From Eczema Patient to Published Author: My Self-Publishing Journey

Self-publishing is only for the strong and enduring. I did my first book on hardmode. Here, I share my best tips so hopefully you don’t have to.

Why I chose to self-publish my first book

I wanted this first publishing experience to be very pure and experience every step of the publishing experience first-hand. I wanted the future security of knowing how to do every single step along the way in case I ever do higher help in the future. And to appreciate all the work that goes into publishing a book.

Book inspiration

I first thought about writing my first book, "Surviving Eczema," after seeing how much I could write about it on a monthly basis for www.AtopicDermatitis.net when I first started writing for them in 2018. My monthly assignment load was much higher and I joked that there was so much I had to say about eczema, it felt like I could write a book about it.

With this book, I wanted to contribute to suicide prevention within my community. I really wanted my book to help restore hope for one’s healing journey.

While writing, I really appreciated and pulled upon my training through The Social Network’s Patient Leader Certification program that I completed in 2023. It came in very handy in terms of being cognizant of not trying to sound like a doctor, a counselor, or a scientist while still sharing the value of my first-hand experience with eczema.

Publishing through hard times

I started voice typing the rough draft of this book during the 2020 Pandemic. Then, 2021’s global news wrecked my nervous system and made it hard to sleep because of how angry and anxious it made me. My father’s passing in 2022 also impacted me and I did not touch the book at all that year while I grieved. In 2023, I started to heal emotionally and return to the book.

I first learned how to design and format a book and book cover for three different formats for the first time, so there was a huge learning curve. This learning curve continued through 2024 and 2025 where I tried to reinvent the wheel three different times with three different writing programs. Eventually, I landed on the formatting program Atticus because I found it very beginner-friendly with a lot of video tutorials on how to do everything, very responsive customer tech support, ongoing program updates, and an affordable price point for a new author.

Words of warning

My first book took six years to finish. In the future, I would avoid waiting too long to publish a book because the more time passes, the more outdated your information or perspective can become. And also the more you as a person and your opinions may change. I think it is best to write and publish your book as soon as possible (within three years) while it’s still fresh and relevant to the current times. Otherwise, prepare to change and edit your manuscript a lot.

Another thing I would advise is to not tell anyone about your book until it is close to being published or published and ready to share and purchase. Before publishing, I would meet people and excitedly tell them about my upcoming book. They would be supportive and want to purchase the book or help me promote it. But, because I had never formatted or published a book before, I couldn’t tell them when it would be done.

When I dealt with difficult life events that postponed the process, I lost supporters along the way who never knew when or if I would launch the book. That added more unnecessary pressure to a project that really should have prioritized my journey and enjoyment over the approval and timeline of others’ expectations.

Prevent burnout

When I first started writing this book I was just so excited to get done as quickly as possible and I was often working 8 to 12-hour days for a month and then I would get burnt out for a month or two and rethink if I could actually finish this process all by myself. When I incorporate regular breaks into my work schedule, I was able to stay consistent and reach the finish line from June - September 2026.

Remember yourself

Somewhere in the middle of this publishing journey, I lost my way. After going to therapy to help me with my publishing block, I realized that I needed to publish this book for myself as much as I was doing it to help others. When I returned to myself and thought about how I would benefit from the book as much as the eczema community, I stopped procrastinating and postponing and finally launched my book in the Summer of 2026.