On Self Publishing

 feel like for a long time now, self publishing has been getting a bad rap and maybe it’s because people feel there’s a credibility issue or maybe it’s because it’s given some people who wouldn’t have gotten published (and perhaps shouldn’t) the ability to have their book available to the world, regardless of whether or not it’s read. But for me, I’ve been working, fighting to get into the publishing industry for almost ten years. I’ve struggled, year after year to come up with just the right query, just the right pitch, just the right anything to catch an agents eye and somehow it’s never managed to work. And the simple fact is 90% of publishers will not look at you without an agent, believe me I’ve looked. They don’t have time or the energy and the agents are the gate-keepers so without them you might as well forget it.

There is however another solution. One that, arguably could work better for some people. Because while in the past self publishing has been seen as the ugly stepchild of the publishing industry it’s quickly become a viable alternative to an industry that’s almost impossible to get into. So much so that Penguin publishing (one of the largest publishing houses in the world) has created a self-publishing division. It gives authors a freedom like never before and allows them to be a part of a creative process of creating their novel that most authors would otherwise not be a part of. Obviously theres pros and cons to both sides, but for me, and for so many authors this is an opportunity to make a name for myself. With any luck one can potentially garner an agent or publisher from self publishing (it has happened a handful of times) but if you’re doing well enough on your own, I don’t really see the problem in doing it yourself.