
Self-publishing may seem a little daunting to anyone who hasn’t done it before. However, with advances in technology, it’s becoming much easier to turn your self-publishing dreams into publication reality.
Self-publishing works well for many genres. I caught up with a children’s author, a novelist, and a poet who’ve all self-published their first books this year and asked them about their self-publishing experiences.
Kathryn Holme: Captain Kit
Kathryn Holme (byrewriters.co.uk) is a Scottish-based playwright, poet, flash fiction writer, and children’s picture book author. She launched her picture children’s book, Captain Kit, in May 2024. Although she’s only been focussing on self-publishing it for the last twelve months, it’s a project she’s been working on for nearly ten years.
‘Captain Kit, a rhyming story about a pirate who likes snacking, was conceived in 2015 when I couldn’t find many library books with characters who shared the name of my youngest son,’ she explains. ‘For years, the story lay forgotten until I entered an updated version of it in the 2023 Scottish Association of Writers Under 7’s short story competition, where it was commended.’
Entering that competition proved to be the self-publication catalyst she needed, thanks to the connections she made.
‘Maggie Bolton was the adjudicator for the competition and we have since collaborated on this book. It took just over a year from asking Maggie if she would be interested in drawing the illustrations to uploading the final version onto IngramSpark. Maggie illustrates for other authors too, so I needed to be patient whilst waiting to see the images for Captain Kit.’
‘I decided to self-publish the book now in order to raise funds for Kit’s expensive hobby—designing a combat robot. (https://kitscombatrobots.blogspot.com/)’
Some authors struggle with self-confidence. After all, if a traditional publisher accepts your work, then that suggests it has commercial merit. It was Kathryn’s enrolment in a coaching programme that gave her the self-belief.
‘Being on Sophie Hannah’s Dream Author coaching programme has given me the confidence to self-publish as I have a positive attitude in relation to my own writing ability.’
Whenever we tackle anything new, there’s always a learning curve, and that goes for self-publishing, too. When Kathryn encountered a problem, she looked to others with expertise for help and guidance.
‘The most challenging part was deciding on the layout of the text and images. I booked a session with Pauline Tait (award-winning author and writing mentor to children’s authors) to gain advice on how best to format the book regarding single and double-page spreads.’
Despite these challenges, there were some aspects of self-publishing she expected to be difficult, such as bookstore promotions, but they turned out to be much more straightforward.
‘I expected to find it difficult as a self-published author to link in with bookshops, but the St Andrews and Dundee branches of Waterstones organised in-person events for Captain Kit.’
Self-publishing a first book is always going to be challenging, but Kathryn’s taking a positive perspective on her experiences, as she looks to the future.
‘The mistakes I made along the way have been great learning opportunities. I’ve gained new skills, so I am hoping that my next picture book will be easier to create.’
Shannon Hamilton: Blood on the Broadcast
Shannon Hamilton is a crime and mystery author, based in Northern Ireland, writing as SDW Hamilton (sdwhamilton.com). He self-published his first novel, Blood on the Broadcast, in February, after finding the traditional publishing route a long, drawn-out process.
‘I realised the traditional route wasn’t working for me,’ he says. ‘I spent a year in the querying trenches and lost patience with the process. Going in, I was a realist, and keenly aware that rejection was part and parcel of the game, and as seemingly every agent in every form-rejection will tell you, publishing is subjective.’
‘The rejections I could handle,’ he continues, ‘but the seeming indifference by some of the gatekeepers, I could not. It was my dealings with two literary agencies in particular that ultimately swayed me toward the decision to self-publish. Both had requested a full manuscript following an initial query letter. I heard nothing from the first agency for more than half a year.’
‘I followed-up with an email and received a reply about a fortnight later, informing me my book was still under consideration. A year on, and I’m still waiting to hear back from them. The second agency was a similar story, but they didn’t even have the courtesy to respond to my follow-up. So I took stock, stewed for a bit, and then asked, why not take a chance on yourself?’
Self-publishing gives us control over everything, including our own deadlines. Shannon was keen to see his book published in early 2024, despite having other priorities to focus on.
‘I made the decision to self-publish in late October 2023 and set a publication date for 2nd February 2024. That would be an incredibly tight timeframe, even if I hadn’t been learning as I went. My wife and I welcomed our second child in early December, just to add to the challenge.’
Having gone through the process, he now understands how much work is involved when an author self-publishes a book.
‘I very much learned as I went. Although I knew self-publishing would involve a lot of work, I probably didn’t appreciate just how much. ISBNs, cover design, copy editing, printing sizes, marketing, advertising, advanced reader copies, reviewers, and a couple of dozen other things, all took time, out of an already limited timeframe, to address.’
Just like Kathryn, Shannon discovered there’s a wealth of advice out there from fellow authors who’ve been through this experience, and he only had to ask for it.
‘I’m still pleasantly shocked at how supportive and welcoming the self-publishing community has been, particularly fellow local authors who also write in the crime and mystery genre too. I hope I can pay it forward when asked.’
Thinking ahead to his next self-publishing project, Shannon has decided not to give himself such a tight publication deadline.
‘I was happy with how I handled the process leading up to release and meeting the deadline, but I put a lot more pressure on myself than there needed to be. I’ll have as many of my ducks in a row as possible before even setting the next release date.’
Michaela Burns: My Words in 40 Days
Scottish poet Michaela Burns (https://x.com/lifethroughpoem) self-published her first poetry book in January. My Words in 40 Days is a collection of poems inspired by a forty-day devotion established by a friend.
Her decision to self-publish became a personal challenge to fulfil a dream.
‘I decided to self-publish because it felt really important for me to do it myself for my first book. It is all very new to me. I’ve always dreamed of writing a book. I just never thought it would happen. So I set myself the challenge to self-publish, to be authentic and embrace to process.’
Such was her determination, Michaela published as quickly as possible.
‘The thought of writing has always been in my mind, but from making the decision to making it happen took around two to three months. Once I have something in my mind, I like to make it happen.’
Did everything go right? Not quite, but Michaela gave herself permission to make mistakes, knowing that it’s all part of the learning process.
‘My obstacle was getting the sizing right for the cover. It ended up being a bit bigger than I expected, but I am okay with that.’
‘I also struggle with spelling at times,’ she continues. ‘Within this book, I wanted it to be real and raw. I wanted it to show that we don’t need to be perfect in order to achieve, so there are a few mistakes. I hope it gives other people hope and belief in themselves to know that having those struggles doesn’t mean it’s impossible.’
Despite these challenges, Michaela feels the process of self-publishing was relatively straightforward.
‘Putting the book together was an easier process than I expected. It’s a straightforward process once you understand how the publishing site works.’
Although all three authors experienced a mix of challenges, they overcame them and have a published book to show for their efforts. Self-publishing our first book is as much a learning process as a publishing process. We learn not just how to publish a book, but how we work as writers, and what it is we want to achieve with our books.
Self-publishing is becoming more accessible every day. It allows us to have more control over the finish product, and as these authors have noted, writers with self-publishing experience will share their experiences, help, and suggestions.
So if you’ve been a little hesitant about taking the next step in self-publishing your book, these three authors have shown it can be done. The only thing that is stopping you is you.
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Kathryn Holmes Top Tip:
‘Consider how you are going to promote the book. Captain Kit was part of a book blog tour hosted on Instagram, which helped me to reach a wider readership.’
Shannon Hamilton’s Top Tip:
‘Be patient. You’ve worked so hard to write your book, now take the time to make sure self-publishing is right for you, take the time to do your research on the genre, to come up with a plan for marketing, to cultivate relationships, to have your book in its best possible state for release.’
Michaela Burns’ Top Tip:
‘Go for it. Believe in yourself and take those steps. It might feel scary or overwhelming, but it is so worth it.’
(c) Simon Whaley