Adventures in Publishing

Video Version Here

Three years ago, I wrote and published my first blog post, “Here”  https://www.reneeharmon.com/2019/08/14/alzheimers-caregiving-is-asking-for-help-a-sign-of-weakness/ I have written brand new blog posts most weeks since then. This is number 145. Wow! It’s been an adventure that I wasn’t sure I could manage. I wasn’t fully aware of what I was getting into. I sort of just jumped!

The impetus for starting my website and the blog was to generate interest in my memoir, Surfing the Waves of Alzheimer’s, and as a way for me to keep my writing skills sharpened. If all I ever did was write and publish these blog posts, I think they still would have had an impact.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

I completed the first draft of Surfing the Waves of Alzheimer’s in March, 2019. I had no idea that it would take so long to get the book out into the world, and the blog project tied me over until it did.

After writing the memoir, the next step was seeing if I could get a literary agent to pick it up, so I wrote and sent query letters to about fifty agents. Most responses were non-responses, saying no by ignoring me. (How hard is it to click a button to send a standard rejection letter?) There were a few of those standard letters, and a handful of nice, helpful rejections. I got two nibbles, one that I turned down as it just didn’t feel like a good fit, and another that turned the book down once he read the full copy I sent him. That whole process of sending query letters took several months because each agent required something completely different. I had to keep a spreadsheet to keep track of everything. And wait the requisite no response time before moving on.

Rereading that last paragraph, it sounds a bit bitter, but really, I didn’t expect an agent to pick it up. The book isn’t mainstream enough. It’s pretty niche. But that process taught me more about the publishing world.

Once I gave up on finding a literary agent, I sent letters to a few small publishing houses that don’t require an agent. More waiting for non-responses.

Next, I moved on to researching how to self-publish. There was the option to completely do it myself. Or hire a company to do it all for me. Or a hybrid model that vetted authors, then helped them self-publish. In the end, I chose a company out of Seattle, Girl Friday Productions, to do most of the legwork required to get the book out into the world. I chose this route because I wanted the book to look and feel professionally done.

After the two months that it took for me to research and make the decision, it was another six months for Girl Friday to help me through the steps: final editing, cover design, interior book design, marketing research, marketing plan, register with the Library of Congress, get an ISBN number, set up an Amazon account. I may have missed a few steps, but whew! I’m glad I didn’t try to do it all alone. Even though this company did most of the heavy lifting, I was still involved every step of the way. And I was, and still am, overjoyed by the product.

Surfing the Waves of Alzheimer’s went live in early September, 2020, right in the middle of the pandemic. So. No book launch or book signing events except for a small outdoor event in October.

I launched the book with a one hour Facebook Live event in my house. I continued to upload blog posts weekly. I even learned how to set up accounts for myself as a writer on social media and run ads to sell the book. I entered the book in several awards, and it did well, earning honorable mentions and finalist statuses.

Probably the best thing that has come out of publishing Surfing the Waves of Alzheimer’s is the opportunity I have had to speak to several groups, live and remotely. I have developed my own library of presentations and have even created a one day workshop around the book. Volunteering as a community educator for the Alzheimer’s Association has also increased the number of people I have been able to reach.

So what started out as an adventure in publishing has turned into much more than that. There was an element of challenge—can I really do this—but the main goal was to help other caregivers of persons living with dementia. Even though I have kept up with the number of books sold, 1220 at last count, I have no way of knowing the total number of lives that I have impacted when I add in the speaking engagements. And that is humbling indeed.

“You must go on adventure to find out where you truly belong.” —Sue Fitzmaurice

Evidently, I belong in the publishing world.