Why did you choose to self-publish?

It's kind of a long story. This was my first novel. It landed me a New York agent at a good agency, and garnered me a lot of very good rejections. Ultimately, because the book had started off as an adult book, the subject was considered a little too dark for the age group, which the industry had deemed was middle grade because the protagonist is twelve. I personally see it as a YA book, but major publishers tend to pigeonhole. They suggested I make the protagonist older, but turning a twelve-year-old into a fourteen-year-old takes a lot more then changing the age. It means high school instead of middle school, a different relationship between girls and boys... It's a whole different psychology. I actually tried to rewrite the book. But I had worked on it for so long, and rewritten it so many times, I just couldn't “see” it anymore. So I left it in a desk drawer and moved on. My agent and I parted company a year or so later, and I mainly worked on Sweet Valley stuff. I tried to sell one more novel, but I had written it with the market in mind and really wasn't that passionate about it. Then I decided to quit my day job and see if I could make a living as a writer full-time. I started teaching writing classes, and really felt I should have something published under my own name, so I pulled out Painting and reread it, decided it was a good book, revamped it slightly, and sent it off to 1st Books so I could have something to present at my classes.

What has the experience been like with self-publishing?

It's been okay. I don't think I would go with a vanity publisher again. The sad fact is, too many people who don't have a clue how to put a book together publish with print-on-demand publishers, so the industry isn't taken seriously. The Painting in the Attic won an award with Writer's Digest, which helped the credibility problem. Still, if I ever self-publish again, it will be under my own imprint.

What have you found to be the most lucrative means of marketing yourself? The least?

The most lucrative is old fashioned, one-on-one salesmanship. When I talk to people live about my book, or talk at schools or events, I sell books. People like meeting an author. They like getting an autographed copy of the book. I haven't done any bookstores, because I would have to charge too much per book to make a profit, since the bookstore wants 40% of the cover price. But from talking to friends of mine who've gone that route, I'm not so sure book signings are all that lucrative anyway. People don't usually show up for signings unless you're famous. But if you get yourself on the lecture circuit—let it be known in your community that your available for talks at libraries, charity events, etc., you can sell a decent amount of books that way. You're perceived as an expert instead of a salesperson. I also sold a lot of books just by letting people know I write and that I have a book for sale. The least lucrative would have to be my web site, sad to say. I've just revamped it, so I hope that's going to change, but I haven't sold a single book in two years from my site. In all fairness, I think the site was structured poorly. The order information was pretty much hidden (I had hoped offering a personally autographed copy for sale would entice at least a few people), and I found most people (teens) were going there because I was a Sweet Valley writer, not for my novel. I did sell some copies from the 1st Book site. How the buyers found me there, I haven't a clue. I've recently had my cover redone, and I plan to market Painting a lot more aggressively on the web in the future.

How do you define your own success as a writer?

That I'm doing what I love to do. That I'm happy. The rest is frosting.

What are some of your favorite writing books?

Elements of Style by Strunk and White, and anything by Jack Bickham. Once you master Bickham's lessons, you'll never have trouble writing a novel again.

What advice would you impart to aspiring writers?

Learn your craft, learn your craft, learn your craft. Take courses, read books, and learn to take criticism constructively. Don't blame the reader if they don't get something or are bored. It's your job to create a world for them, not theirs to find a world in what you've written.

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Jen Minar is a Washington, D.C.-based freelance writer and the managing editor of Writer's Break. She can be contacted at jminar@writersbreak.com.