by Jacqueline Gum

Created on: January 22, 2010   Last Updated: July 26, 2010

I love this topic…it’s a favorite of mine because I did self-publish my book. I signed a contract with Author House and "Confessions of a Corporate Slut" debuted in January 2008.

Of course, my decision came after a series of rejections. Yet a few were so positive I felt compelled to continue my quest. One agent, in particular, kept the ms a full month, insisted that everyone in his agency read and loved it and said even his wife had become invested. Yet, he felt he would have trouble selling the product to a publisher. First fiction, you know.

The Editorial Department edited the ms and my assigned editor Catherine Knepper, expertly guided me through the minefield of story structure, content, and character development. It was, by far, my best investment. The publisher designed the cover, formatted the interior, and for a few dollars more sent press releases.  

The Midwest Book Review requested a copy and I was able to garner a 5 star review and even a few libraries across the country placed my treasure on their shelves. Blog Critic Alex Hutchinsin was effusive with each of his 5 stars. I was humbled and galvanized, equally.

I personally called on local book stores and had several successful book signings (meaning 25 books or more were sold at these events.)

At a cocktail party, I engaged a producer for a local radio station in witty banter about my tome, and was rewarded with a guest spot on the morning drive-time show.They kept me for an hour to answer the call-ins; far beyond my allotted 15 minutes.

I ferreted out local book clubs and managed to address several. All of them, without exception were lively. The attendees had my book in hand and several purchased extra copies (I always took extra books) for friends or relatives.

Even with all these positives packed into my pitch, I've not been able to score a review by any local newspaper or any kind of magazine.  Self-published, you know. They saw through my subsidy-publisher moniker. I read everywhere that self-publishing has less of a stigma: I haven't seen that from where I sit.

Oh, I know the title is an issue; praised by some and censured as kitschy by others. No one is ambivalent about that title. It's tongue in cheek – the life of a corporate wife. They give it away, don't they? All their intellectual property…substance they were paid for as career women, now given no charge to their husbands. Lots of people actually get it without explanation.

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