Thursday 30 August 2012

A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer...

“A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”
― Maya Angelou

When I started writing I had heard of self publishing or Vanity publishing as the case may be – and back then (although it was only a couple of years ago) It was definitely classed as more vanity than anything else.

Google was (still is) my all and so I found information on different POD companies and as many of you know I chose the hand holding Authorhouse. I don’t have any regrets. I went in with my eyes open Goa Traffic was never going to make any money but it was sales that I wanted. With the rise of the e-book sales of Goa Traffic have really taken off and the paper copy is selling too. Was this hard work or luck? A bit of both

Now self publishing is common speak. Everyone is doing it or thinking of doing it. Some traditionalists still say a Trad publisher wont look at you if you self publish- and well I haven’t been published traditionally so I wouldn’t know if they are right or wrong but for me self publishing works. It reduces the drama level of finding an agent and you are in control. Plus it appeals to the business side of me. After all I did do a degree in business studies and have always wanted my own business- so Yeoman Publishing, “Marissa de Luna”  - ticks those boxes for me.

But again I am going off on my point. What I wanted to say was that I recently found two good websites/blogs that I feel truly encapsulate the whole drama of self publishing and if you are thinking of self pubbing definitely read the articles below. The first is from an agent turned author Nathan Bransford – he really knows his stuff with a vast amount of useful tips, articles and links and the second is Writer Beware a great site with all the Pro’s and Con’s on self publishing.



I wish I had known about these portals of information before I started – especially the Writer Beware website – after all if you go in with your eyes open whats to lose?

As I persist with The Bittersweet I find I have a few options
-      E-publish with a view to Pod publish.
-      Persist with sending out submissions to agents
-      Leave it on the back burner and carry on with Chupplejeep.

Watch this space…