The Journey to Self-Publishing My Novel
Photo Credit: Steven Jermaine
Many of you have been asking, “What’s next for Spoken Black Girl Publishing?” Yes, there will be a third issue of Spoken Black Girl Mag, but I’ve officially caught the publishing bug and I’m ready to share my debut novel, Departure Story, with the world!
This fall, I have decided to document my journey to publishing my first novel, Departure Story, a coming-of-age novel about Celestine, an intelligent and audacious teenager from Guyana who wins a scholarship to study at an American college in the Midwest, leaving her broken, dysfunctional family behind. In the midst of an awkward adjustment period, she receives news that her uncle, a notable Guyanese politician, has been shot dead in an act of political violence. Feeling lost in a state of grief, Celestine decides to join the Student Council Diversity Committee, hoping to learn more about the democratic values that her home country’s government has been modeled after. She takes up the cause of trying to save a Black dance group on campus that is soon to lose its instructor due to a lack of institutional support. Tired of going by the book and being ignored, Celestine takes matters into her own hands, ruffling the feathers of the powers that be on campus and alienating so-called friends in the process, all while dealing with her first love, her first heartbreak, and investigating a family secret that she might not actually want to know.
I started writing this novel a couple of years after I graduated from Kenyon College in Ohio. I spent many of the next few years trying to understand how my otherness, my Blackness, my womanness, my Caribbeanness, shaped and impacted my experience. That examination has culminated in this lovingly crafted piece of fiction that covers topics such as immigration, adapting to a new country, politics, the experiences of Black people in America, friendship, mental health stigma, sexuality, generational curses and so much more!
Photo Credit: Steven Jermaine
When I was younger, I dreamt of publishing with one of the Big 5 Publishers. I thought that was what success looked like as an author. Then after I graduated from college and began to work in the publishing industry, I realized that in those corporate spaces, my voice could never truly be heard and valued. Trusting your book with a publisher is like handing over a baby, every author knows that. You want it to be loved as it is, honored, and cherished. For a couple of years, I would submit my book here and there to agents. Every time, my soul was crushed when I was rejected out of hand or given thinly veiled racist responses to my work. Everyone agreed that my writing was not the problem, it’s the story they question. They question my main character Celestine’s intelligence as an immigrant woman. One of the things they always tell you about being a writer is that you have to get comfortable with rejection. I understand that I won’t always be everyone’s cup of tea, but I also understand the statistics that are stacked against me as a Black woman writer.
That’s why I’m so blessed to have created this beautiful community of folks who appreciate my voice. When I think of my goal as an author, I think it is to reach people who want to hear my stories and to make an impact on the lives of people, especially Black and Brown people and particularly Black women. If the past few years have taught me anything, it’s that I am the answer I have been waiting for. Sometimes we put so much effort into being accepted by others that we miss the opportunities that come from accepting ourselves. Spoken Black Girl is a beautiful opportunity I have created for myself and I want to give my audience the best of my writing!
This is not to say that I will never go the traditional publishing route. Who knows what the future holds? But creating the first two issues of Spoken Black Girl Mag and publishing The Self Love & Healing Journal has created this new confidence in me. I now know that the only thing more satisfying than getting published by someone else is going through the process on my own and making it happen. It is the sweetest feeling! I know that I have it within my power to publish this story, so why wait?
Self-publishing isn’t the best decision for everyone. Publishing is very detailed and time consuming work, but I think it’s the right option for me. Plus it’s important to note that a lot of the leg work of marketing and promotion that most writers assume a publisher will handle is actually left up to the writer, so you might as well have control over revenue and royalties!
In order to make sure I hold myself accountable for publishing my book, I will be partnering with Editor & Founder of La Muse Press, Mary Banks, for her course Publish It: The 7 Day Blueprint for Publishing Your Amazing Book. I will be using this 7 day program to get all aspects of my novel in shape and ready to publish! I know many of you are writers who are quietly trying to forget that your manuscript exists. Well now is the time to dust off that file, sis! Mary has offered my audience an amazing deal! The course is $150, but for my SBG Friends you can save $100. Use the code: “Spoken” to get your discount. Use this link to grab your spot in this course! Mary is an extremely knowledgeable publishing professional and I’m looking forward to learning from her.
I look forward to sharing this new frontier of my publishing journey with you!
XoXo, Rowana
