Why I Write

If you ask Google, “why do people write?”, the AI overview provides a list of reasons. Some are internally focused such as processing emotions, finding clarity, healing, reflecting. Many people write poetry, short stories, entire novels for their own pleasure with no intent of ever showing any of it to anyone else. Some people write memoirs and family history just for themselves or to share with immediate family to let them know their own histories.

Then there are external reasons for writing like sharing knowledge, advocating for a position or cause, and sharing art.

I started writing for the public when I first joined UT San Antonio. The first week I was there, one of my colleagues asked me to write something for the bi-weekly newsletter, introducing myself to the Division. Two weeks after that, we needed to share information about the up-coming Strategic Plan for the university and how the division would be part of the process. And then there was something else I needed to write about and then something I wanted to write about and soon, it was a regular practice that I continued for five years there and again as I started at UT Austin.

The feedback I received was mostly positive – though of course, not everyone read it. However, enough people thought it was useful that I decided to make a weekly newsletter part of my consulting business. As for why I continue to write the newsletter, I think the answers is I write for both internal and external reasons. I have always enjoyed teaching, facilitating workshops that help people learn new ideas and behaviors, and talking with individual students and staff who come to me for help and advice. Writing this newsletter is part of that same impulse. I hope that my newsletters make a difference for the people who read them. I love when people share them because it means they did find something useful. So, these newsletters have an external purpose, but also create an internally positive experience.

All this to help me understand and to explain what comes next. I’ve been working on a memoir for, quite literally, years. Different versions, each with a different focus, as I tried to find the balance between writing what I want to write and also writing a book that others want to read. I’ve finally landed on, what I hope is, the final version which means it’s time to think about publishing. In June, I attended the Texas Writers League Agents and Editors Conference. There I met Nick Courtright, Founder and CEO of Atmosphere Press, and that’s when I began to learn about something called hybrid publishing.

Traditionally, there was “Big Publishing”. All names you would know, now called traditional publishing, it’s the process you probably think of. Get an agent, they find an editor working for one of the big publishing companies who wants to publish it, they edit, make the book, market the book, and work with a distributor to get the book to booksellers. At the opposite end of the spectrum was something called “vanity publishing” which meant the author paid someone to print the book and author does all the rest of it.

Now, it’s not as clear-cut as that. There are still Big Publishers though not as many, but there are also small publishing houses who work the same way but with a smaller scope. There is self-publishing which, while still like vanity publishing in that the author bears all the risk and responsibility, has become a more viable and respectable option and many people choose that method now. I chose that method to publish the two books related to my consulting business. (And since I’m responsible for marketing them, I have to say they are still available for purchase on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/s?k=gage+paine&crid=1Z21NHWCVZ49Y&sprefix=gage+pane%2Caps%2C162&ref=nb_sb_noss_2)
..

There is also a middle ground called hybrid publishing. In hybrid publishing the author still pays most of the up-front costs, but there’s a lot more work done by the publisher than in the case of Amazon and a lot more help with marketing and distribution. It’s also more selective than working with Amazon. If you want to publish with Amazon you pay the fees and do the work. Hybrid publishers who want to have a good reputation as a book publisher choose manuscripts they think they can sell. Then they work with the author to create a good book both in content through editing and in appearance through the design process.

So, I’m sharing today that I’m working with Atmosphere Press to publish my memoir! It’s still many months away from publication date, but the commitment is made and an editor assigned. I’ll meet with him on Monday and see what he thinks I need to do to have the book ready for publication. There’s a definite difference in a book being finished by the author and one that’s ready to be sold. I’ll be posting updates here as we go. More to come and wish me luck!

Take care,

Gage