John Winters – I’m A Self-Publishing Failure

John Winters writes about becoming a published author in Salon today. It’s a bitter perspective, but one that piques and gives some insights into publicizing your book.

I am contorting myself in front of the bathroom mirror, iPhone in hand, a porkpie hat on my head and a pair of black-framed Jonathan Franzen glasses perched on my nose. I am trying to capture an image of myself that does not look like me. Sans these accouterments, I am balding and thin faced with perpetual bags under my eyes – sort of like the father on “That ’70s Show” in need of a nap. Conversely, the look I’m going for is “intellectual cool.” I have a long way to go.

I share the photo with some friends, and the verdict is universal. “A slightly more effeminate version of Truman Capote,” is perhaps the best summation. I stick with the picture, post it, and release my new website to the world. No one notices, though I fear lawyers from the Capote estate may one day send a cease-and-desist order.

Thus began my life as a published author.

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John Winters is a Massachusetts-based writer and adjunct faculty member teaching writing and literature at a local university. His resurrected novel is titled “Murderhouse Blues.” He blogs at http://johnwinters01.blogspot.com/.