Self-publishing books 'a fool's errand but worth it'

An author who spent eight years compiling and self-publishing two sketch books has said at times he felt he was on a delusional "fool's errands". However, Colin Hindle does not regret sinking £22,000 into the ventures and says "investing" in his mental wellbeing was the best thing he has even done.

Solitary, long rambles in the Lake District have earned Colin the nickname the "modern day monk" among locals.

The 58-year-old from Penrith has spent more than 15,000 hours handwriting two, hardback sketchbooks on beauty spots and thinks he has earned the name.

He did not want to be out of pocket, so selling enough copies of his books to break even and cover the cost of publishing was always the number one goal.

However, at times of self-doubt he wondered if publishing a second book was a "vanity project" after 18 publishers either rejected him or did not bother to reply.

Recalling the knockbacks, Colin said: "That's when you really start to question yourself and my reflections were 'I'm not prepared to wait years and years until someone finally decides to publish it'. I will have to make it happen myself.

"There are so many wonderful things you can do with savings, but I have learned that the best investment you can make is in yourself."

He published his first book in 2021 after being inspired by guidebook writer Alfred Wainwright.

He had closed his tea shop in Pooley Bridge during the Coronvirus lockdowns and spent thousands of hours wandering the area, creating sketches and making notes.

He realised that many ramblers who scaled summits often felt a sense of deflation if the view was compromised by mist or fog and his painstaking sketches were of how beauty spots looked on a good day.

His hardback books were designed to be lugged around in a rucksack in all weathers and printing them was costly.

Colin was told he would be lucky to sell 500 copies of his first book - after exhausting the goodwill of friends and family who would buy the book out of loyalty.

Undeterred, he publicises his work by posting films on social media and giving talks to walking groups and other organisations.

His first book, The Best Lakeland Views, focussed on Haweswater and Ullswater, had a price tag of £18 and sold 2,525 copies.

He then printed 2,000 copies of book two which depicts views in Coniston and Grasmere, and was released in November retailing at £20.

Released in November at £20, he has so far shifted 379 copies.

He said: "While walking many fells, it struck me that the best moments weren't necessarily when reaching the summit but on encountering a jaw-dropping view, with the word 'wow' inadvertently spilling from my lips.

"Many of these moments were not at the summit but on the way up, at the edge of a ridge or along a bubbling beck.

"This gave me the idea to document where the best views were.

"I thought this was a new idea and if it came to market and was of sufficient quality then it would have a chance."

Alongside the sketches, Colin has penned poems for his latest publication.

He said: "In a state of reverie, sometimes a line or two of a poem comes into my head.

"Once that starts it has to be finished."

He said he has had orders from all over world as the Lake District has such a global tourist appeal.

Colin's advice to anyone considering printing their own book is to not be motivated by making money.

"You need to have savings, obviously a paperback is a lot cheaper to produce than a hardback," he said.

Alex Thompson, the managing director of Troubador Publishing which works with independent authors to produce and market their books, said there are ways to publish books for free and authors can upload them to platforms such as Amazon.

But he said author's spend an average of between £1,000 to £4,000 with his firm and the figure can be as high as £10,000.

"Authors can invest their time and spend less money, or the other way round," Mr Thompson said.

"It takes time and effort to upload titles, they've got to do all the formatting and designing.

"If they do all that themselves they have zero costs.

"Or alternatively they can employ a company to do all that [but] there is a cost no matter what an author chooses, whether it's time, monetary or both."

He said many authors are not interested in sales and wanted to preserve their family's history, such as publishing their father's World War Two journals.

"In this case the objective is to produce 10 copies for friends and family," he explained.

"Some authors want to sell lots, but a lot come to us and say they are doing it as a project or life-long goal and are less interested in sales and more in a high-end, quality product.

"Even though their book is available to buy, primarily they will take maybe 100 copies to give away to family and friends or sell at a writing festival."

Current, best-selling genres, according to Mr Thompson, are business books which appeal to people wanting to set up on their own or have a fledgling idea and want tips to make it grow.

He also said that romance and self-improvement publications also had wide appeal.

Colin warned would-be self-publishers that an "unforeseen" length of time is spent on basic things like pagination, re-writing and proofing with the printer.

Recalling the last few years, he said: "Was I being a vanity project fool?

"We are only here for a short time so this was about trying to make my life into doing what I really love doing.

"It is completely whole-brain consuming, turning a blank piece of paper into a vision of beauty.

"I've no regrets."

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