I think I have done just about everything wrong in self-publishing a book. I started in 2007, so anxious to have my message out about pharmaceutical drugs and teens. I tried to have the novel published the traditional way, but again, I was new and didn’t have much traction. I did receive encouragement, but that certainly didn’t help get my message out. Now, after learning that the vanity press that I sought out to publish my novel was not the best choice that I thought it was, I have tried again.
When I was younger, my dad would tease me that I thought I could learn how to do ANYTHING by reading a book. This time I decided to take courses and research on how to self-publish. I paid to have my book edited by the vanity press. I trusted they would do a professional job. They did not. The rewrite now called Downward Spiral was re-edited by a professional. The edits were numerous. Downward Spiral is updated, but the messages are the same. There are ways that Lexie was neglected and not supported as she tried to maneuver through the mazes of high school society. But her inclination to reason out that she was not good enough and had to change came from not only her friends but from her parents. Her pain and anxiety were extreme. She learned to self medicate. These are two essential lessons.
I like tradition, but the publishing world is changing. I will be changing Downward Spiral again, but only in the method it is sold and how it looks internally. My next novel, My Time: After the Tears Dry, will be self-published also, but now I know enough to hold the company I will use to do right by me.