What do people think the pros and cons of self publishing? It crossed my mind to self publish a book of short stories, rather than a novel, and just wonder what people think about the practice?
Self Publishing
I think the main problem with self-publishing is that the only person you can really be sure likes your work is yourself. If it is being published by someone else, then at least you know the person publishing the book also likes it. It gives you a bit more confidence.
Tend to agree with Ian. But. if it's not too pricey, it's nice to see your work in print and you can always give them away for Christmas/Birthday presents.
You never know whose hands they will end up in...
In the world of pro speaking self publishing is all the rage. It gives you credibility they tell me. It has it's merits if it's non fiction and you are in effect using it as a seven quid business card. I would suggest that for any work of fiction it is a waste of time!
Self published fiction has worked for a few people. But they are very few and far between. (Look up Amanda Hocking.) I'd say you need a massive already existing audience. Say if you have a very popular blog, with thousands of regular readers, you could possibly make an okay go of it.
Obviously you get a much higher percentage of the profits, with none going to agents and the like. But I personally wouldn't do it.
Martin Baum (a some time poster on here) did rather well too. Maybe do some research into people who've been successful with it and see if you can replicate what they did or not.
thanks guy - I'll look into the names suggested. To be honest if I did self publish I would not expect a financial reward - more of (as said above) a business card. Get my stuff out there really
Here's a helpful link. A useful service/platform for self-publishing that won't cost you anything.
Quote: blahblah @ January 11 2012, 10:05 PM GMTthanks guy - I'll look into the names suggested. To be honest if I did self publish I would not expect a financial reward - more of (as said above) a business card. Get my stuff out there really
Ah, in that case I'm sure there are a lot of plus sides to it.
I was told by an exec at a publisher's that the main reason self-publishing will not take off is because she has never seen a manuscript that did not need a shit load of editing.
Another big problem with self-publishing is that if you really want to sell the stuff, you have to do all the publicity yourself, which would mean making loads of contacts, persuading booksellers to stock it, lining up the media publicity, etc. etc. A full-time job, I'd have thought.
Saw this on Twitter, it seemed relevant.
http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/01/a-self-publishing-success-story.html
Quote: blahblah @ January 11 2012, 6:57 PM GMTWhat do people think the pros and cons of self publishing? It crossed my mind to self publish a book of short stories, rather than a novel, and just wonder what people think about the practice?
Feels like a bit of a cheat. Getting a book published in the traditional way, brings kudos and admiration from others.
You just don't get that with self-publishing. Because it's something anyone can do - no one respects it.
Quote: keewik @ January 12 2012, 12:33 PM GMTAnother big problem with self-publishing is that if you really want to sell the stuff, you have to do all the publicity yourself, which would mean making loads of contacts, persuading booksellers to stock it, lining up the media publicity, etc. etc. A full-time job, I'd have thought.
Trust me, publishers can't even seem to handle this. 
Not to sound like a hippy but sometimes you just have to make things happen yourself. Who cares if it's not respected by 'friends' or publishers. At the end of the day you have a finished product on the shelf\Amazon which has the potential to find an audience. That's far better than any manuscript sat in a drawer doing nothing, which is what happens 99.89% of the time.
The link I posted above is the perfect example of what could happen if you get a finished product 'out there'.
So, who's going to start compiling the BCG 'self published' short stories collection then? 
Quote: ShoePie @ January 19 2012, 2:24 PM GMTWho cares if it's not respected by publishers.
Given the huge amount of time and effort involved in writing a manuscript, most people I would think.