thought I would write a book nor for that matter ever publish one on my own. But certain events can change everything and that is what happened to me.

During one of my recent vacations I visited several relatives and, because of my interest in family and ancestry research, I tried to find as much past and recent family information as possible from everyone I met. One day my favorite cousin showed me a small book that I had never seen before. It was the exciting story about one of our ancestors known for his bravery and adventures while serving under Napoleon I, compiled using his own letters and diaries. This was the kind of story I always was hoping to discover and I was overjoyed. Back home I immediately set out to find and purchase the book and soon was successful. I read it carefully over and over again, searched for more information about the Napoleonic era and read other books about those days to become familiar with the area of action. Originally this story was written in French and published more than 100 years ago, then later translated into German by one of my relatives. Reading both of these publications soon made me decide to translate this story into English, so I could share it with my relatives and friends who are now mostly English speakers .

I started at once but the proposal was easier said then done and soon turned out to be much more difficult and complex then I had anticipated. Translating the text was one thing, making it readable was quite another. But as I worked on the project I learned more details about the story and soon almost felt like being part of it. Soon sentences started to flow easier and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole process. In the end I had a finished manuscript that looked nice and could well be made into a book.

But how should I proceed? What was the best way for me to publish my book without spending too much money? What options did I have?

My first thought was to go to a local printer and have them evaluate my manuscript, then let them print it if it was not too costly. I visited several print shops in our small town and discussed my project and ideas with the owners, but soon realized they were more interested in bigger jobs and making money, than helping me with my novice problems.

At that point I decided to do some research on the Internet to see what possibilities were available to me and to find out what other people were doing. Now I was confronted with an overload of information about every detail of the publishing process. It took time to narrow down the possible options , especially considering cost and ease of operation. It was a good learning experience and in the end I decided on one of the self publishing companies from the long list of contenders.

Of course this was all completely new to me. Without any previous experience I now had to study all the rules and regulations on how to self publish a book. I learned about file sizes, layout, pdf. documents, black and white pages compared to color pages, page size, ISBN numbers and more. I also learned that the cover of the book needed to be a different document from the rest of the book content.

Finally I needed to calculate the cost of the book, considering the size, charges from the publisher and my eventual royalties. And since the book would be printed on demand, meaning every book ordered would be produced at that time, stocking the books was not necessary and there were no charges involved. After I familiarized myself with all these details I ventured to upload my book files on the self publisher's web site. It turned out to be a very user friendly place and after helping me with some beginners difficulties of the uploading process I succeeded in the final step, requesting a proof copy.

What a wonderful feeling it was to see that first copy in front of me. I felt relieved, happy and proud and had no doubt that my book would be interesting for some readers with special interest in historic events. It did not take long before my first book appeared on the Internet and was made available for sale. Now I was confronted with a new challenge: how to market my book. But that is another story and I am satisfied with the knowledge that I can now recommend my book to anyone interested in buying it. All they need to do is to order it from the Internet.

Thus within less than two years I achieved something I never dreamed was possible.

Visit Susanne's webpage.