Self-Publishing: My Experience as an African-American Writer

Today marks six months since I self-published my very first novel, Deferred Consumption. So, I thought I'd mark the occasion with a quick blog post about what it's been like as an African-American author.  To put it mildly, it’s been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life. But, it’s also been one of the most rewarding and most exciting.  When I first set out to write Deferred Consumption, I really had no idea what I was getting myself into.  I just assumed that everyone loved me and they would buy my book in record numbers.  Boy was I wrong.  Not that everyone doesn’t love me J, but that they cared enough to buy my book the moment I said it was available for purchase.

There I was around 11:00pm on a Sunday night, hands all shaking, as a hit "publish" at Amazon dot com, then proceeded to publish elsewhere around the internet (Barnes and Noble, Google Books, Smashwords, etc.).  Hell, I had such a high opinion of myself, I thought I’d wake up the next morning to find that hundreds, if not thousands, of random strangers who had never even heard of me had purchased my book.  I mean, why not?  I had already made a great living writing just about everything else, so why wouldn’t my books sell?  Oh, foolish, foolish girl.  I guess I figured some magical fairy was going to sprinkle some dust into the eyes and ears of every potential buyer out there and convince them that my book was the one they should get as they tinkered around on some website looking for a book to buy.

I think I sold seven books on the first day and I was pretty disappointed, but little did I know that would be a phenomenal day of sales compared to what was to come. L  My own mama didn’t even by my book until two months after it was released.  And, I damn near had to beg the heifer to do it even then.  Now, let me be clear.  My mama is a southern church lady and Deferred Consumption is very erotic in nature. So, I could understand her hesitance.  But, even if she’d never read it, I still needed her to buy it to help my sales!  She finally bought them, and I do mean "them" because by the time she did buy Deferred Consumption I’d already released a second, shorter book. To date, she still hasn’t finished either.  Now, I’m a little too embarrassed for her to actually read them because they are quite filthy and it’s not exactly something she can chat about with the Missionary Board ladies.

I haven’t done extensive enough research to make the claim that this is the experience for all black writers, but one of the biggest obstacles to sure success for any writer is the support of family and friends.  Every sale matters and when the people who you know best take their sweet time in heading on over to Amazon dot com or wherever else your book is posted for sale, it makes it tough to really break through that red, black and green ceiling.  I don’t think it’s so much that they don’t want to support, though let’s not kid ourselves, there’s always a few haters in the midst, so much as it is they don’t understand the urgency of the situation.

I could tell that many of my family and friends were perturbed that the actors on the cover of my first book were white.  But, I was equally as pissed that I was basically being told that I could only write books about black characters, in an age of Shonda Rhimes, no less. Would those faithful African-American readers have bought my book in droves had the cover featured black actors?  It’s something I’ll never know, but it’s not something that I regret either because I don’t think I should have had to debut a  book with black characters simply because I’m black. 

One family member, a writer herself who has published with a small, traditional publisher, was even so bold as to ask me why I chose to make my characters white.  I was quite annoyed that she’d asked me this, but I entertained the question anyway.  I informed her that I have every intention of writing scores of books and, of course, I would write many that featured more African-American characters.  I told her that I was just getting started and the characters in this book just happened to be white because this is the story that I conjured up, but that I would absolutely be writing stories that featured strong black male and female leads.  To date, I’m pretty sure she’s never bought anything I’ve written.

Today, six months since I released Deferred Consumption, I have published three titles, two fiction and one non-fiction, including one as an audiobook with a second audiobook set to be published any day now and a third audiobook which should be ready for sale by early January.  Sales have been slow but steady and I’m very proud of myself and I’m very thankful for the skills and experiences that I’ve amassed over the years that have allowed me to self-publish in the first place.  More of my family and friends are beginning to realize that this is not just a quick hobby that I decided to take up, but rather, is something that I’m very serious about.  Many of them are beginning to buy the books and have congratulated me for my efforts.

I have so many stories in me just waiting to be told that no one need be concerned that I won’t stay true to myself.  I am a very proud African-American woman who has worked hard to find great success in my field of work.  I intend to work just as hard as a writer of fiction and non-fiction to ensure that I’m successful in this industry as well. And, I’m doing so knowing that I represent my people.  A people who once risked certain death simply for daring to do two things I can now not only do as I please, but that I can do while making money in the process.  --Shana James

Click here to learn more about my books and publishing company, Peephole Press