Self-Stuff is Awesome

I’m freaking out a little bit, that tomorrow it’ll be November. I honestly feel like the year only just started, and now we’re nearly saying goodbye to 2017… It was a good year, I think. And this month has been a really fun one, and an interesting time for me. You know me, I usually sing the praises of traditional publishing while warning everyone of the dangers of self-publishing. This month, I haven’t done that. And this week, the trend continues as we finish our series.

Self-Publishing is Great

Surprised? I nearly am. But really, self-publishing is really cool. It’s created a way for everyone to get published, for people who aren’t what publishers consider marketable to get their books on the market and hopefully make some money off their work. Yeah, it saturated the market. Yeah, it made things a little more difficult for everyone involved, but you know what? That’s how the game goes. It’s not supposed to be easy, it’s not supposed to be something you can do without putting time and effort into it. Self-publishing kept the system from going into a downward spiral of only-certain-people-can-be-published.

Self-publishing is the option that allows authors to maintain control of their craft. It’s the option that allows authors to work for ourselves instead of working for a company. (and as we all know, small business is what keeps the US running strong). It’s the type of publication that shows traditional publishers that people aren’t going to stand for their picky decision making, and the version of publication that puts the author in the driver’s seat.

For some of us, that’s just what we needed.

For others, it’s a wakeup call.

For still others, it’s a challenge we couldn’t rise to.

But you know what? That doesn’t mean it’s a bad way to go.

Every author is different, every book is different, and every marketing scheme is going to be different. Some books won’t do well on the general market, so it might be difficult for a traditional publisher to do well with them—but self-publishing allows us an alternative route for getting this book into the hands of the people who want to read it.

Self-publishing filled a void, really. It showed the world how many authors are really out there, and made readers realize that there are authors out there who aren’t the big names but write books just as good.

And really, that’s exactly what the system needed.

We needed competition.

We got it.

[love]

{Rani Divine}

P.S. I realize I’ve been doing traditional publishing topics on Tuesdays and self-publishing on Thursdays, but the self-publishing topic came easier to me this time. ;-)