Elizabeth Ward: Writing my first book, Fragments: Essays and Philosophies

This October, I published my first book, Fragments, a collection of autobiographical and philosophical essays about identity, life and thought.

Using my own experiences, and the reading I have done over the past thirty-odd years, I wrote a book about what it means to live in this world of ours, in a time of fear and uncertainty, and how we can learn to make meaningful changes that may help us to see our lives differently.

Fragments is a collection divided into five sections. Originally, I wanted it to be about identity, and for the most part, it is.

Identity is only one aspect of the themes that emerged when I was writing, but when I was writing, I realised that identity is often fragmented and fluid, and we appear as different selves in different situations.

The book has sections about living in a body, matters of the heart, thinking and dreaming, writing and creating, and finally, society and identity. I have written about subjects as diverse as living with cats, body positivity, blogging, deaf identity, and the works of Jane Austen.

I explore the aspects of my identity in a self-reflective way, whilst also relating what I have experienced to what it means to be a modern human.

I wrote this book for people who may be struggling with aspects of the modern world, whether with mental health, stress, self-esteem or loneliness, but also for people who may sometimes feel like outsiders, or misunderstood. There is something in this book for everyone, at least that is my hope.

‘Imperfection is beautiful and a necessary aspect of human nature. Perfection is impossible. What should we strive towards instead? A greater understanding of and the growth of ourselves and the people around us is rooted in accepting imperfection, even celebrating it.’ – From Fragments: Essays and Philosophies.

I started writing Fragments through a period of upheaval and uncertainty in my own life. At the time, I was also struggling a little with my novel, and looking for inspiration for a non-fiction book. With my novel stalling, my sister suggested I write a book of personal essays instead. My long-term blogging, journal writing, and journalism mean that essays are a form of writing that feels natural to me.

I also read philosophical books, social activism books, essay books, self-help, and psychological books, such as those written by Brené Brown (Daring Greatly), Matt Haig (Notes on a Nervous Planet), and Roxane Gay (Bad Feminist).

My blogging often fits into philosophical lifestyle writing and social activism, and I am passionate about writing content that informs, inspires, and makes people think. It took a while, two years to be exact, with a lot of stops and starts along the way, especially since writing so openly and honestly about some of my own experiences was so intense, but it was curiously healing too, to give so much of myself to the process.

Being profoundly deaf has also made me more determined to fight for what matters. I’m more concerned about social justice and the state of our planet than I think I would be if I wasn’t deaf. My parents had to fight for me and my sister’s right to an accessible education, and I have deaf friends who have taught me so much about what it is like to be a deaf person in a hearing world.

Inclusion and accessibility are at the forefront of my writing. So, writing a book of essays was very much about how I could use my work to inform people about what it is like to live in a world that still needs people to fight for each other, and to understand each other better.

Some of the writers and bloggers I follow online had published books independently, through self-publishing channels such as Amazon and Kobo. I have been watching the way publishing has changed over the years, and because I come from a blogging background, I wanted to explore independent publishing.

Self-publishing epitomises the DIY and bespoke spirit that I love. In this time of blogs, Twitter, and social media, we do it all the time – write, edit, and publish our own writing, film, edit, and post our vlogs and YouTube videos, and exhibit and sell our art online.

Self-publishing democratises the process of creation. It is no less difficult or easy than publishing traditionally. There are pros and cons to both routes. The reputation of self-publishing has led to writers choosing to call themselves ‘independent publishers’ (or indie publishers) instead, and since even independent publishers and authors don’t publish their books alone, independent publishing is currently the best word to use: writers become author-publishers, with all the responsibility that entails.

Being an independent publisher usually means you can work with freelance editors, beta readers/editors, cover designers, and proof-readers to create a product you are proud of. It means that you do all your own marketing, learn how to use software, and get a better percentage of royalties per book than authors in traditional publishing.

When you decide to become an independent author and publish your own books, you are setting up your own business. With this kind of publishing, I’ve had to learn a lot of things – from formatting a book, both for paperback and ebook (which are entirely different), how to convert files, line-by-line editing, to how to market a book.

There are some things, such as creating my own cover, that most authors would outsource to cover designers, but I wanted to create a book cover that looked and felt true to the content of the book. I wasn’t so arrogant to assume that my cover would be better than one a cover designer could create, but I experimented and had a few tools I used to create one that looked how I imagined it would look.

It looks much better than I expected it to, and I made sure I released the book cover before I published to gauge reaction to it. Like any businessperson, you have to be able to accept constructive criticism, both for the look of the book, and for the content.

For future books, I may have to use a cover designer, especially for fiction novels. This kind of experimentation is acceptable when you are an independent publisher, but you also have to involve other people to make sure that what you are producing is a product that people will want to buy, to be as professional as you possibly can. I am also publishing under my imprint, Black Typewriter Publications.

Maybe this kind of entrepreneurial spirit is what underpins independent publishing. It’s not the easy way to publish – I would argue that you have to learn a lot yourself, and what you can’t do, you have to outsource and pay for, whilst traditional publishing takes control of the process (apart from the actual writing, of course!) – from the editing, to the cover, to distribution. But it is exciting, in the end, to be in control of most of this yourself, and to hold your finished book in your hands.

Fragments: Essays and Philosophies is available to buy worldwide from Amazon and Kobo.

The UK Amazon link for both ebook and paperback: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fragments-Essays-Philosophies-Elizabeth-Ward-ebook/dp/B07JH49RNL/

And the Kobo ebook: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/fragments-89

Elizabeth is a deaf author, activist, and feminist living in London with her husband Daniel and their cat Coco, short for Chocolat. She has been blogging for thirteen years, and an arts and culture journalist since 2011. A self-described bookish geek, foodie, and film fan, she loves nothing more than curling up on the sofa with a cup of tea, book or film and a cat or two for company. Blog link: https://catsandchocolate.com/