Now this is a tricky one and as someone sitting on the proverbial fence I’m considering my options. This is probably a familiar place for heaps of writers. Your work’s been written, it may even have had good feedback from publishers or agents, but there are still no takers. The possibility of a traditional publishing opportunity is looking increasingly bleak and the enthusiasm of your personal cheer squad is waning, “What’s happening with your book?”
It’s a bit of a grim place to be.
So, what are the pros and cons of self-publishing? Go on take out that notebook and have a scribble. These are the positives I came up with…
- You can finally get the work out there. Yeah!
- You’re actually doing something with that beast which has taken up so much of your time, energy and love.
- The thought of putting the beast in a bottom drawer and forgetting about it is so depressing you’d rather take up wrestling…well actually…
- You have control. Remember you’ve controlled your characters or content from the beginning so why give that up now.
- It’s 2016 for goodness sake. The star of self and digital publishing has well and truly risen.
Now that all sounds fabulous so why am I still writing this and not out sourcing my book cover to a graphic artist? Because the legitimacy of getting a contract from a publisher is the big fat fish I want to catch and it bugs me it hasn’t happened. So, to the cons…
- There are zillions of self-published books fighting for readership in the ISBN ocean. How will yours stand out?
- Do you really have the skills, time and money to self-publish? Because you probably have a bill paying day job and are not a marketing entrepreneur?
- What do you really want to get out of self-publishing? Will being able to say you’ve sold maybe three hundred books be enough of a return on all your hard writing investment? And once your book is published it will be very hard to reel it back in.
- Finally, is this book part of your journey as a writer or your final destination…
There’s no denying these are the hard questions. But, like me, if you’ve finished that final draft you’ll probably have to face them.
Nice fresh voice you need and deserve to be heard!
Great post. I am facing some of these issues as well..
Thank you. It’s really hard to know what to do isn’t it. So no surprises but I’m still procrastinating…
Wonderful post! Gives me a new perspective.
Thank you Charlie for the post.
I will be finishing my first book this summer (fingers crossed) and I need to start researching on how to publish it.
I wonder what your decision will be at the end 🙂
Best of luck!
Lucia
Hi Lucia
Well done on nearly completing your book. That is a massive achievement. Just as I was about self publish my book was noticed in a writing competition and the publishers are taking it on. So another option I would definitely do is entering your work in competitions. All the best.
Hi Charlie,
That’s great news!
Thank you for the advice.
Best wishes
Lucia