Misgivings and trepidations

Maybe three months had gone by in between receiving the editor feedback and the germination of the self-publishing idea. I had a ton of doubts when it came to self-publishing, foremost was its abysmal reputation. Self-publishing could make anyone a published author, but frankly, not everyone should be a published author. So with that great power came great abuse. Sloppy, un-edited, un-proofed work filled with type-o’s, mis-spelled words, incorrect grammar, and just plain bad writing, flooded the market. The tools these self-publishers offered to layout and design the book were also restrictive and frustrating, to put it kindly, but surprisingly many authors didn’t seem to care! Furthermore, the entire process was expensive. Hence the terrible reputation that the self-publishing industry earned had frankly been well-earned.

But that was also more than 5 years ago. A market filled with ill-quality product made consumers push back against the crap. Hip cafes sprouted up, where you could drop your manuscript off, get coffee, and then pick up your beautifully-published book. It became fashionable again to print high-quality work.

Most importantly, aspiring authors who cared so much about their work, demanded from the self-publishing industry the offering of better tools and more options to pay for printing better quality books. To stay viable, some self-publishing companies complied, and further offered “comprehensive” services to edit, design and market a book.

This has been an incredible time in the industry, with factors like e-books, Amazon, and the dwindling marketing/advertising budgets offered by traditional publishing houses, radically changing the face of the industry as a whole.

For me, the most influential factor weighing in on MY decision of what to do next, was that I was stuck. And not moving on.