My Choice to Self-Publish

These are the words of Kathy Pickett, author of Balboa Press book “Spirit and Belief”. Kathy answered the call to write her book and self-publish with Balboa Press. To learn more about her story visit her website and Twitter. Download the Balboa Press free publishing guide to receive more information. 

Taking a Chance

My journey with Balboa Press began when I signed up for a free publishing guide and decided to take a chance. At the time, I never even dreamed of becoming an author at all but felt so compelled to share my stories someway, somehow. This feeling kept nagging at me and I just couldn’t ignore it any longer. I found out how Hay House had a smaller company called Balboa Press and decided to check it out. By sharing my experiences, I wanted to empower people about the inner book waiting inside of them for the world to see and know.

Traditional or Self-publishing?

I weighed my options of traditional versus self-publishing and followed my heart that led to Balboa Press publishing my book. Like many others, I also felt that my stories told themselves and the writing was the easy part for me. A professional writer and editor told me that if you have written a blog for about a year, you had enough content for a book! I laughed that off and thought nobody would be interested in my blog experiences being turned into a book. Once I started the process, my passion was ignited to see this through to the end.

The Ease of Self-publishing

Sure, I could’ve gone the traditional route of searching up companies and then finding an agent. Being told it might take up to two years sounded crazy to me and really– who has the time? I guess if you aren’t too concerned with persistence or time but that isn’t me at all. I get an idea and just run with it like I feel happens all the time. The irony or perhaps destiny of my journey still baffles me since I wasn’t concentrating on certain dates at all. When I started my blog the date was October 4th, 2016 and my book was published in early October 2017. That was amazing to me and the whole process of actually writing the book and getting it published took two months! Within a year, I went from starting a blog to a published book.

Working with Balboa Press

Balboa was a great fit for me and every person guided me along the way while I learned so much as well. I actually had goals in mind for my book before getting asked that question by a rep on the phone so I highly recommend that to anyone to boost your confidence. I kept that paper next to me while typing as to not stray from my topic and go off on tangents which happens sometimes! It was and is still overwhelming to me to think I am a published author and that my book is reaching the world.

No question is too silly to ask and you aren’t judged at all which is what all writers need to become authors. I want to serve others by inspiring them to believe that they have the power to make this happen if you truly want it to. There will never be a perfect book, time, or age in your life and we can look to Louise Hay for that! Self-Publishing is on your time and scheduling and it just fit into my life. I am so grateful and always will continue my journey wherever it takes me. Sometimes, we are guided when we don’t even know it and the possibilities are endless.

Balboa Press authors who’d like to share a 350-600 word experience related to the self-publishing of their books are invited to do so by the submission form on the Guidelines page. We may not be able to use every story, but we will read and consider them. Balboa Press reserves the right to edit stories for content, grammar, and punctuation accuracy; as well as for space.

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