Self-publishing

Anyone who knows me knows that in my spare time I write. Or I am reading. I'm a big fan of words. I hope to publish a book one day, maybe even the one I am working on currently. On the web I read a lot of other writer's blogs, from the "small time" writer who has published through smaller presses (or are dreaming to publish with any publisher at all) to the big-shots, like Neil Gaiman who has somehow managed to end up writing a Dr Who episode which is very cool I think.

On the matter of publication one question has arisen time and again amongst the not-yet-published set. Should one self-publish? Now if you're into the scene you'll know what I mean. For the less informed self-publishing isn't vanity press, wherein some dreamer of a writer pays a "publisher" lots of their own hard earn dollars in order for the "publisher" to print a few thousand copies of said writer's book. Writer is then surprised that no marketing will be done and in fact the book refuses to sell itself. On top of that the poor writer finds out that no one takes this vanity press style publishing seriously at all. Writer then falls into a despair and never writes again.

Self-publishing, on the other hand, requires no out-lay on the writers behalf. With such tools as Kindle and Lulu writers need only upload their polished and ready manuscripts to their servers. Interested buyers purchase the book, or e-book with one click of their mouse. A book is not printed unless sold. No marketing is done beyond what the writer does.

Amanda Hocking has notoriously done well out of the self-publishing business making squillions of dollars by selling her e-books for a mere 0.99 until finally a publisher sat up and took notice and now she's getting real books in real stories and even talk of film adaptations and all. Impressive yeah? 

One problem with self-publishing that I can directly see is that you have to be able to market your own work. In fact I can imagine that most of your time will be spent dedicated to the art of marketing your e-book. If you're like most writers you write because you want to be a writer, not a publisher, not a marketeer.

Another problem is the loss-of-prestige. Self-publishing can cop a lot of flak because any man and his dog can do it. No editors are there to spare the reader terrible prose, wooden characters, lacklustre plots and spelling mistakes. Therein lies the problem, self-publishers need not only what they think is a polished manuscript but a good editor to go through it and shake it up a bit until it falls neatly into place.

I think every writer, when honest with themselves, would prefer the traditional means of publishing. But if we all wait for that magic day when an offer comes through will we wait forever? Why not self-publish, do the hard yards now, get a small audience going, get the attention of a publisher this way?

Don't bands do that same? We've all got mates who have a band, who've cut themselves an EP, spending thousands of their own hard earned cash on a producer and studio time, then spent countless hours sending out their demo to radio stations, managers, doing as many gigs as possible just to get a name for themselves and say "Hey we're here! Sign us to your magical record label!" My mate Luke has been doing this for years his band Brokencube has just released a "self-published" album on Amazon for all and sundry to download.

If bands also use the route of "self-publishing" and self promotion then why not writers? Why not try to get a publisher's attention this way? Why do we have to write query after query and sit on our hands hoping beyond miraculous hope that an agent will pull our dusty manuscript out of the slush pile and actually be wow-ed by it? Why not give your book the chance to see the light of day? Instead of hanging on one person's opinion about what is good writing, and what is marketable in two years time, give it directly to the audience. Then keep querying and writing your letters but you may be able to add in "I have an established fan base and make great sales on kindle" you'll get their attention, because at the end of the day publishing isn't about the art, it's about the sales. Yes?

What do you guys think?