Kelly Schuknecht – Page 53 – Self Publishing Advisor

etsy, Kelly Speaks, Social Media Marketing

An Indie Author’s Social Media Primer | Etsy

If you’re a bibliophile, chances are you’ve heard of Etsy. Chances are you’ve shopped on Etsy––or at the very least, window-shopped. There’s something so winsome about this platform that just … sucks you in and then later spins you out, dazed and simultaneously envious of other peoples’ talents at handcrafts and carefully counting your change to see if you can afford to buy something beautiful today. I’m not speaking from experience, of course.

Okay, so I am. And what’s wrong with ogling a beautiful watercolor print of one of my favorite quotes, or eyeing a delicate little charm to add to my collection, or drooling (just a little) over the “reading fox” bookends––which happen to come in at #11 on this Buzzfeed contributor’s list of perfect gifts for the bibliophile in your life who already has all of the books that he or she might ever need. There are at least a dozen other Buzzfeed articles that cover the exact same ground, and this isn’t just because Etsy is a great place to shop. It’s because Etsy is a great place to both promote and sell, including for the self-published author!

When it comes to the big social media platforms out there, nobody quite knows what to do with Etsy. Is it social media? Or is it just some form of social shopping, translated from the physical mall into the digital sphere? The fact of the matter is, most people don’t think of Etsy as a digital gathering space for people so much as for objects, and that’s a crying shame. Etsy goes out of its way to provide a friendly platform for indie and self-published authors to sell their books––and nobody seems to be talking about this very important fact! And in large part, this mass silence can be attributed to one overarching misconception about Etsy:

Debunking the Great Etsy Myth: “It’s just a glorified Craigslist for selling vintage castoffs and overpriced coasters.”

Oh man, don’t get me started. (Well, we’re already started. This rant’s on me.) Unlike last week’s post, which delved into the book-lover’s best friend Goodreads, not a lot has been written about Etsy as a community and a platform for authors––so this is all relatively new territory in respect to writing out the theory, even though Etsy has long been supportive of its self-publishing shops. Etsy has gotten lots and lots and lots of attention, however, for carving out a vital place as a launching point for entrepreneurs of all kinds.

It’s easy to throw buzzwords like “entrepreneurial” around, but Etsy has a history of being absolutely serious about improving the lives of its users, particularly its marginalized, impoverished, or otherwise struggling users. And self-published authors know all about struggle, right? Sure, you can buy stuff on Etsy––but that’s not the only thing it’s good for, and if you spend even five minutes browsing the site’s many links and means of connection, you’ll get a good taste for why I’m including it in my list of Very Important Social Media Sites You Should Join Immediately! Here are just a few thoughts to get you started.

Top 5 Best Practices:

1. Join a team … or a few. Even before you list items in your Etsy shop to sell, you should take a gander through Etsy’s “Community” tab, and hone in on its ever-expanding list of “Teams.” I know of at least two that are dedicated specifically to authors––this one, and this one––and there’s at least one more that’s given over exclusively to Etsy users who take part in the November NaNoWriMo challenge. Quite apart from the wide-open general forums, these teams will help you find “your people” in Etsy. The author groups are, for the most part, small enough to feel comfortable and large enough to provide a diverse representation of all sorts of best practices as lived out in various authors’ stores. You don’t have to be an active seller on Etsy in order to take part in the teams and forums, which is a handy thing indeed for when you’re looking to launch your store but are still searching for ways to do so successfully!

2. Work the metadata! Yes, yes, I know that my continual harping on boosting your “findability” is probably starting to sound like a broken record … but it’s as accurate in application to Etsy as it is on Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook, Goodreads, and everywhere else you can imagine. So: fill out your seller profile page fully, and mention all of the appropriate buzzwords––”self-publishing,” “children’s book author,” “author,” and et cetera. You can even use your profile picture to feature the cover art for your latest book. Etsy’s seller profiles, along with each item’s individual listing, feed directly into indexing search engines like Google, so give those algorithms some meat to chew on!

3. If you printed and made your own book, list it. There are constraints to what you can sell on Etsy, it’s true, and this is how the website has managed to differentiate itself from big box stores and that behemoth, Amazon. Its forté is in providing specially crafted goods of limited availability, either vintage or handmade. What qualifies as “handmade” turns out to be a rather amorphous mass of flexible options, so don’t despair! The easiest book to sell is going to be one you printed and packaged yourself, and if you’ve chosen a Print on Demand (POD) option like this author (who uses a local printing company in the UK) or this author (who used a digital printing company for comics artists, Ka-Blam) then you’re most likely still in the clear. If you’re unsure about where your POD company falls in respect to Etsy policy, it’s easy to drop an email to Etsy staff to confirm or to apply to work with an “outside manufacturer.” It’s helpful to approach these occasions not as obstacles, but as safeguards––Etsy simply wants to elevate demand by ensuring an item is of high quality and limited availability. Self-published books almost always fit these criteria!

4. If your book doesn’t quite fit the category of “handmade,” think “BUNDLE” instead! You can still take advantage of Etsy by offering your book for sale with a related craft item, perhaps a themed bookmark or other object or piece of limited-run merchandise that somehow ties back to your work. For example, you might include some handwritten recipe cards if you’ve self-published a cookbook, or include an original (and signed!) piece of art if you’ve self-published a picture book. Whatever you choose, you can either make it yourself or have someone else make it for you. Just make sure the bundle carries with it a significant personal touch! Think in terms of bundles, and think in terms of gifts. What would you buy to go with that new mystery you picked up for your husband? What item would just perfectly complete your Christmas package for your bibliophile of a best friend? These are the sorts of items that will round out your bundle!

5. Go digital. Etsy’s policies allow for automatic downloads when buyers purchase digital files. This absolutely includes ebooks! Most of the ebooks for sale on Etsy are, at present, craft-related or instructional guides (as this author/seller demonstrates), but there’s a growing cadre of authors in all genres finding representation there (if you don’t believe me, check out this author, and this one, and this one). The only limitations are size (20 MB or fewer) and format (.PDF files only), but these are relatively easy constraints to work around. And as always, Etsy demonstrates its eagerness to set its users up for success by posting a thorough “how-to” page for listing and selling digital items.

Most Overlooked Feature:

As you might have inferred from what I’ve already written, I think the most fearfully neglected asset Etsy has in its favor is its tight-knit community of staff and fellow author-sellers. If someone hasn’t already asked the question in their forums, and if they haven’t already addressed a concern in their “Online Labs” (found in the “Community” section) or in their “Help” pages, and if it hasn’t been thoroughly analyzed in the “Teams” discussions, then Etsy staff will go out of their way to help you out via email. Etsy’s founders want you to succeed. Your fellow authors and sellers want you to succeed. You want to succeed. It’s literally the perfect environment for a newcomer to dive into self-publishing, complete with a resilient safety net and a genuinely interested set of supportive people to serve as your cheer squad.

I hope you’ll join me in building this Social Media Primer! If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or contributions, please use the comment field below or drop us a line at selfpublishingadvice@gmail.com. And remember to check back each Wednesday for your weekly dose of social media know-how. ♠

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Executive Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog, kellyschuknecht.com.

from the archives, karl schroeder, Kelly Speaks

From the Archives: “Statistics Suggest Good News for the Self-Publishing Author”

Welcome back to our new Tuesday segment, where we’ll be revisiting some of our most popular posts from the last few years. What’s stayed the same? And what’s changed? We’ll be updating you on the facts, and taking a new (and hopefully refreshing) angle on a few timeless classics of Self Publishing Advisor.

∗∗∗∗∗

[ Originally posted: December 17th, 2008 ]

Bowker, the global leader in bibliographic information management, recently released 2007 book publishing statistics compiled from its Books In Print database. Based on figures from U.S. publishers, Bowker is projecting that U.S. title output last year increased slightly from 2006 to almost 300,000 books. That’s over a quarter of a million books published in one year alone.

Here’s another interesting statistic, while traditional book publishing was basically flat last year, there was a staggering rise in the reported number of on-demand and short-run books to 134,773, pushing the grand total for projected 2007 U.S. book output to 411,422 books. In fact, Bowker has planned to separate this particular output from its traditional reporting and has begun tracking the On Demand industry segment separately.

What does this mean for you? To begin, your book may not stock in every bookstore. Or any bookstore. And it’s entirely possible that you may not want it to.

As a self-publishing author, these statistics undoubtedly suggest your sales opportunities will continue to grow and become more profitable. Sales are shifting from offline to online. More and more people are becoming comfortable with (and even accustomed to) shopping online. Selling books online is more cost-effective than selling through a typical bookstore, and that means more money in your pocket. It’s no coincidence that Amazon’s book sales numbers mirror the same increases on an annual bases. That’s good news.

It’s been said before on this blog, make sure your self-publishing choice lets you set your own retail price, royalty, and discount to take maximum advantage of shifting consumer trends.

Something to keep in mind as you wrap up your writing and begin the publishing process.

Have fun and keep writing.

– Karl Schroeder

Well, it should come as a surprise to no one that Bowker has updated its data sets since we first wrote this blog back in 2008–and the news is, unsurprisingly, mixed but mostly positive when it comes to the world of indie and self-published authors! The newest report, which covers industry data for precisely the years that have elapsed since our original post (2008-2013), shows that the market for ebooks as well as self-published books has mostly stabilized.

Here’s what’s changed: while overall, the growth of print and ebook sales has proven to be exponential (436.53% in five years––not bad!), the rate has slowed to a still-impressive 16.56% between 2012 and 2013. There’s no reason to believe that this should be interpreted as a “slow-down” rather than a natural stabilization, as the Bowker report breaks down the percentage of increase or decrease by indie, hybrid, or self-publishing company. The fact that some companies are proving to be breakout successes (Smashwords and Blurb, for example) while others have seen steady growth, others slight decline, simply goes to show that the self-publishing market has responded to increased pressures by diversifying and steadying. Says Bowker Director of Identifier Services, Beat Barblan, self-publishing is “evolving from a frantic, wild-west style space to a more serious business.” There’s also the lovely little fact that, in 2013, there were as many self-published works (458,564 to be precise!) as there were total titles published in 2007 (including those published by traditional means).

Ebook sales continue to account for the majority of percentage increase in terms of sales over the last five years, which may provide some guidance as you move forward in selecting your self-publisher. Whatever avenue or company you choose, take a good long look at both the Bowker report and your own personal desires when it comes to sales margins and profits. You get to call the shots, so make sure they’re on target with the most up-to-date information. And the verdict is in: the statistics still suggest good news for you, the self-publishing author! ♠

Advocacy in Self-Publishing, Alternative Marketing Methods, Book Marketing, Book Promotion, Book Promotion Strategy, Book Reviews, goodreads, Kelly Speaks, Social Media Marketing

An Indie Author’s Social Media Primer | Goodreads

In contrast to last week’s post, which looked at a social media platform that is less-used (might I even say underused?) by indie and self-published authors, this week we’ll be examining the other end of the spectrum–at a platform that has been mined so often and so thoroughly for its marketing potential that setting up a profile has almost become a requirement. I’m talking about Goodreads, if you haven’t already guessed, a website we’ve looked at before on Self Publishing Advisor. Fortunately for us and for you, however, it’s a website that keeps evolving, and keeps generating new possibilities. I can definitively say that most authors know some of the buzz about Goodreads, but very few know all of the ways in which this platform can be of use.

For those of you who are new to Goodreads (and don’t be ashamed if you are, despite what I just said about authors definitively knowing things–there’s always going to be some new corner of the Internet to explore!), what is this website? In short, it’s a cross between Facebook and Amazon for readers and writers and those involved in the dissemination of books. All users can create profiles, log the books they’ve read or are reading or want to read, rating them out of five stars and posting book reviews as they go. You can find your friends by interlinking your Goodreads account with Facebook or Twitter or Amazon, or by using their email addresses. (Goodreads was purchased after its stratospheric rise by Amazon, so a lot of its features (like reviews and “buy from these retailers” links) are already well-integrated into that other behemoth of the book industry.)

Authors get even a little more love, in that they can create specialized “Author Pages” that list their books (including pictures of their book covers), link to blog posts, and allow authors to create and manage book giveaways. Goodreads is so passionate about making promotion easy for authors that it has even put together a comprehensive web page describing how to best use their features–you can find that here–and have left me almost nothing to add except a little style and flourish.

No, that’s a lie. I still have a lot to say about Goodreads!

Debunking the Great Goodreads Myth: “If I have Facebook and Amazon, I don’t really need another spot to store all my book recommendations, do I?”

Oh, but there’s something so incredibly satisfying about falling into a community that shares your passion for literature, isn’t there? Amazon was created to sell things, and its “social” structures were integrated into that website after they were proven to be marketable. Facebook was created to be social, and its “profitable” structures were integrated into that website after they were proven to have social elements. Goodreads, on the other hand, was designed around the reading experience, to aid and abet readers and writers in sharing their love of literature. Both social and marketable elements shaped the platform’s earliest concepts, and so the fusion of these two aspects is 100% seamless. To be sure, it won’t replace your Facebook or your Amazon account, but it occupies a third space–and an equally compelling one, in my opinion. It fills a niche and fills it perfectly.

Top 5 Best Practices:

1. Set up an author page. Do it. There’s no excuse not to, not when the resources are literally right there at your fingertips, delivered on a platinum platter by Goodreads’ own staff. And if you’ve already published books, don’t worry–you can “capture” existing books in the system and take ownership of them, even if one of your readers has beaten you to entering the vital statistics into the system. And if you run into trouble, the Goodreads staff are always quick to respond to both emails and posts in their help forums. There’s a seemingly endless list of possible situations that the staff will troubleshoot for you. Remember all of my past references to “findability”? Setting up a Goodreads author page and filling in as many of the empty fields as possible will, without fail, make you more findable. Have you googled a book recently? More than half of the top search results for the average book link back to Goodreads–reviews, book pages, author pages, and forum posts.

2. Be a reader–an active reader. Quite apart to the other benefits of being an avid reader (which I’m sure you are, already!), being an active reader on Goodreads has some serious benefits for your self-promotion methods. The more books you review–actually review, not just leave a three- or five-star rating–the more people will see your name and follow the name back to your author page, and land on your books. Even established authors with big followings will benefit from reading and from using Goodreads as the tool it was designed to be–a platform for sharing one’s passion for the printed (or digitized) word. Other readers pick up on passion, enthusiasm, and authenticity. I have been followed by a whole host of strangers on Goodreads who see my reviews, and you can bet they form a perfect nucleus of potential new readers.

3. Encourage your readers and followers to write reviews. Elsewhere, even offline or apart from Goodreads, reviews are a wonderful–or even necessary–component of a sound marketing strategy. Whenever you click on a book page in Goodreads, you’re delivered a whole sheaf of reviews, and the ones with the most “likes” are prioritized by the website to be displayed at the top of the sheaf. Other readers and respond to reviews by liking, or by replying with their own comments. However you incentivize the posting of reviews on your own books (see my next point), make sure that you do incentivize it! At the very least, encourage your readers to check out your Goodreads author page. The more people who interact there, the more links and metadata that is generated, and the more “findable” you are through indexing search engines like Google and Bing!

4. Host a giveaway! I’ll admit it, I’m a giveaway addict. (And I know I’m not alone–FREE BOOKS?!?! Who wouldn’t be?!) Goodreads makes hosting a giveaway so incredibly easy. I will sit there for hours perusing the list of upcoming giveaways, signing myself up and crossing my fingers that I win this or that one. New readers will find you simply by virtue of the fact you’re holding a giveaway … and this is before you even let your existing fans and social media followers know that they can enter! (And again, don’t be afraid of the Goodreads forums. There’s a lot of excellent information to mine there.) You can only host a giveaway if you’re a book’s author or a bookseller, and there’s a heavy emphasis on giving away new books, upcoming releases, and new editions of previously published books. By limiting giveaways in this way, Goodreads has cultivated a certain level of respectability and credibility that you won’t find in a lot of other places.

5. Join a group. Goodreads is built around networking, so make sure to take full advantage of all of the networking options on the website–whether that’s creating a book list through Listopia, or posting reviews of books you’re reading, or posting blogs to your author page, or joining a group. The groups are where a lot of the fun happens, and you can find a group to fit even the most specific interest. There are book groups based on genres, on careers (librarians and booksellers are well-represented, as you might expect), on where you live or used to live (the LA Transplants book club group looks quite interesting), what you do in your leisure time, and, of course, a whole bunch of groups that cater specifically to you, the indie or self-published author (including this one!). If you haven’t already found “your people,” you might just find them in a Goodreads Group. You’ll find encouragement, information, instruction, and feedback. The key to a good group experience is, as with all things social media, living as authentically online as you do offline.

Most Overlooked Feature:

In my mind, this one comes down to two possibilities: Goodreads Events, and Listopia. In some ways, I feel as though Listopia is on its way out while Events is still quietly going strong and perhaps growing in its possible offerings. In essence, you can use Events to organize real-life or digital meetups, including book readings and sales or online promotions. You get to invite both current Goodreads users as well as non-users (by sharing the link), and you can manage each event to meet your personal preferences for a “public” versus “private” or “restricted” guest list. Yes, Facebook also provides options for event invitations and meetups, but they’re less specific to the book industry–and, simultaneously, less likely to be stumbled-upon by new readers. In any case, you can’t hurt your chances by trying it out!

Elise Speaks, from the archives, Kelly Speaks

From the Archives: “How Much Do Self-Published Authors Make Per Year?”

Welcome to our new Tuesday segment, where we’ll be revisiting some of our most popular posts from the last few years. What’s stayed the same? And what’s changed? We’ll be updating you on the facts, and taking a new (and hopefully refreshing) angle on a few timeless classics of Self Publishing Advisor.

∗∗∗∗∗

[ Originally posted: July 13th, 2011 ]

You want to become a self-published author, but you also have bills to pay and a lifestyle to maintain. So you pull up Google (or your search engine of choice), and search for “average income for book authors” or “average income for self-published authors”. You skim the results but can’t find any solid statistics. There’s a good reason why. Ready for it? Authors aren’t paid a salary. They earn royalties based on the sales of their book. These royalties are paid to them on a set schedule – usually provided that they meet the agreed upon “minimum earning threshold”.

So, will I be able to pay my bills if I become a self-published author? That’s an excellent question. Unfortunately, there is no “one size fits all” answer to it. When you publish a book, you are essentially taking a “gamble” on yourself. Many authors keep their day jobs until they are able to earn enough to support themselves on their book sales alone. One dedicated Outskirts Press author made $100,000 in only 180 days (6 months). However, there are some authors who don’t earn anywhere near this amount in a year. Furthermore, there are some authors who may not sell even one book over the course of a year.

How do you know where you fall? Self-publishing is all about investing in yourself. Given that successfully publishing a book involves 20% writing and 80% marketing, you should naturally spend most of your time/money on promoting the book after you write it. If you need help, you may consider enlisting the services of a book marketing consultant.

The income of a self-publishing author is 100% in their own hands. No one can “predict” how much you will earn as that is only a result of two things: the quality of your book and substantial effort in marketing it to the right audience.

Four years (and a few weeks) have passed since Elise first posted this blog about potential profits in self-publishing, and everything she wrote about then still holds up today. But if you were looking for some statistics or some hard data to back up her assertions, consider the following information mined from a 2013 Forbes article:

20% of self-published authors reported making no income at all from their writing, with a median income of under $5,000.
traditionally published authors had a median income of between $5,000 and $9,999.
hybrid authors–those who self-publish through a company like Outskirts Press–had a median income of between $15,000 to $19,999.
of authors who self-published, 1.8% made over $100,000 from their writing (in 2012); of traditionally published authors, 8.8% made a comparable amount; outdistancing the pack, hybrid authors performed the best, with 13.2% making over $100,000 in the same year.

The Forbes article stressed that theirs was an “non-scientific” sampling, so as not to be construed as “nationally representative” or even wholly accurate. Still, when you look at the data, you can’t help but be impressed by one thing: hybrid authors are making out like bandits, comparatively! We shouldn’t be discouraged by the first point, as the numbers don’t look all that great for traditionally published authors when it comes to profit and loss.

Take a look at this article from Publishing Perspectives, which includes a beautiful little infographic breaking down earnings by price bracket. Those authors who make no money at all are fairly similar between traditional and self-publishing groups, but drop dramatically in the hybrid bracket. On the whole, hybrid publishing platforms tend to spread out the earnings, percentage-wise, whereas self-published and even traditionally-published markets clump authors together into the lower income brackets. (All but the Lucky Few, that is.)

All this to say, there’s been a shift in the last five years away from “strictly” traditional and “strictly” self-published modes of authorship. The advent of indie and hybrid publishing–the diversification of the entire publishing system–has created more opportunities and more middle ground for authors who want to remain in control of the creative process. None of this impacts Elise’s sound recommendation to stick to the 20/80 ratio (20% writing, 80% marketing)–but it does provide food for thought when it comes to offloading some of that marketing to professionals. It’s no longer a question of “Can I find a niche?” but rather “Who is going to market my book most effectively?” The answer isn’t always what you might think. ♠

from the archives, Kelly Speaks

From the Archives: “Self-Publishing Success for The Shack”

∗∗∗∗∗

[ Originally posted: June 14th, 2009 ]

You can’t walk through WalMart or browse through an online bookstore without catching a glimpse of The Shack. This 256 page novel was written by William P. Young, a former salesman, and self-published with the help of two business associates. Once copied and bound at Kinko’s, The Shack is now a New York Times Bestseller.

Published under an imprint, Windblown Media, created by Young and two former pastors, The Shack had a $300 marketing budget. The three embarked on a viral marketing campaign (word-of-mouth, church-to-church, blog-to-blog) to get copies out.

The moral of the story: as a self-published author, you’ve got to know your readers, discover how to reach them and start spreading the word.

Not every self-published author aspires to be like Young, and for those who do, the chances may be one in a million. However, The Shack proves that traditional publishing is not the only path to success for authors.

∗∗∗∗∗

Back in 2009, when The Shack was still a relatively recent publication–and international phenomenon–we posted this tiny little blog as a kind of preface for a future blog series on viral marketing. (See those posts here, here, and here.) Little did we know just how big of a deal The Shack was going to become–after it was picked up by Hachette, it had sold more than 1 million copies as of June 2008, and 10 million copies as of January 2012. Long before it was a commercial success in the hands of a big publishing company, however, The Shack was already doing splendidly.

We already know the story–how William Paul Young wrote an early version of The Shack and showed his wife, who told he needed to share it, so he made 15 photocopies that ended up circulating amongst their friends and their friends’ friends until Young felt compelled to ask the question: “Should I make a serious attempt at publication?” And how he approached a pastor, Wayne Jacobson, for his advice–and then they ended up starting their own publishing house (Windblown Media) to print and distribute the book. The rest, as they say, is history.

Only, that isn’t … quite … everything. While The Shack certainly saw more bookshelves than it would have otherwise once it had the might and heft of Hachette behind it, that isn’t to say it wasn’t an enormous self-publishing success long before it became a commercial success. Before Hachette took it on, The Shack had a marketing budget of only $300 dollars–an amount which paid for its website and little else. Young, Jacobson, and fellow pastor Brad Cummings covered the initial printing costs and footed the bill to create Windblown Media by maxing out 12 personal credit cards. Together, they sold the first 1,000 copies directly from that $300 website, and sold the initial print run of 11,000 copies in around 120 days. Their second print run of 22,000 sold out in fewer than 60. Their third print run of 33,000 was gone in 30 days. All of these books were sold through simple word-of-mouth and the book’s website. Donald Hughes of ChristianWritingToday.com writes that despite some legal disputes over the division of funds, “these men were present at a Christian self-publishing miracle, one that brings hope to many Christian authors.”

If we’re going to talk about the legacy of The Shack, the language of faith and miracles seems on point in more than one respect. The book is deeply religious in content, yes, but its impact can provide inspiration for authors of all faiths and creeds (or lack thereof). And even now, all these years later, The Shack is still moving copies. It’s even being adapted into a movie with a big budget and a Hollywood cast headed up by A-listers Sam Worthington (of Avatar fame) and Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer (of The Help … and many other films). The Shack is what it is because it found its ideal audience, and because its author was unafraid to write the book he really wanted to write–not just the book that publishers and agents wanted him to write.

We wrote about Young and The Shack back in 2009, but in 2015 this truth remains the same: The Shack is lauded as “intriguing,” “thought-provoking,” and “compelling” because self-publishing gave it a platform that traditional publishing did not; in choosing not to eradicate what made his book different and counter-cultural, Young made a deliberate choice not to give in to the industrial forces that erase authors from their own publishing experience. If you take anything away from Young’s story, it’s to create the book that you need to create, in your voice, and to deliver it to your readers the way that you want it to be read. ♠

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: