The issue of self-publishing has become a hot topic in recent years, especially with the emergence of e-readers and e-books. As a side note I use self-publishing to mean both self-publishing and e-publishing in this post, even though there can be some significant differences.
Even five years ago, self-publishing was looked down on by the literary world. It was an industry for those who couldn't get picked up by a real publishing house, so they paid others to print their books for them. There were some really awful looking self-published books out there that were poorly edited and desperately need a new designer. However, this is no longer the case.
I will admit that I used to be a publishing snob. I shouted from the rooftops about how authors should never ever think about self-publishing their books. I have repented and am now a full believer in the benefits of self-publishing.
There is so much to benefit small authors who want to be able to share their stories with the world. Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble and a number of other sites offer the ability to sell your story for a reasonable price. You can either have each ordered book printed and shipped to the buyer through the hosting site, or you can have your readers buy your book and have it delivered electronically to their e-reader...or both! Authors keep almost all of the profits and don't have to deal with contracts or small advances. Only a small percentage of the total cost of your book goes to the hosting site and the rest goes in your pocket.
While self-publishing is great, there is one thing to remember. Self-publishing doesn't make editors obsolete. The success of the book is often based on customer reviews and I've seen many self-published books with poor reviews with the main complaint being that the book needed to be edited. A second set of eyes really helps because it can be hard to edit your own writing. I know this for a fact. Even as a professional editor, I always have someone else look over my writing, especially if it's going to be critiqued. This part of the post may seem self-serving, but even if you don't decide to use my services when self-publishing, you should still find someone to read through your work to make sure it flows and makes sense and to check for any blatant errors before publishing.
I am a strong advocate for authors to bypass the big publishing houses in order to keep all the rights to their book and most of the profits as well and to go ahead and publish with amazon.com and other such sites. This new trend in self-publishing is not only beneficial to authors but also to freelance editors, like myself, who want their authors to be successful with their writing and to be able to benefit from their work and creativity.
