Know thy self (Publishing)

Gabby Wallace sat at one of my tables back in 2010 when I was a server at a Latin American restaurant in Brookline Village. We got to talking about travel and language, and she bought a copy of Wonder/Wander. 

Today, Gabby is a language teacher and entrepreneur based in Tokyo. She recently interviewed me for her Laptop Language Teacher blog and we continued our conversation started back in Brookline years ago.

This is one of the pleasures of publishing: finding common ground and connection with people whom you might not otherwise meet, being part of a conversation that compels you and is bigger than you.

Self-publishing is not equal to being selected by an established publisher in many peoples' eyes, even as the line between them becomes increasingly thin. As a writer, it's worth considering: what will satisfaction look like when your writing is complete? 

During the creative stage, you control the quality of your writing, as well as the time and effort you put into the work. Self-publishing takes your control one step further, ensuring that your work is able to be read. Yes, I wanted the publisher's seal of approval for Wonder/Wander (I sent it as an unsolicited manuscript to Graywolf, Coffee House Press, and Milkweed Editions in 2009). But deeper than that, I wanted to share my experience and myself through what I had written. I wanted to make my book.

Publishing brought satisfaction in quiet, intimate ways: when I held my book in my hands for the first time; when I gave copies to my family and closest friends. And this: meeting like-spirits, like Gabby, who find the book and share their stories; who join me in the conversations, which illuminate our larger work.