Xlibris author Nancy Garfield Woodbridge talks about how she has given free rein to her creativity and allowed her artistic expression to manifest by choosing to self-publish.
Self-publishing and letting her artistic expression flourish through Xlibris
When I left Girl Scouts, I began to work on manuscripts I had never had time to finish, and began to study at the Institute for Children’s Literature. I learned many valuable things. But, after a small number of rejections from publishers, I found myself allergic to rejection slips. I had sold my first two children’s books easily through an agent, but I did not have the capacity to venture out into the shark-infested waters that await authors who seek publication and are not well known. I decided to self-publish because I did not want to wait for acceptance by the outside publishing world. Amazingly, I published seven books in 2012 with Xlibris, and my husband published one. All told, eight books.
The books I published for children were: Hilary and the Secret Skulls, the story of a girl who goes back in time to Australopithecus and lives through humankind’s history until modern times. I also published A Bouquet of Fairy Tales and the picture books Stories From Around the World and More Stories From Around the World, both illustrated by Marvin Paracuelles, as well as Poems In Exile. I produced two books under pseudonyms, Journey, a young adult novel by Skye Mackinnon and a memoir, If I Had $1500 I Would Clean My Karma by Ada Garwood. My husband, George Woodbridge, published his young adult novel, Daniel’s Return. He also edited my seven books and I thank him for this.
I am currently working on three new children’s books, Arctic Butterfly, a picture book, The Islanders, illustrated by Jocelyn Thomas, a Canadian artist, and Sons of Darkness, a young adult novel. These three new books will come out in 2015-2016.
Due to my rejection slip allergy, I have been more productive as a writer because I eliminated “rejection” altogether. I found later that I was in good company. Virginia Woolf, Marcel Proust and Walt Whitman had also self-published long ago and they are still with us.
My purpose in writing is to use self-expression freely to unburden my soul, to allow the flow of artistic impulses that all of humanity is born with to flourish.
I want young people all over the world to know that their artistic expressions are wanted and needed everywhere. The democracy of the human soul is a universal gift given to all of humankind for now and forever.
Read the first part of this blog here.
Read about other Xlibris talents who have given vent their artistic expression through self-publishing on the Xlibris Blog and the Xlibris Indie Authors Roundup. For free writing, editing, and book marketing tips, visit the Xlibris Writer’s Workshop.