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Self-Published Authors Series: Suspense Author, Sylvia Hubbard

© Dee Y. Stewart

I am highlighting Michigan native, suspense author Sylvia Hubbard for this year's series, because she is more than just an author she is a sphere of influence in Detroit. As a member of The Detroit's Writer's Guild, The Great Lakes Bookseller Associations, 30 online and offline literary groups, and coordinator of The Motown Writer's Network, Mrs. Hubbard has volunteered as a creative writing teacher by being a Writer-In-Residence in Detroit Public Schools for InsideOut and with The Detroit Impact Center. She works at the Detroit Police Department and she is a freelance proofreader, book doctor, and editor for several Internet publishing companies and word processing services. She conducts lectures and workshops on The Write Steps to Write, Publish, Market, & Promote, plus Journaling seminars for various writing groups, faith based organizations, and schools. In addition to this, she runs her own author assisting & self-published distribution/publishing business and works as a full-time divorced mother of three young children. Her writing has been featured on PipeDreams, RomanceHaven and Timbooktu, and she has also been a featured author on Nancy's Romance Nook.

When did you decide to self-publish?

I'd been sending query letters out for a while (before 99,) but I didn't have a completed manuscript- edited, formatted and so on. I watched my writing friends get book deals on stuff that I felt wasn't up to par, but I knew my writing was better. I also studied the industry and decided that self-publishing was something to try while I was still feeling out the industry. So in 2000 when Xlibris was still a baby and publishing people for free, I jumped on board with my first book, Dreams of Reality.

Did any self-published authors offer any words of advice that you still use today?

Not really. Back then there weren't a lot of self-published authors. Matter of fact, in Detroit when I went to writing groups, I was the expert in the group. And I felt I was still wet behind the ears.

Why did you feel that you needed to self-publish?

I've always been an open-minded person, and I felt back in 2000 that this trend was going to be huge. Yet, I was "raised" around published authors who were all telling me that was not a way to go and that I shouldn't consider the option. Still the opportunity of having more control over my babies (stories) and being able to become more involved in the publishing process appealed to me more than just sitting back and watching others make money off my writing.

Stones Revenge

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