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Self-Publish And Be Damned

Hi everyone.

 I hope you are having a good summer if it is summer in your part of the world.

 Today I have a big announcement to make. After years of railing against self-publishing and resisting it with every fibre of my writing being such as in this post http://melissalawrencewriter.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/why-ive-decided-not-to-self-publish.html, I have finally decided to throw my principles out of the window and give it a go after all.

 I am currently dusting off all eleven (yes, eleven) of my unpublished children's books which are currently sleeping peacefully in my filing cabinet, along with all the rejection letters from publishers and agents that they have accumulated over the years and starting the process of self-publishing them all.

 It has taken me a long time to come to this decision but in the end, my reasons for doing so are as follows:

 1. It seems a bit pointless having them all shut away in the filing cabinet when they might as well be out in the world getting rave (or not) reviews on Amazon.

 2. Having recently started a new venture of helping other authors with their book publicity and promotion (more of that in a future post) I have realised that the more "products" you have in your shop window, ie your author website, the better.

 3. The big Six Zero is looming and frankly, I don't think I have enough time or patience left to wait around while another set of agents and publishers take twelve months to decide to reject a manuscript.

 4. Everyone else seems to be doing it and yes, I know the thing about not putting your finger in the fire but if I'm honest, I think a lot of those writers are considerably less experienced than I am.

 5. I really like the idea of having total creative control over everything from the manuscript to the cover design to the publicity. It's perfect for a Control Freak like me.

 6. The quality of self-published books has improved considerably over the last few years and although it is still difficult to get them taken on by traditional booksellers, there are so many more outlets for points of sale now, especially if you have a really good quality product.

 7. The rise of social media and easier access to online reviewers etc means that anyone can do their own book publicity (or hire me to do it for them) without the need for a marketing department behind them.

 8. I won't have to be "pigeon-holed" as a writer as I probably would have to be if I was being taken on by an agent or publisher. In other words, if I want to be a children's writer, a non-fiction author and a poet, with self-publishing I can be.

 9. It will provide a valuable insight into the whole process of self-publishing which could stand me in good stead for future ventures and also help me to be more empathic to self-published authors who come to me for book publicity and promotion. And I'll have something to blog about.

10. I don't want to be published posthumously!
So off I go on my self-publishing journey and we'll see where it takes me. I'll keep you in the loop.



Photo Credit: Pixabay






Comments

  1. Rosalie Warren24 July 2017 at 04:08

    Hi Melissa. Great to see you posting again on here. Having read two of your unpublished novels I can vouch for the fact that they are very good - and I can't wait to see them in print. I'm really looking forward to reading the other nine, too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Melissa Lawrence2 August 2017 at 09:47

      Thank you very much Rosalie. That means a lot.

      Delete

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