To Self-Publish or Not to Self Publish...that is the question

by Brittany Geragotelis

I recently saw this feature in The Wall Street Journal, on the state of the publishing world—particularly regarding self-publishing and whether it's in an author's best interest to self-publish as opposed to going the traditional route of working with a major publisher. Regardless of which is the better way to go, the feature was interesting. They included a variety of authors...one who self-published and sold a fair amount of her books and has been picked up by a division of Amazon because of it; and a well-known author who's published a lot of books via a mainstream publisher, but who's now publishing some of his earlier books on his own—and making more money doing it himself than had he went with a big publisher.

It brings up the question: which is the right way to be published?

I've struggled with this debate the past few years. After being rejected more times than I thought my ego could handle, and being dropped by my old agent, I set out to self-publish. I came up with a 6-month plan, laying out everything I needed to do at every stage in order to get the book out, publicize it and sell it. Then, I began to hear from industry people, all telling me to hang in there because my books were publishable (My favorite author in the whole world even told me not to give up, because my writing was worthy of a publisher; how could I ignore something like that?). So, I abandoned my plans and went back to searching for a literary agent so I could hopefully snag a book deal.

Now, two books later, I'm getting ready to board the Rejection Express—again—and I'm starting to wonder whether that decision was right for me. The jury's still out on this one, but it's interesting to see how many opportunities are opening up for people like me who write and just need a little help getting their stuff out there to the masses. Anyways, read the article and decide for yourself which is the best route for you. After all, isn't the point of writing so that others can enjoy reading your books? And if the books aren't out there for them to read, how are you supposed to accomplish that?

On a completely unrelated note....here's a video Matt sent me last night. It made me giggle. So, if you're needing a Thursday pick-me-up, check it out!

5x5,
B.