The Story I Had To Tell!
by Trinette Weber
(Portland, OR, US)
From Shaniko to Pearl Harbor
After my husband passed away, I felt that I would like to record his story of witnessing the bombing of Pearl Harbor for his family & friends. When I heard how hard it is to get a book published, and an author told my kids that he had sent out 150 copies of his first book, and received only 2 replies and only one offer, I decided to look into the self publishing world.
I looked at many self published books, and noticed the rather home made look they had. A friend gave me an ad for a printing firm, Gorham Printing in Centralia, Washington. I sent for their promotional book, and it looked the way I wanted my book to look. It had a lovely shiny cover, & did not look home made.
I contacted them and they were so very nice to help me and do the work. I provided the pictures I wanted, a view of a burning ship that I could find on the internet, and is considered in public domain, so I could use it without getting anyone's permission. I also wanted a family picture of my husband and his father in the foreground. I was intending to do the cover in shades of blue, but Gorham chose the orange color which is such a much better idea. I am grateful they thought of that.
When the book turned out so well, I tried marketing it, and discovered that the main thing in marketing is to get the right location. I sent a copy to the Pearl Harbor Memorial, and you can imagine the thrill when they ordered some. I have sold it several other places, but it is not easy to do. I know I am lucky that my subject is one of pretty great interest to so many people. I do agree with those who say writing a book is easy, selling it is very hard. Those who seem to do the best are people with famous names. I have been interested to learn that apparently most successful authors had to try & try to get anyone interested in their first book. This includes the author of Harry Potter as well as the author of Peter Rabbit and scores of other famous books. It is usually easier to get smaller stores interested in a book by an ordinary citizen. The big chains are a bit hard to reach. However, they would probably sell more in most cases.
I wish everyone luck with their dream book.
Trinette Weber
Visit Pearl Harbor Eyewitness.
