The Joys of Being a “Failed” Author

This is NOT a “how to succeed” article, it’s an “enjoy life” piece

My wife has been an author since 2011, with her first book, Caitlyn’s Adventure. It was self-published via Amazon (under their CreateSpace brand, since replaced by Kindle Direct Publishing, which handles print and e-books much better) with drawings by professional illustrator Valerie Bouthyette.

It was fun.

Deb had written the story “Caitlyn’s Adventure” for her nieces and nephews before I came into the family. Some of her family was rather insular and not inclined to go places and see new things; Deb wanted to show them that there was a whole world out there, ready for adventures. But she did not have any way to illustrate it, nor turn it into a book.

Enter me. I heard about these places that allowed someone to self-publish, but printed only on demand—in other words, a book did not get printed until someone ordered it, making initial costs minor. (Previously the author had to order a minimum number of books ahead of time, then it was up to the author to find a market. As you might guess, this resulted in many hopeful authors with boxes of their books in their basements.) I decided it would be fun to develop and self-publish Deb’s book. I went looking for freelance illustrators, and found Valerie on a freelance-for-hire website. (Valerie has since set herself up as an independent, and she now helps authors of children’s books publish their story, including…