The emotions are mixed. The surge of pride, of accomplishment, is tempered by feelings of vulnerability and anxiety. 

I am a published author, joining another several million or so. Big deal. I have seen the data: only seven percent of all published books sell more than one thousand copies. Yikes!

To bring a book to life is a long birthing process, no small feat. One of life's peak moments comes when you tear open the UPS package and see your book for the first time. But, and there always is one, you are now exposed to customer feedback (even worse, ambivalence) that means more than the editorial gauntlets weathered. Readers matter more.  

This has been a long journey; too long. Knowing what I now know, the process could have been shortened by a year. Education never ends. 

“Guy's Guide to Domestic Engineering” began first as a title. Sometimes a light bulb goes on. Books rarely begin with the final title, though you have to call it something. Books usually begin as a chapter or chapters and the title emerges. Some of the best advice I was ever given was to begin — write a chapter, write a partial chapter. It didn't have to be the first chapter.

Write what feels right and don't immediately begin editing.

I learned years ago that my writing forte was nonfiction, not fiction.

Paradoxically, it is easier for a first-time fiction writer to be published by the traditional publishing industry than it is for non-fiction writers.

First-time fiction writers must write well. Not a simple accomplishment to be sure. Nonfiction writers must have a “platform.” Writing is almost secondary. 

Platform? In publishing vernacular, a platform is not a stage or riser, though they are related. A platform is a reputation as an expert in something (a PhD helps), a movie star, a hero, an athlete or chef of repute, a politician angling for national office, or a former president, first lady or relative thereof.

No platform? The publishing industry is not interested.

If you have a fawning audience of hundreds of thousands, they come looking for you. You don’t even need to be able to write. They will assign a writer to ghost write your book. Think Sarah Palin's new book.

I wrote the entire book draft first, since I knew that a book proposal from an unknown writer would remain unknown. Once finished, I queried 150 literary agents after exhaustively identifying the ones who claimed interest in nonfiction humor. My only introduction option was a one-page query letter — no table of contents, no sample chapters. 

I spent nearly a year banging my head against the traditional publishing doors. None opened. The scars remain — the ego bruised. 

Half of them never bothered to respond. Half of the remaining half responded with one curt sentence saying that nonfiction humor was not of interest, regardless of what was written about them in literary source materials. 

So, I self-published. Self-publishing is a burgeoning industry, flooding Web sites like Amazon with thousands of new titles per month.

The self-publishing industry is labeled “vanity press.” The label is hyped by the traditional publishing industry. The rap has some validity. Many self-published authors just want to see their name on a book. The self-publishing industry will assist them, and make money at the same time.

Their business model is based on fees charged through the printed book process, not the book sales. 

In defense of many self-published authors, we are just trying to crack the code. If we sell enough books, traditional publishers notice and may re-publish, or at least listen to the next book proposal. Otherwise budding authors will spend five years cracking the code, and often never do. 

Self-published authors are on their own when it comes to marketing and selling their book, unless they want to pay more fees for marketing support and publicity. Cha-ching, cha-ching. 

I am the chief marketing officer for “Guy's Guide to Domestic Engineering.” The last page of today’s A section displays part of this marketing campaign.

Self-published authors usually launch with online Websites like Amazon. My publisher, iUniverse, has a business relationship with Barnes and Noble, so the book is also available on their Web site. The challenge is to have a shelf presence in retail bookstores. When my book sells 1,000 copies, Barnes and Noble bookstores will stock it. So I’m told.

So, what are you waiting for? Christmas season looms. “Guy's Guide to Domestic Engineering” makes a great gift.

Seriously, though, I am grateful to have had this opportunity over the years.

The opportunity to write for the Pharos Tribune allowed me time to find my voice and hone my writing style. My book is a culmination of that process.  

Loganland readers will recognize some of my book’s material. I adapted some of my past columns into the narrative, updating when appropriate.     

Meanwhile, I don’t care what some snobs say about self-publishing. I am an author. It says so on the book cover. And PJ is proud of me, so take that, publishing poobahs.

• Keith Frohreich, a Cass County native, is a free-lance columnist who resides in Los Angeles.