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Having gone through the route of self-publishing with our first anthology last year, I'm seriously considering it for some of my writing projects. One of the driving compulsions behind this decision is that I enjoyed the whole process from start to finish, despite other stressful happenings at the time. However, I thought I'd do a bit more research for and so have been scouring the internet to try to find some answers.
Self-publishing is quite a popular subject and is often mixed up with vanity publishing. For me, self-publishing is about producing my own written works in hard or e-format via a system like Lulu. Not paying someone else to do it. As with all writing dilemmas there are two sides to the coin and so here are some of the 'for' and 'against' which I have come across during my research.
For!
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The author/publisher has control over the whole project from first word to shelf. They don't have to rely on (and therefore fund) others to do it for them.
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Speed from paper to publication (or screen if e-format) can be much quicker. I could have something published via Lulu in one day if I was so inclined.
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A form of income - a little tongue in cheek as self-publishing is not the nest of golden eggs. However, all royalties do go the author; there is no 'cut' for the publishing house as such. However, there other costs involved.
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Self-publishing can lead to being noticed by 'traditional' publishing houses if authors can prove there is a market for their work.
Against!
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It's a lonely business and the responsibility for producing a professionally edited book is not to be underestimated. You have to become a 'jack of all trades' unless you pay someone else to undertake certain elements for you.
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Marketing your work means a big investment of time particularly. If you have a good network, this is a little easier but again, it is a key part of the process.
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A drain on income - self publishing may involve costs such as paying for editing services, marketing and investment of your time and depending on the return, profit may not cover those costs
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There is quite a wall of prejudice against self-publishing in the writing world possible fuelled by the experiences of people with vanity publishers, rogues who take your money for very little return.
These are just a few and there are many more. I read about one young author who had incredible success with her projects via self-publishing and now has a contract. She was quite overwhelmed with her results but she had a very strong sense that it could be done. Perhaps she was also not afraid of taking risks, something that we writers do every time we sent a query letter or synopsis to a list of editors.
On the other hand, I've read about piles of published books which are full of errors and a dreadful read because it is so easy to produce work via this process. Whether they shall ever be read or make any money is another thing.
I'm not sure that any of this will put me off, I fancy having a go just because I can and because I'm interested in the finished product. A bit of return in money would be welcome (ha!) but not essential.
So which camp, if any, do you sit in?
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