GoodEReader’s Indie Author Initiative has spent nearly a year exploring the various reasons that authors choose to self-publish their works. Sometimes there are logistical reasons, such as the timeliness of subject matter. Occasionally, authors have explained the many creative process reasons that led them to self-publish, such as the desire to set the release date, design the cover art, or pick the price point. From time to time, authors have a manuscript that not only has a timely material but has another equally important characteristic, the need for regular updating.
“I found some of these authors were on their 34th editions of their books and I thought, ‘Don’t you have it figured out yet?’” laughs author Dr. Arthur Bradley when talking about his self-published work, Handbook to Practical Disaster Preparedness for the Family. “But 2011 seemed to be the Year of the Natural Disasters, with tsunamis and earthquakes. A lot happened right after the second edition of my book was released, so I began tweaking my book. I’m trying to keep it relevant to what people are concerned about at the time. So the third edition, due out this summer, will have a lot of info on solar storms since we’re on an eleven year solar cycle peak and there’s a lot of interest in that topic right now.”
Bradley, a senior engineer at NASA, did not set out to become an author and certainly not to write the definitive guidebook to survival. But several national and international events, coupled with concern for his newly formed family, led him to put pen to paper on the commonplace safeguards any family would need to know about.
“When I first got it together I wasn’t sure I wanted to go with indie publishing because of the stigma associated with self-published books. While I was waiting to hear back from traditional publishers, I thought, ‘If I really believe in this, and I did, I should be willing to do this myself.’”
Bradley’s book, available on Amazon through CreateSpace, is intended to be updated regularly as various new situations arise that people need an at-hand reference for. Bradley has been approached about the possibility of developing this reference as an app or multi-media in order to keep the information closer at hand in situations that arise. Additionally, the relevance of the material is currently being broadened for foreign translations and international rights publication.
Mercy Pilkington is a Senior Editor for Good e-Reader. She is also the CEO and founder of a hybrid publishing and consulting company.
