For almost five years, I have been self-publishing my poetry, short fiction, and fantasy novels through Lulu.com. This website has provided a means through which I can create print as well as electronic versions of the stories I’ve been developing for as long as I can remember, after many years of doubting if I could ever write “publishable” material, much less ever hold a finished product in my hands.
Self-publishing through websites such as Lulu allows for a great deal of creative freedom, with the cost of far less exposure and sales than traditional routes of publishing through the big houses. Despite its drawbacks, there is something to be said about the feeling of accomplishment, the freedom to publish on one’s own terms, the sense of contribution to the primordial storytelling tradition. This past year, I revised and published new editions of each book in my catalog, which now spans the scope of two poetry/short fiction collections, two novels, and two illustrated poetry books from my epic personal mythology. This may never become what I make my living doing, but it has surely become what I live to do.
— Kenneth Gerety