Self Publishing Advisor

The 1^st ENTREPRENEURS—WERE WRITERS

Entrepreneur—Executive Director—free enterprise thinker—risk taker—adventurist—YES, the writer fits all these definitions.  And these original–originals not only created “the story,” they self-published with their very own hands!  Of course, their books were actually visible to only a few who happened to travel along those rock-wall-paths (petroglyphs).  Today, we appreciate these first storytellers, journalists, event-of-the-day reporters from the perspective of ancient history.  And yet they continue demonstrating our very real human need to communicate; the desire to share hopes and dreams; to warn others of dangers; the necessity to tell our stories.  Authors today are carrying that legacy forward.

Each and every time I speak with a potential client (for ghostwriting or editorial consult) I am inspired by their story—the journey that carried them to the point of placing words on paper in preparation for publishing—their written hopes of sharing something of importance with others.  This is, indeed, a grand adventure!

My earliest un-official clients were my parents, who started working with me to create their memoirs.  Even though they’d shared a lifetime together, their perspectives were totally different.  My mother’s main focus was family—not just the “ancestry”—but her family.  Living in the historical time period of the Great Depression was the setting of her early childhood.  She was a coalminer’s daughter who took on the responsibilities of “parenthood” for four younger siblings, saving pennies she’d earned (at age 10 and beyond) to buy each one something special.  My dad’s perspective of those and later years was, of course, very different; I guess you might say it was from his “manly” point of view.  And yet, seeing their memories written out in a memoir not only gave them satisfaction, it also left a legacy of lessons learned for me, my children and grandchildren, and potentially countless future generations.

In these many years since my ghostwriting/editorial consultant career beginnings, the authors I’ve been associated with have covered numerous genres—from cookbooks to poetry to spiritual insights and true stories—each utilizing the communication tool of book publishing.  I can still remember a conversation shared during a writer’s workshop retreat that speculated about how personal computers “would hamper the ability of creative thought because writers would stop writing upon those wonderful legal-sized yellow tablets.”  The group was divided about 25-75 in that opinion; 75% certain that the “process of handwriting” was the key to developing worthwhile material.  Today, every one of them appreciates the “free flowing creativity” provided by computer and keyboard.

So it is that I see the partnership between author and self-publisher in much the same light.  As stated last week, the self-publishing entrepreneurs of today are now providing yet another most valuable tool for us.  They are coming along beside us so that we are more easily (and quickly) able to let our dreams—our inspired written creations—FLY!

ABOUT ROYALENE DOYLE: Royalene Doyle is a Ghostwriter with Outskirts Press, bringing more than 35 years of writing experience to authors who need “just a little assistance” with completing their writing projects. She has worked with both experienced and fledgling writers helping complete projects in multiple genres. When a writer brings the passion they have for their work and combines it with Royalene’s passion to see the finished project in print, books are published and the writer’s legacy is passed forward.