March 8, 2020
I’ve decided that my publishing journey comes down to which I want to avoid more: being stigmatized as not good enough for a ‘real’ publisher or waiting years to be traditionally published, if ever. I know the benefits of self publishing and traditional publishing but it’s the cons of each that have me most concerned. I was adamantly adverse to self-publishing mostly because I didn’t regard it as legitimate. But publishing has changed. It looks nothing like it used to. Traditional publishing houses are seeing a steady decline in sales while indie authors are increasingly capturing a larger portion of the market. A year ago I would have told you that I would never self-publish. Today, this is exactly where I’m leaning.
This week I had a good chat with an author friend of mine who reminded me I needed a marketing plan if I decided to self-publish. How the hell had I not thought of that? I worked as a marketing director for years so you think this would be one of the first things I prepared. Unfortunately, I threw my marketing cap away and replaced it with my author cap. I’ve learned that I have to wear both hats if I decide to self-publish even if they don’t fit so well together. If anything, this new direction made me realize what I hadn’t been thinking about, but should be.
Over the last few days I’m finding that my old hat fits like new again and that it’s exciting yet comfortable at the same time. Stay tuned…
S.L.Luck 