Feedback Secrets reader Sue Six recently published here first novel, Fish Tree Tales: Stories From Japan. We caught up with Sue to ask her about her experiences on the project and to get her perspective on the self-publishing process…

Can you tell us a little bit about your book, and how you first got the idea for Fish Tree Tales?

It just sort of evolved. I began with a journal many years ago, and letters with stories in them to friends and family. Then a “verbal history” of stories I’d tell to friends after I got back to the States. It seemed I was always telling stories, and eventually I realized that I had a small collection of them written down ~ but I was always telling or writing new ones, too.

The idea for the title, “Fish Tree Tales,” happened several years ago. I don’t remember how it happened, I just knew that one of the stories was about the mistake I’d made, substituting fish for cherry blossoms, and it popped into my head that this would make a good book title. After that, everything started to crystallize… I became more conscious of what the written stories were about, with everything beginning to center on the theme of “foreigner’s misunderstandings or mistakes in Japan.” I know that doesn’t sound terribly interesting, but I was encouraged by people’s laughter whenever I told stories, so I decided to be intentional in writing down some of these events and memories.

You’ve mentioned that you had the idea for the book for a while before you made the conscious decision to publish, what were some of the factors that helped you come to that decision?

Three things made the most impact on my decision to publish a book of short stories. First was reading through a Toastmasters International (public speaking) monthly magazine and seeing an advertisement to publish your own book. This was the first I’d heard about self-publishing. I tore out the ad and contacted the company. They sent me a packet in the mail and I read through it. I was just gathering information at this point, interested in finding out what it meant to publish my own book. The price tag put me off, but I kept the information, just sort of sitting there in the back of my mind.

Second was reading Thomas Steinbeck’s “Down to a Soundless Sea,” a book of short stories. Thomas is the son of John, who is my favorite author. Thomas has the familial background and personal education to write in a huge, major way like his dad, and his writing impressed me. But it also struck me that his book only has seven stories in it. I remember thinking that I could write seven stories. True, my stories are much shorter than his, but still, it is a vivid memory: aim for seven good stories.

The third and most direct event, the thing that pushed me off the fence of wavering and wishing, was after I’d returned to Japan last summer (2007). I’d been there a few months, and then in October, I met a friend of a friend ~ Emiko, who is a professional, freelance illustrator/graphics artist. We began to get to know each other, and soon became friends in our own right. One day we were having coffee and somehow it came out that I’d written stories about Japan. I told Emiko about fish tree story, and after awhile one of us ~ I don’t remember who ~ suggested that she could illustrate some of the stories and I could publish it. It was said as a joke, and we laughed and went on to other conversation. But we came back to it again and again, and one day we thought…. well, why not?

Once you made the decision to publish, how long did it take to get from that point, until your book was available to the general public?

It took about nine months. The first few months were spent on more research into self-publishing companies. I considered sending my book to a traditional publisher, but my understanding is that you can only send your manuscript to one company at a time, and wait for their answer before sending it to another (assuming they say “no”). I was not willing to wait for that. It could be weeks or months before you hear anything back and who knows? What if a company never responds at all? Plus, I’m not big on rejection….

So I kept writing, and polishing, and consulting with Emiko about the artwork. Finally I chose a company, and after a few more weeks of asking them questions and probably tiring out the representative, I decided to go for it. Once I signed the contract with them, it took about five months from then until the book was available to the public.

I understand that while you wrote the book you were also working. Can you talk about the kind of hours you were working, as well as how you balanced time for work and writing?

Well, remember that I wrote the stories over years ~ some of the stories in the book were literally written ten or twelve years ago; others are more recent. When I wrote the older stories, I was working full time in Japan, teaching English. But I didn’t start work until about 12:30 or so in the afternoon, so I had all morning to write. Plus I was taking a correspondence writing course, learning how to write fiction and articles, so some of the stories in my book were, in fact, writing assignments that had received high praise from the instructor. But I was highly motivated, so I didn’t think about balancing anything.

After coming back to the states in December 2007, then deciding to publish, I did spend considerable time polishing, rewriting a little bit (but not much), sorting, writing new stories based on newer events and memories…. I was working part time (30 hours a week) most of that time, as well as writing elsewhere on blogs and articles. But again, I didn’t think about balancing time and work and writing ~ I simply came home from my job and wrote. The writing was a pleasure and I couldn’t wait to get to it. Like an obsession but not in a negative way.

The only things that felt like “work” on the book came when it was time to assemble it. It occurred to me that I needed to put the stories in order. I tried to keep some sort of timeline, with the older stories first and the later stories last. That was harder than I imagined, because it was also important to me to space the stories with illustrations evenly between those without, throughout the book. Proofreading the gallies was also somewhat tedious, but these were the only things that were “work.” All the rest, for me, was pure joy and entertainment. Perhaps if would be different if I’d been under someone else’s timeline pressures.

What is better, the labor pains or the baby… and would you do it again?

I’m not quite sure what you’re asking here (the labor pains ~ you mean the writing? Or the tedious moments I mentioned in the previous paragraph…?) The book, the “baby,” is certainly a wonder to me. I’m amazed that it’s “a real book” and I love seeing it on Amazon, even better on Amazon.co.jp! NOW there is real work involved, though ~ writing was fun, seeing it in real life is great, but now I am spending a lot of time trying to market it. The company does some of this but ultimately it is my own responsibility. But this is not my strong suit, so it’s more of a challenge.

Would I do it again? Yes! I’m already considering “Volume II” and Emiko wants to do another volume. But will I? It depends quite a bit on how this one is received. So far I’m encouraged, but it’s too early to say for sure.

Can you share one thing that you learned during the process that you had no idea of before you began?

Two things stand out. One is that, even though it’s a publishing company, I got the impression that no one there really cares about my book. They’re nice enough and I believe they try to do a good job, but except for the woman who wrote the press release, I don’t think that anyone else I worked with even read the book. I guess it’s “not their job.” I would like to think a traditional publishing company is different ~ that people actually read the book throughout the process.

The other thing that stands out is that friends are much more interested in it than I had expected they would be. “Publishing” is one of those things that most people think they couldn’t do it, or say they wish they could but wouldn’t have the guts to do. So many friends and acquaintances have asked me how I did it. They have consistently been very excited about my book, and they’re even buying it! So that’s quite gratifying.

What advice would you give to other first time authors seeking to go the self-publishing route?

Ask as many questions as you can think of before you sign. Research, compare companies, and compare what they offer, their prices, and their promises. Ask and ask again. You will find there are things you like and things you wish were different with every company, so do your best to find out what you can, but don’t get trapped in the research. Don’t get too bogged down in that process. There are hundreds of companies; you’ll never be able to research them all. Trust your own instincts.

…

For more information on Sue’s book, check the Fish Tree Tales review on Amazon.com. If you have any questions on the self-publishing process Sue has mentioned that she would be happy to answer them, she can be reached via her Facebook profile.

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This entry was posted on Monday, November 10th, 2008 at 2:43 pm by Phil Weslow and is filed under Goal Setting, Time Management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.