Why Self-Publish (Part Two)

In the previous blog post I discussed the down side of trying to get published via the traditional route, by which I mean finding yourself an agent and then getting a book deal with a traditional publishing house. This is both very difficult and also a frustrating, time-consuming process. So to move to the positive case for self-publishing: in my limited experience so far, it is light on frustration, switching between Apple- and Word-formatted documents aside, and while also time-consuming if feels like the time taken is being consumed for a positive purpose, rather than at best squandered or at worst spent accumulating rejection.

Ultimately the publishing of a book is about indulging your desire to create, and what self-publishing does is allow the creation of the story itself to morph into the creation of the “product”; the e-book or paperback that will go on sale. The whole process – from typing the opening sentence to clicking “Publish” on Amazon’s self-publishing site – becomes a positive experience, and what frustrations there are are the challenges of the creative process, rather than the desperation of showing leg on street corners* that is the traditional route.

This positive experience stems from the control you have over the process, not only content and timing of launch but also matters such as pricing and cover design over which authors signed to traditional publishers have little or no say. It also comes from getting your book out there, a feeling that justifies all the hours spent on writing it in the first place.

There’s no doubt that as a self-published book yours is out there with a lot of badly written dross – an even higher percentage than of traditionally published books – but you have to have faith in your work and also do what it takes to make your book as professional as possible. That essentially boils down to paying a professional copy editor and a professional cover designer, but it’s money well spent. So for those who feel they have a book in them, I would recommend: write the bloody thing; see if you can get interest from agents and publishers if you want; and if no book deal is immediately forthcoming, take advantage of the digital revolution and self-publish. As a friend of mine used to say, “The world is your lobster!”

(*I didn’t quite get that far, but it felt like I might have to.)