Julia Fox Garrison is known here in the town of Memoirville for two things: her inspirational-but-sassy book Don’t Leave Me This Way: Or When I Get Back on My Feet You’ll Be Sorry (excerpt here), and for having self-published it first.

After the jump, the delightful, insightful Ms. Garrison tells Memoirville about her experiences in the self-publishing world, her adaptation to the commercial book business, and when it’s best for new writers to go each way. Read on for her journey from self-published nobody to auctioned-off author with “people”– and why she thinks you should self-publish anyway.

Later this year, she’ll be giving a lecture on this very topic at Harvard medical school. Just remember, you heard it here first, folks, even if you don’t so much as know where your uvula is.

-Rachel

Q. How and when did you decide to write a book about your experiences?

A. First, I never was one to proclaim, “I’m going to write a book someday.” It just wasn’t part of my DNA. I always wanted someone to write a book that was dedicated to me, so that no work would be required of me!

Many people ask me if I wrote my book for cathartic reasons. The answer is a resounding No. I was okay because I had a rock of a husband, a son who inspired me to do more, a family who was consistently there for me, and a network of friends who provided regular belly laughs. I knew I had a lot to say. In the aftermath of my stroke, dealing with the medical community and insurance companies, and trying to rehabilitate myself so that I could do even the simplest of tasks I used to take for granted, I sensed that I had a story to tell. It seemed that my experience was a blueprint for how not to let the system dictate the direction, pace, and objectives of your recovery.

It was written not just for stroke victims and their families, but for people from all walks of life. People with health issues. People with stress in their lives. People who are depressed or overwhelmed or challenged. In other words, all of us. The message is clear: you hold the key to overcoming the obstacles put before you. Humor, positive attitude, and inner strength will help you prevail.

Answer the question, Julia. I started the book at the end of 2000. Jim, bought me a digital recorder that I would use to dictate, and later I had a service transcribe my material. I outlined on paper the events that I thought were important or of interest. I knew that I didn’t want to write ‘another blow-by-blow’ recovery story. I wanted readers to feel they were right there on the gurney with me.

Q. Did you try to find a mainstream publisher first, or go right to self-publishing?

A. No I did not even attempt to retain an agent (which can be as difficult as getting a publisher) or publisher. I hired an editor to help me put all my material into a finished product. Several times, he strongly suggested I shop my manuscript, but I refused. He thought I was crazy. I wanted to do everything myself. This included: hiring a transcription service, a book editor, a copy editor, an artist, graphics designer, and ultimately a book printer and fulfillment center. The graphic artist also created the book layout, jacket design, and web site. I also had her create bookmarks that I used as business cards, flyers to post at key locations and an online flyer to send to independent bookstores.

Q. What were the advantages of going that route?

A. I was the boss and retained my vision of the outcome of the final product. Instead of wasting my energies trying to appeal to agents and publishers, I was able to put all my time into my vision of how I wanted my story presented. It was like giving birth, and I was very protective of my baby.

The disadvantage is that I had to fund my baby completely out of my own pocket. It was worth every cent because it was all me engineering it. I even bought a special font for the text because it was easy on the eye for reading. Of course, Jim said there are thousands of free fonts, why do you have to buy one?!

Producing my book gave me incredible self-satisfaction too. It was very difficult to do all my own promotion and marketing. In fact the writing was a cake-walk compared to promoting it.

Q. How is Don’t Leave Me… different from the original memoir?

A. The bulk of Don’t Leave Me This Way is very much the same as P.S. Julia.
There’s the obvious—new title and jacket design—But I also wrote a few new chapters and removed one. HarperCollins’ editor wanted me to remove a few
other chapters, but I held firm. I really liked the chapter I removed; it was called Death of a Princess. I was in the hospital paralyzed, fighting for my life, when Princess Diana died. I watched the funeral at 5 a.m. our time and cried a river in my hospital bed. I thought, who am I really crying for? My editor felt it took the reader out of the journey because everyone remembers where they were when the tragedy struck. I ultimately agreed and followed her advice.

I also added an Appendix to the book that contains patient advocacy tools. Last October I wrote a handout, Problem Patient Gets Better, for a medical conference I was invited to as a speaker. I thought hell, this is useful for
Everyone—not just doctors.

Besides general editing, I changed some chapter titles, and rewrote some areas for clarity. The bottom line is edit, edit, edit. I don’t think you could ever do enough.

Q. How did you find out HarperCollins was interested?

A. It actually happened very quickly. I did my first book event on June 1, 2005, at the Borders bookstore in Peabody, MA. I was rejected initially. I told them that I’d accept their No answer only after they read the book. It circulated amongst the staff and Borders was sold. I had over 300 people attend and sold 99 books in two hours

On June 3, I attended the Book Expo in NYC. I realized that I was only a grain in this vast land of publishing. I knew that my book was going to inspire its audience, but I needed the machine behind me. Through a friend’s suggestion, I sought out an agent. We spoke briefly and I gave her a copy of my book.

I had the good fortune to be featured in a health beat segment on Boston ABC news a few weeks later. I had more agents knocking at my door. I went with my gut on choosing an agent—(instincts are your soul talking to you).
The gut was true as always. I got the best book agent—Vicky Bijur Literary Agency. I signed with her and she immediately sent my book to over 20 publishing houses. Next it was interviews with the interested publishers. I was fortunate that more than one was interested so it went to auction on August 12, 2005. HarperCollins won the bid and it has been incredible working with them. These people are more than work associates, they are my friends–combined they are a wealth of knowledge and experience.

Q. What has been different about being with a big house?

A. I now have to run ideas and possible engagements by ‘my people’ (agent, editor, and publicist). This is the very reason I decided to go the big house route. I needed the machine to propel my book into the national arena.

Although I have a big publisher behind me, I’m still responsible for getting out and promoting the book. It’s a lot of work. It is very difficult to sell a book. You’re literally competing with over 100,000 new books yearly. You have 30 seconds to capture a reader’s attention. The cover has to beckon to the reader to pick it up.

Q. What is your advice for aspiring memoirists– when is it wise to go a traditional route, and when is self-publishing a better idea?

A. I recommend that every first-time author self-publish. It will provide you with an education on how the publishing world ticks. I have a better understanding of what was important to me when moving on to a publishing house. I had some difficulty with the title change. P.S. Julia had been on the market a few months before I had to remove it. I felt that I had developed some name recognition with all the seeds I had planted. Ironically, it hit the Boston Globe’s bestseller list a few weeks after HarperCollins picked it up, purely by word-of-mouth alone. It was a little bittersweet that I had to remove it from market at that time. My editor explained that my title didn’t make sense until you had already read it. Their job was to capture the national audience with a title that provided a hook.

As a self-publisher, you must have a thick skin because you’ll face a lot of rejection. I used the attributes that help me recover from a debilitating stroke—perseverance, positive attitude, and humor.

Of course, if you have great connections in the publishing industry, even as an unknown or first-time author, you may want to pursue the traditional route, at least at first. But your connections aren’t a guarantee that your manuscript will be accepted, and you will be published. The work still has to speak for itself and succeed on its own merits.

Q. As the book industry struggles and the internet democratizes media, where do you think self-publishing is going?

A. The internet has changed everything we do. Lay people have access to information on any subject at their fingertips. I was able to research book printers. Learn about their services, and request quotes online. If I wanted more information or samples, I could have it sent via snail mail. Self-publish accessibility is propagating, with so many print-on-demand (POD)
establishments popping up on the internet.

While there are more people pursuing the self-publishing route, the bookselling industry needs to catch up. Most booksellers will not take on a self-published book, and they usually reject a POD altogether.

This is why I created and published under my own moniker, Pinhead Press. It was a method of thinly disguising that I was self-published. Most, if not all, of the big publishing houses publish under a variety of imprints, so it wasn’t necessarily immediately obvious that I was self-published.

Funny story: When I was promoting P.S. Julia, I called the Harvard Coop, a bookstore that I had frequented in my old work life. After I was rejected for an event, I called the book buyer. The conversation:

Buyer: “We don’t carry books by one-time authors.”
Julia: “Oh, but you don’t have to worry, this my first of many.”
Buyer: “Well, who is your publisher?”
Julia: “I wouldn’t publish with any one other than the best, Pinhead Press”
(silence)