And now for the news!

Some highlights from this month in the world of self-publishing, specifically interviews with or articles written by self-publishing authors and experts!

• David Gilmore on Finding Love in Strange Places, Writing About It, and a Colonoscopy

Wait–what? A colonoscopy? We don’t normally advertise those in our Book titles. And yet, on the other hand, it did grab our attention. So … well done, David Gilmore. Well done. Gilmore’s book, How I Went to Asia for a Colonoscopy and Stayed for Love: A Memoir of Mischief and Romance, serves as the locus for this article by a different David–David Henry Sterry, and the eponymous “Book Doctors”–for HuffPost. This interview tracks everything from how Gilmore got his start, which influential works have inspired him through the years, his “long and winding” path to authorship and publication, his recommendations and tips for self-publishing, and some of the challenges he faced while gathering the information and stories collected in his book. (There really was a colonoscopy in Thailand, which reported came off rather well and significantly more affordably than it would have Stateside.) This interview is substantial, comedic, sincere, and thoroughly entertaining. We highly recommend you read the full piece at the link!

• Best-selling author Matthew Reilly on journey to success and from heartbreak

The Daily Telegraph doesn’t always dive deep into profiling authors, but this week we landed a gem in Daniel Stringer’s piece on Matthew Reilly, one of Australia’s most beloved authors (with a thoroughly American list of inspirations: Tom Clancy and John Grisham top the list, with William Golding coming in at the tail end as a token British mention). He found inspiration on his daily commute in the kind of mass-market fiction which was then and remains now such potent material for thought and action; but while the authors he read are all household names now, he himself struggled to find an audience at first. Reilly self-published his first book after having been rejected by traditional publishers, whose response to his manuscript he describes as “soul-crushing.” Well, he may not be catching the bus so often these days, but he is still publishing, with more than fifteen books already on the shelves and many more to come. You can read the full article on the Daily Telegraph website.

• Dells Woman publishes first book at 80

Rose Bingham is everything you need to cheer you up on this dreary winter Monday morning (we’re assuming it’s dreary everywhere since it’s dreary here, which is rather convenient, and indefensible of course). This enterprising eighty-year-old from Wisconsin has done something magnificent and significant: she’s published her memoirs. One might argue that hers is an act of reversal; in chronicling the disappearance of her own mother and her experience in an orphanage, her determination to keep track of her siblings, and what came after. Bingham’s memoirs, published under the title Buy the Little One a Dolly, are not self-published. Why? The answer is telling. The price, Bingham reports, was “quite hefty.” We know this is not an uncommon take on self-publishing in the year 2017–that the confusion of vanity presses with genuine self-publishing companies has done the exact opposite of what self-publishers set out to do (democratize the publishing process). Bingham’s story is inspiring and uplifting on so many levels, but that telling little note–that gentle aside from a woman who ought to have been able to pursue whatever path to publication she wanted–strikes a discordant chord. A reminder to stick to our principles.

As a self-publishing author, you may find it helpful to stay up-to-date on the trends and news related to the self-publishing industry.This will help you make informed decisions before, during and after the self-publishing process, which will lead to a greater self-publishing experience. To help you stay current on self-publishing topics, simply visit our blog every Monday to find out the hottest news. If you have other big news to share, please comment below.