I always thought I was going to publish traditionally because that is what I thought everyone did. You sent out your manuscript, you got hundreds of rejection letters and then someone realized what a masterpiece you have written and said ‘we will publish your book; here is a check.’ Self-publishing was not even a choice I thought about. When I had the idea for my novel, self-publishing was just getting started, I barely understood self-publishing and what I did understand made me think people put out books that looked like pamphlets and not actual books. Then I started doing research.
I read articles from authors, watched videos from publishers and read blog posts from almost anyone writing about traditional and self-publishing. I can understand why an author chooses one or the other as a way to publish a book. Traditional can be difficult to get into, but you have a feeling of acceptance. Self-publishing allows control of your writing, but the author has a lot of work (besides the writing) to do on their own. I am simplifying this, but I think authors decide on publishing, based on what they need and what they want. I realized during my research, the most important part about publishing, is to understand the publishing world you are entering regardless of the path you choose.
At this point, I am leaning towards one path more than the other. One of the questions I kept reading and hearing while trying to decide what I want, was, ‘what is your publishing goal?’ When I read that, I had to do research on that because I did not even know what that meant. I thought about it for weeks and realized my goal is to get my words out to as many people as possible while keeping control of my work. There is no right or wrong way to publish a book. We all get to decide what is best for our work. I just think everyone should do their research.
Is it traditional or self-publishing for you? Why?
CD Pulley Writing 