So. Getting your book published. A fun adventure, that. And one that’s getting more complicated by the moment.
For those of you not in the throes of trying to get your brilliant tome in front of readers’ eyeballs, here’s the basic setup: Writers want to write, so they do. Writers also want to be published, but more often than not, when dealing with traditional publishing (getting an agent, getting a publisher), they aren’t. Most writers—like, 99.999 percent of them (don’t ask me to source that number—I’m going on feel, here) end up on the scrap heap and their queries and sample pages shoved from the e-slush pile into the digital trash can or recycling bin. “Empty trash?” “Yes.” Munch. End of writing career.
But lo! A light in the darkness! E-publishing has arisen, and self-e-pubbing (I’ll call it SEP from now on, to save pixels) was not far behind. Where once self-publishers had to tussle with how many copies of their magnum opus to print…and where to store the leftovers that didn’t sell…or wrangling with print-on-demand businesses like Lulu, now they could upload their masterpieces and readers could download them instantly. No muss, no fuss, no paper—just rake in the profits. It’s a miracle, I tell ya.
And, as with all miracles, there are true believers and there are skeptics. Among my writer friends, there have evolved two camps: those who are faithful to what some might see as the pipe dream of traditional publishing, and those who have turned their back on the old-fashioned process and are wholeheartedly embracing SEP. Hallelujah. Let the debates begin.
