My Path to Self-publishing Success 

Ever since I was a small child writing stories about witches and fairies, I have identified as a writer. In my younger days, I blithely assumed that one day there‘d be books with my name on the cover and spine, just as there were by my favourite authors, Lewis Carroll, Noel Streatfeild and A.A. Milne.  

When my school careers advisor told me that sitting in a garrett writing stories until I sold some didn’t count as a proper job, I trod a more conservative career path, going from university to a series of office jobs that paid the mortgage and the bills. All of those jobs involved some kind of writing – journalism, public relations, charity administration – but on the side I kept writing my own stuff. I managed to get a few short stories and some freelance journalism published, but books remained out of reach. Despite amassing a shelf of abandoned draft novels and oodles of assorted short fiction, somehow, by the time I hit my half century, no publisher had beaten a path to my door and wrested my manuscripts from me. Then I realised I needed to seize the initiative before I ran out of life. 

To my eternal gratitude, this new resolve coincided with the emergence of self-publishing in its modern digital form. It was the age of the internet, the era of the ebook, and the advent of Amazon. These three vital developments put indie publishing and global readership within reach of every aspiring author from the comfort of their own home – in my case, from a Victorian cottage in a little Cotswold village. 

At around the same time, my journalism and PR experience led me into a part-time role at the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) as Commissioning Editor of their daily Self-Publishing Advice blog. The learning curve was intense but exciting. I couldn’t wait to put what I was learning into practice. 

Used to the small canvases of magazine journalism and press releases, I wasn’t initially confident of writing a novel fit to self-publish. So, I tested the indie waters with some non-fiction and some collections of short stories. The relative success of these niche publications gave me the courage to write and self-publish my debut novel in a more commercial genre, Cotswold Cozy Mystery. Best Murder in Show was quickly followed by six more in the same series and the first two in a different series, plus three novelettes. I was on a roll. 

Learning to market and promote my own books gained me thousands of reviews and a significant sales record – social proof of the value of my work. Then, out of the blue, my Amazon footprint was spotted by a relatively new publisher, Boldwood Books (now five years old, with over 200 authors and 10 million sales to their credit).  

When Boldwood offered me a contract for my nine backlist novels plus four to six more, I decided to give traditional publishing a chance, while reserving the right to continue to self-publish other books that did not fit Boldwood’s list. By the way, all trad publishing companies have a clear vision of the kind of books they need to acquire to satisfy their particular target market and thus their shareholders. Self-publishing is a great way to curate your own list and readership, rather than having to march to the beat of trade publishers’ drums. 

So, I continued to self-publish short fiction and non-fiction, and I have plans for books in other genres such as children’s fiction. I have plenty more self-published projects in the pipeline. My only constraint is time. 

In my view – and my agent’s – I have the best of both worlds: a trade publisher to extend my reach and reputation, plus the freedom to write and publish what I like, retaining creative control of emotive issues such as title and cover designs, and a larger percentage of royalty per sale on my self-published books. I’ve also recently started writing plays for my village drama group, which I plan to self-publish as scripts, as well as turning them into novels. As an indie, I’m not shoehorned into a narrow niche. I can diversify as much as I like. 

I’m also living proof that self-publishing is not a block on the road to traditional publishing, if that’s your ultimate goal. Having said that, I have many author friends who are so contented with their indie status that they would never cross over to the traditional sector, not even in part, as I have done. Equally, many traditionally published authors reaching the end of their contracts are migrating to self-publishing. It’s a two-way street these days, which is very empowering. 

My own success as a self-published author has made me evangelical. Having stepped down from my ALLi role a few years ago, I missed the fun of helping other aspiring authors. So, when ALLi founder Orna Ross recommended me to Harry Bingham as a potential course tutor for Jericho’s proposed self-publishing course, I jumped at the chance. And I’ve been jumping ever since – for joy at seeing so many of the course alumni go on to self-publish their books to professional standards, across a wide range of genres, from family history and autobiography to historical fiction and romantasy, and much more. 

So, is learning how to self-publish the right route for you to becoming a published author? To find out, check out the course and brochure here. Registration is now open for the Spring 2026 Simply Self Publish course, which kicks off in April. I can’t wait to meet my new students and to start them on their road to self-publishing success!