The dictionary offers two definitions for “kindling”. The most common use is the noun, meaning easily combustible small sticks or twigs used for starting a fire. In science jargon, it is a verb that means a process by which a seizure or other brain event is both initiated and its recurrence made more likely. I think it’s time to add a third definition: Kindling is the debut publication of a book solely via Kindle.

When Kindle and other eReaders first arrived on the market, they were used to bring print-publication books to readers in a conveniently portable, less expensive digital form. As the Kindle gained in popularity, publishers realized they could bring new books swiftly and more economically to eReaders, bypassing traditional print publication altogether. Now, some books publish first in eReader format and, if reader demand justifies a publisher’s investment, proceed to print publication.

From traditional publishing houses producing direct-to-Kindle book, it was a natural progression to authors self-publishing on Kindle as their first step in producing their books.

On the bright side, the confluence of eReader technology and self-publishing availability makes it easier than for authors to get their work published and offers readers more choices than ever. On the dark side, it is getting harder than ever for authors to compete for readers’ attention and sustained interest while readers will have a harder time discerning what’s worth reading. I want to share with you an excellent example of self-publishing a direct-to-Kindle book: The Survival Girls.

(From the Amazon website) “In the summer of 2011, writer, artist, and development worker Ming Holden journeyed to Kenya with the goal of creating a performance with refugee girls for World Refugee Day. At the end of her seven weeks there, she had founded the Survival Girls, a theater group comprised of six Congolese refugee women ages 18-23 living in a Nairobi slum. The Survival Girls have stayed together since then, an independent and self-sustaining women’s empowerment and artistic expression group that has doubled in membership, competed in local competitions, and been contracted by the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees to perform all over Nairobi about female genital mutilation and other social issues.

The Survival Girls is a literary nonfiction book fully illustrated by Seattle artist Jody Joldersma. Proceeds benefit university education for the Survival Girls in Nairobi. Written in the first person by Ming, this is just one story of the group’s genesis, a story of how the concept and enactment of ‘safe space’ to assist with trauma recovery impacted women’s empowerment in the refugee community in Nairobi’s slums.”

The Survival Girls has been warmly endorsed by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

While hoping to find a traditional publisher, the creators of The Survival Girls invested their own time and money to bring the book to readers by self-publishing in Kindle format. Hopefully, good sales will also attract a print publisher who can advance this well-written, compelling book to the form it deserves.