An Xlibris-Published Author’s Experience

Vivian Yang earned her master’s degree in communications at Columbia University during the late 1990s. She had also just finished writing a novel, Shanghai Girl, for her creative writing class. She worked on establishing relationships with several agents, but she never found representation.

When she learned about Xlibris in 2001 and decided to become an Xlibris-published author, the results were nothing but spectacular. Since the Internet was not as established at that time as it is today, the pioneering Xlibris-published author had to purchase copies and personally bring it to Asia via airplane. In a blink of an eye, Shanghai Girl became a critical success in the region.

Copies were sold out and venues were packed for all her book events. Numerous positive reviews gained the Xlibris published author a lot of interviews and increased interest in her novel.  After a year, a Japanese publishing house picked it up and translated it into Japanese.

After the success of Shanghai Girl, the Xlibris-published author also received a scholarship to attend the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference where she was able to complete another novel and self-publish it again.