Becoming a publisher

Writer Abroad has taken a new step in her writing career: becoming a publisher.

Naturally, doing anything for the first time is a bit scary, but Writer Abroad learned from her experience as an expat that doing scary things usually result in rewarding outcomes.

Life in Switzerland.
The not-made-for-TV version.

So she’s publishing a book of previously published and new essays. It’s called SWISS LIFE: 30 THINGS I WISH I’D KNOWN.  And it’s all about life in Switzerland—the not-made-for-TV version. The book will be coming out at the end of May. Just in time for a reading at The English Bookshop in Zurich at 7 p.m. on May 23.

Thus, Writer Abroad apologies in advance (Americans always say they are sorry, so sorry, this apology is part of her culture) for any obnoxious self-promotion that may or may not occur on this blog. She takes full responsibility for it.

As Writer Abroad prepares for the next month of intense publishing activities—buying ISBNs, submitting various formats of texts and covers to printers and websites, and beginning the marketing campaign—she’s also excited.

She’s learning that she likes publishing. As a perfectionist, she likes having control over her work. She likes picking her designers and editors. She likes using her ten years of experience in advertising and marketing to come up with ideas to sell her own product instead of someone else’s. And she likes seeing how the last seven years of networking and blogging is beginning to pay off. But most of all, she likes making her own luck.

Because that’s what being your own publisher is all about. When you publish something yourself, you make your own luck. No one is telling you what to do. You are using your talents and your connections to put something into the world that you believe in. Your success is entirely up to you. It’s an exciting time to be a writer—whether abroad or at home.