Your Intention as an Author Can Help
Determine Your Publishing Choice
I find it interesting to hear about how
people started doing what they do. I
would have assumed all writers/authors had some desire to put thoughts and
words on paper for public viewing until I became one myself.
I never thought about being a writer, let alone an author, prior to my life being changed by chronic illness. I loved my career as a geriatric nurse and homecare agency
owner, but everything changed when chronic illness took my life as I knew it.
After a 5-year battle to be diagnosed with Sjogren's Syndrome and Chronic
Fatigue, the only way I could see how I could continue helping seniors and
family caregivers was to write. I knew
the effect that education had on seniors and families when they found
themselves in a crisis following an unexpected illness, injury or
diagnosis. Spending time educating
literally thousands of families, I could literally watch the stress lift from
their faces as they learned about their health problem(s) and the resources and
options that were available. When the
questions and fears that swirled in their minds were discussed and answered
they had a huge sense of relief, so my articles and books are focused on
providing education, information, resources and advocacy in a way that reduces
stress, advocates for better treatment, living and care of the elderly and
provides hope for a better future for us all as 78 million of us Baby Boomers
have begun entering our senior years.
Being an accidental author, I needed to do a
lot of diligent research into publishing prior to my book. The first question I needed answers for was
the differences between traditional publishing and self-publishing and what
would make sense for me. I debated back
and forth for over a year and wondered why anyone would give control to a
publisher who owned their work, took too much time to get the book to market,
gave the author very little compensation for their work and didn’t really
market the book anyway? Of course if you
are a big named author this doesn’t apply as much but for a nurse that loves
old people and never even considered being an author I definitely didn’t fit in
that category.
Next I started investigating
self-publishing companies and what they offered for what price, as well as
their reputation and influence. My
journey and ultimate choice turned out very different than fitting in what we
think of as traditional publishing or self-publishing, although I do fit into
the self-publishing category. Through a
newsletter from Arielle Ford I read about the cutting edge M2eBook, which is a
mini-media eBook that is created as a preview of a full book. I was intrigued and contacted the creator, Jared
Rosen from DreamSculpt Media. More than a basic publisher, Jared is a visionary
of social good and helped expand my thoughts of what my book could be,
including going beyond the book to be an entire advocacy project. My experience was excellent and I learned a
lot about the publishing world through Jared and his immense experience that I hadn’t
learned on my own.
Even though I am a new author and baby in
this field, I have determined that each author’s specific needs, intentions and
goals will determine the type of publishing decisions that best meet those
needs. I cannot say one is better than
the other. I can say that knowing
yourself and what you want to accomplish through writing is the most important aspect
in making your publishing decisions.
Feeling comfortable and confident in your choices is essential to
success in accomplishing your goals and fulfilling your intentions. I believe the changes in the publishing world
have been to the author’s advantage and allow creativity and information
exchange that wouldn’t have been available just a few short years ago. Doing your homework to make the best decision
for you is critical to your success. If
you happen to stumble and fall it’s not final.
It is only a learning process for your future success!
About the Author
Angil Tarach-Ritchey, RN, GCM, has cared and advocated for seniors since her passion was sparked by a box of love letters she found in the nursing home she worked at as a 17-year-old girl in 1977. She is a Registered Nurse, Geriatric Care Manager, National Eldercare Expert, Best-Selling and Award Winning Author of Behind the Old Face: Aging in America and the Coming Elder Boom, Speaker, Consultant, and Educator.Angil has written nearly 80 articles and been featured and quoted in CNBC, Reuters, CBS, Case in Point Magazine, CareNovate Magazine, McKnight’s Long Term Care News, Consumer Affairs, Women Entrepreneur, Life Goes Strong , Jennings Wire, and many other websites, magazines, newspapers and podcasts across the US and internationally. She has been a guest and repeat guest on several radio shows and the featured guest on Your Money, Your Life TV show. She is a highly respected advocate for the elderly.
