Erika Hammerschmidt: New Member

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Hi! I'm Erika Hammerschmidt, author of the memoir "Born on the Wrong Planet," published by Autism Asperger Publishing Company. I hear about this site a lot because of its name's similarity to the title of my book, but I hadn't gotten around to posting here yet until today. I've commented on a few threads already, and I hope to post more.

I was diagnosed with Asperger's around the age of 11, and I used to have serious social and behavioral problems, but I've adapted a lot, and now people don't seem to notice anything that weird about me. My husband John and I give speeches, work full-time, and take care of our neurotic parrot Rain Man, who was found as a stray some years ago. I also make jewelry and post a webcomic called "Abby and Norma."

Other than my webcomic, I haven't been very active online for a while, but I'm kind of lonely now, and I'm trying to develop an online presence, especially since John and I have just published a new science fiction novel called Kea's Flight.

It deals with autism issues, as well as other controversial subjects like gay rights and abortion. The story is set in the 25th century, when unwanted pregnancies are ended by removing the embryos and cryogenically freezing them to save for later. When there are too many embryos to raise on Earth, the unwanted ones are sent into space, to be raised on starships and colonize other planets. (I'm not going to post the url to the book, because I don't want to spam, and I can't anyway because I'm so new... but you can get to my site by clicking on the website link in my profile.)

The novel is self-published through Lulu and Amazon, and I'm a little concerned about its ability to succeed because of that. I know there's a lot of stigma around self-publishing, due to the large quantity of badly-written work that's published that way.

Our situation is somewhat different from the usual, but I'm not sure how much difference it will make from a practical perspective. I didn't choose self-publishing for the same reasons many people do. Our book has been in the editing phase for years, and I am obsessive about spelling and grammar, so it is certainly as well-edited as the average professionally-published book... and I know I can get professionally published, because I have been already... but the experience was very stressful for me, and I am willing to sacrifice some professional credibility for the chance to have more control over the process this time around.

I'm kind of interested in seeing other Aspies' views on self-publishing... hence the poll.

Anyway, that's my situation at the moment. Nice to meet all of you!

Hello and welcome to the forums. A writer, eh? Awesome! I am glad that it has worked out for you! Kudos on adapting well. Well, if you are lonely, feel free to send me a message whenever. I'll talk to anyone about very nearly anything. =]

To WrongPlanet!! !

Welcome to WP!

I'm probably going to self-publish my stand-up CDs and DVDs, if I ever get to that point. It's not that I'm a control freak, it's that I want things done a certain way.

Welcome to WP, Erika.

Yeah, publishers will certainly edit your stuff a lot, from my own experience... if you want it a certain way, you'll have a hard time with a professional editor. I've published my book with two companies... the first one was way harder to work with, which was why I left them for the second one, but both of them had a grueling editing process. Editors will "correct" things that are not mistakes, by any means, just because there is a specific way things have to be written for their publishing company.

I don't know if it's the same for publishing CDs and DVDs, but I wouldn't be surprised.

Thanks for the welcome. You guys are great.

Welcome!

Welkome to WrongPlanet.

The WP Kink