From time to time, Archway Publishing turns over its blog to its authors, giving them the opportunity to share stories and perspectives about their individual self-publishing journeys. The following are the words of Jessica Stafford, author of “My Side of the Story”. Download the Archway Publishing free publishing guide for more information on our supported self-publishing services.

My name is Jessica Stafford and I am a twenty-one year old brain tumor survivor. At seven years old I was diagnosed with a rare malignant brain tumor that could have easily ended my life. At age sixteen, my doctors found two more tumors, this time it wasn’t only in my brain. It’s been a long, hard road leading up to this point in my life, but Gods been with me through it all. His healing powers have brought me safely out of the storm, but daily I face the remains that cancer and its harsh treatments have left with me.

I knew that God had spared my life for a reason; I just had to figure out what that reason was. My purpose in life, I decided was to share my story with others so that they could understand that God can help them fight their daily battles too. No matter how big or small the battle, nothing is too big for my God.

I wrote my story into a book, taking memories from old diary entries and spiritual versus from the Bible. I searched for a publishing company and found Archway Publishing, I was excited to self publish my book titled “My Side of the Story”. Something I found really exciting was the fact that I will always own the copyright to my book. Self-publishing my book was an amazing experience. From the beginning point of submitting and editing information until the end when my book finally went onto the market, the staff of Archway Publishing were extremely helpful and friendly.  I even got to design the cover of my book. The most exciting part of the self publishing experience was actually being able to hold my book in my hands for the first time. Just knowing that you are a published author is a truly amazing feeling.

Archway Publishing is always looking for content for its blog. If you’re an Archway Publishing author and would like to share an idea for a guest blog post, please tweet the Archway Publishing Twitter account @ArchwayPub and Like the Archway Publishing Facebook page.