Intro and Self-Publishing

When writing your first novel, you're probably not concerned with how you will get published. You're thinking, oh, once I finish I'll figure something out. I have plenty of time. And in reality, you do. Actually writing something is the first and most crucial step towards getting anything published, whether it's a book, an article, or an academic study. But once you do finish, you might realize, as I did, that the publishing process is a complex and constantly evolving entity.

There's a viable pantheon of options for publishing in today's world. The truth is, if you want to get published, you can. You don't need anyone's permission or approval. You don't even have to have a quality piece of work, or to have written anything remotely interesting to anyone. You can click a few buttons, put in your credit card information, and seconds later whatever you've written will pop up on Amazon for purchase without you having to give up any royalties to anyone. Amazing, right?

But, as our mothers have all told us at one point or another, just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should. What we're talking about here is self-publishing, the first of the three main categories of publishing that exist today. Honestly, it is appealing. Primarily because, as mentioned, you only need yourself. This style of publishing has taken off recently, allowing unknown writers to get their work out into the world with ease. Can you produce a quality piece of work that will reach millions of readers and subsequently grab movie deals by self-publishing, like Colleen Hoover (It Ends with Us) and Andy Weir (The Martian) have done? Sure, but you can also win the lottery or fly to the moon. Anything's possible.

The unfortunate side effect of the ability to publish anything at any time is that the world is inundated with material. The general public doesn't know the good from the ugly. They're not going to sift through the new releases on Amazon with zero reviews and ten previous purchases. And I don't blame them. I wouldn't either. There's no guarantee you're going to be rewarded with an enjoyable experience. You're risking your likely limited free time and money on something that might not be worth reading. So, in more cases than not, your self-published work is going to get buried under a ginormous pile of other self-published work, never to be seen again.

Some people try to counteract this likelihood by putting money into it. You can publish with a vanity press, which are publishing companies that usually provide you with an editor, cover designer, and whatever else you need to produce a finished product in exchange for what's often very large sums of money. But unfortunately, there's no guarantee that they're going to work very hard for you. After all, if they're getting little to no royalties out of it, why would they? This is why some view them as scams, although I'm sure there are a lot of quality legitimate vanity presses out there.

You can also do the leg work yourself. Instead of hiring a vanity press, you can individually seek out an editor, a cover designer, a publicist, a marketing team. Again, this is expensive, and even more laborious than using a vanity press, although you're probably more likely to get quality help.

If you're interested in the self-publishing route, my intention is not to dissuade you. There's a lot to like about it. But, as with any decision, it's important to have realistic expectations and a good understanding of what you're getting yourself into. After all, your manuscript is your baby. You probably don't want to hire the first babysitter you meet on the street with a teardrop tattoo and a switchblade who promises to take "extra good care" of it.

Pros - high royalties, available to anyone, fast/can operate on your own timeline

Cons - low likelihood of success, reliant on yourself for most to all of the work, probably pretty expensive

Category 1 - Self-Publishing