Saturday, August 22, 2009

To Self-publish or Not to Self-publish? That is the question?

The reason I decided to go the self-publishing route was not one that I took lightly. I had been sending out my query to agents, about 50 altogether. I had some interest, my full manuscript was requested 3 times and a partial was requested about the same amount.

I went through the excitement of maybe getting an offer of representation and through the disappointments of rejection. I know that eventually someone would take a chance on it, you only need one person to say yes, after all.

Through all of this time period (about 6 months) I began avidly reading agent blogs and anything I could read about the state of the publishing industry. Everyone’s consensus was that the outlook was bleak. Publishers were re-printing back listed titles from 10 years ago that sold well, and it became apparent that they were very apprehensive about taking on new, unknown authors.

This gave me plenty of time to think about what exactly I wanted to achieve with my writing. I love to write, it is a hobby, a passion. I write whenever I need to escape the doldrums of the real world and enter one of excitement and adventure. I want young people to feel the same way when they read my books, too. It was then I realized that if I suddenly had contracts and deadlines imposed on me, I wouldn’t enjoy it as much anymore. It would no longer be my escape, and my creativity would probably fly straight out of the window. That was the pivotal point that made me decide to self-publish.

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