The Savvy Self-Publisher

NIKKI Peoples, who is named after poet Nikki Giovanni, knew early on that she wanted to join a branch of the military. The daughter of a career military man, Peoples looked into officer training programs while in high school, but after a friend, one grade ahead of her, got into the United States Naval Academy, Peoples also decided to apply there and was accepted. She graduated from the academy in Annapolis with a bachelor of science degree in English in 1997, entered active duty for eight years, served for a period as reservist, then reentered active service for another eight years, retiring from the Navy after twenty years. Along the way she earned a master’s degree in Global Leadership in 2004 from the University of San Diego in California, a master’s degree in acupuncture in 2008 from the Academy for Five Element Acupuncture, and an MFA in 2014 from the low-residency program at Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky. Five years later, in November 2019, she self-published The Station, about the murder of a senior ranking official on the USSS Midway, in the year 2398, and the officer who is charged with finding out who is responsible for the crime, Ensign Amelia Brown. Though she set the novel in the future, Peoples leaned on her experience in the Navy to inform the hierarchy of the crew and officers in The Station, along with details of weapons and the investigation.

I spoke with Peoples, who lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, where she runs an acupuncture clinic, about her experience as a self-published author. For perspective on how she and other self-published authors can reach a wider readership, I talked to D. Ann Williams, an independent editor for Tessera Editorial, and Wiley Saichek, founder of Saichek Publicity.

The Author’s Approach

While working as an acupuncturist, I wanted to find something to quickly, but it took me about five years to complete the book. I received feedback from students in my writing program as well as other friends. One classmate wanted the book to focus more on racial issues, but I didn’t want to write about that—I wrote to captivate my readers with a strong protagonist and an interesting plot.