The Goddess Biker, Jennifer Bair, Tells Us About Her Self-Published Book

Have you ever talked to a Goddess Biker before?

Well, as part of our self-published interview series, today I’m talking to Jennifer Bair. Jennifer is an author, musician/vocalist, and spiritual consultant.

Tell us about your self-published book and where it is available.

“Open Road: A Goddess- Biker Guidebook” gives you a touchstone for your own journey inside. This book will provide a set of tools for choosing the right bike, getting on the road on your own terms and helping others do the same. It’s a metaphor. Even if you don't intend to ever ride a motorcycle, it gives you a simple process for navigating your life's purpose and inner road toward happiness.

Why did you decide to self-publish?

After a long year of queries to potential literary agents and small, Indie publishers, a multitude of workshops given and taken, college-level writing courses and many sleepless nights worrying over whether this message would ever have a voice, I decided to bite the bullet and self-publish.

It was with a jaded sense of failure and was overwhelmed at the disheveled literary community and publishing industry as a whole that prompted me to buck the system and do it myself. I felt like an outlaw, on the fringe; a mole rat toward the goal of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel someone else had dug eons ago. And it felt good to let go of the old paradigm and forge something from the new well.

What was your biggest challenge to overcome in self-publishing your book and why?

I am going through the process just to get the book out there and then I’ll try to find a foothold in the publishing world by reaching as many people as possible with the message and passion of my work. It is all a mirror for the evolution of humanity. We will survive with conscious, communal commitment or well all go down to the pavement.

How did you overcome that challenge?

Challenges are just debris in the road. You have to get into the lean and divert around it before it brings you down. I mean all the way to the pavement. This book publishing experience has been like the ultimate slide on a curve. The challenge of staying on top of another systematized, automated machine of the self-publishing companies making; no personal contact, a lot of automated step-by-step emails that promise and don’t deliver. You have to let go of any deadlines. The process is achingly slow.

What has been the best part about self-publishing your book and why?

The sunny side of all this is the fact that I can recognize my own growth as I navigate through this maze. It’s been a steep learning curve. One that I have not honored perhaps as well as I could have. However, it makes me think in new ways, which translates to higher consciousness around the business of writing for the masses.

Of course, if you ask me what I’m trying to accomplish with this book/CD, it would have to be validation for the ideas that have had an impact on so many people already. It is a compilation of my skills, talents and shared dreams. It is the silver lining to an otherwise string of chaotic, feral, mindful ideas that I live and breathe. I am grateful for the passage on this rocky journey. It’s (self-publishing) gonna get me where I need to go.

What advice do you have for other writers who are self-publishing their book?

My advice to other writers on this path is to take a giant breath and relax into the jaws of the monster as your precious gift is being churned into printed/digitized matter.

Thanks for your insights Jennifer. This is quite interesting!

And for those of you who would like to find out more about Jennifer’s book, it is available at all major retailers such as Borders Books, Barnes & Noble, Indie booksellers, online retailers such as Amazon and through Authorhouse.com and jenniferbairpresents.com.

There is a also a companion audio-workbook and an original music CD available through these venues titled, “The Goddess Sings - An Audio Workbook and Music.”

How about you?

Do you need help getting the word out about your self-published book? Send your questions to me, and check out the free information at http://www.jexbo.com/. Thanks, and check back for another interview soon!