On publishing these days + the late Nien Cheng

Comment left on Linked In:

The great thing these days is it is so democratic.  Anyone can publish a book - without spending too much money.  Of course it won't be the same as being agented, but sometimes I think it's a good step.  The odds are the same anyway.  In our on line group of about 200 people, 2 have made the best seller lists, one with an agent, one without.

That 1 % is about the national average.

It ain't easy to write a good book and have people buy it.

But I was very inspired by the late Nien Cheng - who wrote one book, her memoirs, and earned enough to finance her old age and leave something to a hospital - her only daughter died in China during the Cultural Revolution.  She told us in our book group how she re-wrote the book 4 times.

By profession she was an economist trained at London School of Economics, but she and her husband returned to China in 50s "to work for the country" and then of course all hell broke loose.