Think again.
And read this article from Paul Carr at TechCrunch, in which he provides some pretty safe reasoning which he backs up with facts, figures and citations. It’s well worth a read. Although some of the comments which follow contain assumptions and statements which are more than a little dubious.
Well for me Jane the solution is simple. I know almost less than nothing about self publishing – all those words on the subject simply confuse me. I just know that, for me, it will always be a bad thing. Why? Because I know I do not have the skills required to make a success of it. It will, if I ever get that far, be hard enough to do the publicity bit with a regular publishing company. I just have to accept that and I really do not mind. It means I can get on with the important things like writing and editing and trying to do my best! Surely that is what writers really want to do?
“Although some of the comments which follow contain assumptions and statements which are more than a little dubious.”
…and the comment exchanges…boy, talk about being snarky!
Now I’ve got to come back when I have more time and read all these posts and links! Good topic. Although marketing & distribution may be changing super fast, there’s still the editing issues. That seems like one of the biggest hurdles to self-publishing.
Cat, I’m with you. Other people might be able to do it all, but I don’t think I could.
Mick, I know. I was going to comment there, but in the end decided against it: I have no desire to get involved in yet another online bicker!
Karen: there’s always something that a self-published author can’t quite do. For you it might be editing; for me it would probably be the design. And you only need one little part of the puzzle to be missing for the whole publishing venture to go awry. So few people do it really well.
I’m glad you highlighted this well-argued article. I read it earlier today and my immediate thought was ‘I bet Jane will want to bring this to the attention of her blog readers.’ Now I’m feeling smug.
So you should feel smug, Sally. For your cleverness in knowing what I’d like, and your wonderfulness in general.
I wonder how people can read the same article and get such different things from it. I’ve just read a long piece on the Self Publishing Review (link at the bottom of my comment) which also refers to the article I linked to, but in this way:
I didn’t think that Carr’s article was particularly angry or much of a diatribe; it certainly doesn’t match most of the rhetorical pieces I’ve read dismissing mainstream publication over the years, on the Self Publishing Review and elsewhere. It’s a funny old world, eh?
http://www.selfpublishingreview.com/blog/2010/08/31/self-publishing-is-the-future-of-everything/