To self-publish, or not to self-publish
that is the dreadful question
I have this novella that I’ve trunked, untrunked, and re-trunked over the last few years. I’ve never been sure what to do with it, or if it’s even good. It’s a pulpy multi-dimension fantasy romp. As far as I can tell there aren’t many marketplaces where it would be a good fit.
I’ve considered self-publishing it, just to put it out there and see how it lands. But I’ve unsuccessfully self-published in the past, and don’t know if I want to try it again. There are some pretty major downsides to self-publishing, one being the price. The author has to foot the bill for editing, cover design, and marketing. None of which are cheap.
Of that list, marketing is the most obtuse. I could never fully wrap may head around how to do it, and doing it badly for too long is both a time and money sink.
This is where, in theory, traditional publishing becomes much more appealing. Having an experienced marketing department work on your book should be a huge boon. But lately, more and more mid-list authors have to take the burden of marketing onto themselves, jumping into social media trenches to try and get eyeballs on their work. It’s a frustrating experience for everybody.
And one of the main benefits of trad publishing, the advance, has been shrinking across the board. It’s starting to seems like there are no good options.
Just as I was drafting this, news broke on twitter that a literary agency had dropped a bunch of its authors with a callous mass email. My original conclusion was that I’d keep pursuing traditional publishing, but now I don’t know. Maybe it really is best to go it alone and lob works into the self-publishing crucible, hoping for the best.