THEY SAID, I COULDN'T, SHOULDN'T, WOULDN'T

The other day I was asked the question, “Angelia, how did you know the publishing industry would become so viable for independent publishers?” I was honest and admitted that I didn’t have a clue. When I published my first book in January 2006, self-pubbers were considered to be just a step above, the low. There were many in the game who had started out publishing their own work, but their holy grail, pie in the sky was to get a deal with a publishing house. Frankly, that never occurred to me, at first, I simply wanted to write and then when I discovered that I could only write about certain things as a black woman of a certain age, I knew damn well, that wasn’t going to work for me. Did I receive flak? Heck to the yeah. There were those who thought I wouldn’t sell any books, there were others who basically said many things they thought they were covering up and then it was the comments about how narrative my work was, or how old my female characters were. Did I listen to them? I sure did to a certain extent, especially when it was about the craft of writing and how to truly self-publish, but the other stuff, I tossed over my shoulder and relied on my faith and me. The one thing I knew for sure is that if God blessed my dream of writing books, he would bless me as a traditionally published author or as a self-published. And he has, more than I can say here. One of the most interesting ways is that he often sends my naysayers my way, asking for assistance or asking to be part of it all. Do I laugh in their faces, oh no, not ever, that isn’t my way and any little thing I can do, I will because you know what, this thing isn’t at all about me. It is about the words and who they reach and what we can do with what we get. I love writing, I love publishing, I love being able to use a bit of the money I receive for causes I support, I love being able to talk to people about my journey and how green I was when I started. But the biggest thing of all, is I love owning myself, being accountable to me and my readers as an author and not feeling the need to be trendy or flowy because what I learned is that ultimately you can write the most perfectly crafted, timely book in the world, but if it doesn’t resonate with anyone, then…what! I thank God for allowing me to do this thing I do and I thank those who believed in me and those who didn’t because at the end of the day, it has worked out, and I AM COUNTING IT ALL JOY… Angelia!