Our friends over at Kirkus are posting a weekly writing and publishing blog that lends practical advice from experts and “How I Did It” stories from some of the nation’s most successful authors and self-publishers. And they’re sharing it with IndieReader.

This week’s advice comes from bestselling author Barbara Freethy.

Many people ask why I would want to self-publish when I’ve had a successful career in traditional publishing. The answer: money and control.

Let’s start with the money. Back in January 2011, I was struggling with the college debt my children had incurred over the previous five years. Several “glitches” prevented readers from finding my latest traditionally published book in the stores. At that time, Borders was in the process of closing down, lessening the number of avenues for print sales. I knew I needed to find a way to revitalize my career, so I took a look at my backlist.

I’d been savvy enough to ask for the rights to my books when they went out of print. At the time, I didn’t know what I would do with them but I’d hoped to sell them to another publisher eventually. That didn’t happen—publishers weren’t interested in backlist titles in a world of diminishing shelf space. In the end, I decided to self-publish the books.

I had minimal sales the first three months. I was busy trying to get the older books scanned, proofed and their covers designed—an overwhelming amount of work—so I wasn’t doing anything to support the self-published books. But, suddenly, things began to change: My book, Summer Secrets, took off through B&N’s PubIt! Platform. Then Kindle readers started to find the book, and my numbers climbed at Amazon. By July, Summer Secrets hit #1 on Amazon and The New York Times.

I was soon to discover this was just the beginning.

Read the entire post with Barbara Freethy here.

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Barbara Freethy is the No. 1 New York Times Bestselling author of 30 novels ranging from contemporary romance to women’s fiction and romantic suspense. Her books have received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Library Journal, and she is a five-time RITA finalist from Romance Writers of America for best contemporary romance. In 2011, she began self-publishing and has since sold over 2.6 million ebooks. For more information, visit Barbara’s website at barbarafreethy.com.