Should I Self-publish or Publish with a Publisher?
“I have an editor friend who is encouraging me to find a publisher vs self-publishing. I want to open this book up to all possibilities and I want to know what you think?”
I can’t tell you how many times I get this question.
Here was my response:
Focus on finishing the book. Period. Chances are, you are suffering from bright shiny object syndrome, and finding a publisher will be one more thing that delays getting your book to market and into the hands of the people who need to read it. You will spend as much time trying to find a publisher as you will just self-publishing the damn thing.
Times have changed in the publishing world, and the power of the publishing houses has switched to the hands of the authors. I spoke with a woman a few years ago who had published five books with Harper Collins, and came to me to help her with her self-publish her next book because Harper Collins hadn’t done that much to support and promote her. She said it just wasn’t worth it.
While publishers are likely to get you on some radio and TV programs and potentially offer you PR opportunities you couldn’t get without them, the bottom line is that it’s really up to you to make sure that your book reaches all the people that you know will love it. Stephen Pressfield wrote, “Here’s the deal: Some publishers rock n’ roll, while others are rock bottom. And even if you’re with a rock n’ roll star of a publisher, your “baby”—your book—is just one of hundreds of books your publisher is raising. You gave your publisher custody, but there’s still some major co-parenting to be done.” I didn’t used to take such a hard stance on this, but recently I’ve realized how much this dilemma gets in the way of people getting their books out. The longer you delay, the fewer people you are going to reach, the longer they have to wait to get your message.
No time for handholding, you are doing awesome, but it’s time to rock ‘n’ roll.
Tough love. Get your book out, people.
As fast as you can.
If you are ready to take the first step to getting your book written, click here.
