Write, publish, and sell—or perish
By author Marites Vitug.
"x x x.
Accident
My road to self-publishing was not at all planned. It came as an accident.
In 2010, when I wrote Shadow of Doubt, I lost my original publisher and distributor. They chose to stay away because the book was bound to cause controversy. The Supreme Court, though the weakest branch of government, apparently made sure that my book wouldn’t be readily accessible.
I had to scramble for a new publisher. My news organization, Newsbreak, came to the rescue. We shared the task: Newsbreak took care of the paperback edition. With the help of my son, I took charge of the hardbound edition.
We found other outlets for the book: medium and small-sized bookstores. We set up our own website where we accepted online orders for hard copies.
We made the e-book version of Shadow of Doubt available on Amazon at the same time as the hard copies were on bookstore shelves.
I learned how to market a book. This was the first time—after writing 3 books—I worked real hard to promote and sell my book. I urge authors to do the same.
I realize that authors do not stop working once the book is done. Marketing and promoting it is very much part of our work, and it can be demanding of our time.
It seemed like I did—and continue to do—a lot of shameless self-promotion. But as Peter Osnos, the founder of Public Affairs books, said, “It’s essential that journalists recognize that to truly reach their audience, it is necessary to devote as much attention, time and effort to the promotion of the book and its contents as to its writing.”
x x x."
