Ya got money? Determination? Luck? Self-Publishing is for you.

by Maralys Wills

After publishing 9 books with conventional publishers, I understood the industry's snobbish attitudes: good writers were published by conventional publishers. Self-publishing took everyone else.

That was before I tried to sell my memoir, "Higher Than Eagles." After 14 years and what must have been at least a hundred rejections, it finally sold to Longstreet Press. The five movie options and spectacular reviews that came later proved that both good and bad books are ignored by traditional publishers.

With my lighthearted memoir, "A Circus Without Elephants," at first I went the usual route: Endless rewrites, endless critiques, endless submissions. My New York agent simply dismissed it. Not ready to struggle another 14 years, I took it to Ivy House Publishing Group in North Carolina. Very expensive, but great quality. To get the per-book price down, I ordered a 5000 print run. They did all the mysterious publishing chores; I simply submitted a manuscript and pictures. Ivy House books are handled by normal distributors and normal book stores-though book stores are reticent about all self-published books. With them, you need to prove yourself.

In 2005, I made hundreds of cold calls and managed to get 81 speeches in 27 cities among 9 states. I only went to cities where I had a friend or relative. By the end of 2006, I'd spoken to libraries, AAUWs, service clubs, churches, book clubs, women's groups, colleges, writer's conferences, and book stores. Two different years I also entered the Writers Digest self-published books contest, and the second year the book was a winner.

By 2008 I'd repaid well over half of my original costs, and still had more than half the books left. Sometimes "angels" appeared out of nowhere to get me speeches and contacts. Thanks to the contest win, a traditional publisher has now taken on my next two books. For me, the "taint" of self-publishing is long gone.

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