Hey folks that are kind enough to use a little bit of your free time to read my little blog here. Sorry I'm a huge slacker. I've decided to post today, and I hope to be more faithful about it in the future. Feel free to message me threateningly if I am away longer than I should be. :)
So wow, there is a lot (by a lot, I mean holy monkey buttloads) of talk about success in self publishing right now. I actually feel a little bad for some of the authors that are being used as examples out there. Amanda Hocking, for one, has been thrust to the forefront and used as banner carrier by a group of people that she doesn't necessarily agree with.
Yes, she is self published. Yes, she has become successful. No, she does not hate the traditional method, or the publishers that have for so long stood upon that method. I'm sure that she is very happy with her success, and I wish nothing but the best in her career (along with the others out there that have done well on their own). However, it is not fair for huge chunks of the writing world to use her story in a fight that she neither has nor wants any part of.
Now I'll admit, after hearing some of the stories out there self publishing has become a much more attractive option for me. It was always a fall-back, in case of emergencies idea, but honestly it seemed almost like admission of failure. However, after some studying and searching, it seems like it may be the right route to go... for some people.
Although anyone seeking that route should still edit and edit and edit, and get others to read your story before declaring it finished, it seems a quicker way to go from the finished point to the published point. And then, your career is in your hands alone. The amount of time you are willing to put into socializing your book, marketing it and getting others to know about it... well, it's all up to you.
It really is a new and exciting world we're in, but I have always been enthralled with the traditional process. Agents and publishers and deadlines and the rest that comes with it... it all seems so romantic, and if you succeed... well what a testimony you will have.
I suppose there are two points to today's blog: The first is that traditional publishers and the rest that comes with the traditional route are not evil. Yes, they may be big (or not so big in many cases), and they probably seem scary to someone that is waiting for them to critique what may be your life's work, but they are not evil. Just because things may change, and it may feel like a revolution, doesn't mean that things were wrong to start with.
Second... well, second I guess means that I have some thinking to do. There is a decision to be made here for me. Self publishing no longer seems like failure, as a matter of fact, there are a lot of benefits to that route that are attractive to me. I do still love the traditional story though, and a publisher takes a lot of the responsibility off of the author's hands.
I guess that's it for today,
thanks for reading and sticking with me even when I'm a slacker,
buh bye then
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