This physician’s blog and self-published books give him a creative outlet.

HANS DUVEFELT, M.D. and Self-published physician

EMPLOYER: GALILEO MEDICAL 

EDUCATION

UNDERGRADUATE AND POSTGRADUATE: UPPSALA UNIVERSITY, SWEDE

RESIDENCY: CENTRAL MAINE FAMILY PRACTICE, LEWISTON, MAINE

HANS DUVEFELT, M.D., started his medical training in Sweden before moving to Maine for residency. He now practices in rural Maine and works for Galileo Medical, which has virtual practices all over the country and house call services in some states. Duvefelt has self-published two books and has blogged since 2008. Follow his blog, “A Country Doctor Writes,” at ACDW.Substack.com.

What do you like about being a self-published physician?

I like to write whatever I want and feel confident enough about my spelling, style and grammar—so it is more fun to do this on my own.

Another thing I like about [self-publishing] is not having to wait for my writing to actually appear. On my blog, in my books and now my Substack, things appear very quickly, which suits my temperament.

What are the drawbacks?

There are not any real drawbacks. There’s not much money in it for me, but that was not my primary purpose. My books have not generated more than a few thousand dollars, but I like publishing what I want. I publish my books on Amazon, upload them, and within 48 hours I get an email that they are approved. I can order proof copies to make sure they look fine. Days later, they are up for sale.

What about self-publishing has surprised you?

I have been pleasantly surprised by the support of other physicians and other physician writers. My writing was picked up by a health care blog very early on after I started “A Country Doctor Writes.” Some of my blog posts got widely publicized. I had a lot of physicians following my writing on my WordPress blog. Just about all of them are following me on Substack instead. Some of them became paying subscribers. In less than a year into Substack, I have made over $1,000 from my writing. You get comments and support. It doesn’t feel competitive in any way. It is a mutually supportive virtual circle of friends. In addition, it is fun to see people make a personal commitment to support your writing!

Any advice for physicians who want to self-publish?

You need a niche. There are many people writing about medicine; you have to show enough about what makes you and your perspective unique. In my case, being from Sweden and working in a very remote area close to Canada is a niche for me. I started putting content out on WordPress. By doing that, I could see what people were interested in. You could do that even before you have a book. Then you can get the reader’s reaction. You get feedback and see what resonates. You see what readers like. •