I self-published my first book of my art in 2019. 'SneakyArt of Eau Claire' won an IPPY and Midwest Independent Publishing Award in 2020, and has done me a tremendous amount of good in several other ways. I chose self-publishing for a number of reasons, including the ones you explained in this post.
To add a small point to the ones you've made, I would say it is a writer's responsibility today to objectively assess the book's target audience. For example, should a first-time writer in Wisconsin have the singular goal to reach the NYT Bestseller's List? What about having a dozen copies in every bookstore in their county? I would argue self-publishing makes the latter option more realistic and more rewarding at the same time.
Success is a small word with many big meanings. Every writer today should unpack it and decide what they truly want.
Nishant, you've brought into light some excellent points here! Including the author's responsibility. Huge point about making connections with regional bookstores. Congrats on how well your art book has done--very good indeed!
Thank you very much. We could talk about it sometime if it is an interesting topic for your substack. I'm working on my second book right now, also with the intention to self-publish. With a much larger global fan-base, it may be possible to get interest from a traditional publisher. But I expect the process to be too tedious and lengthy for the goals I have in mind.
Possibly a Q&A for my first-of-the-month newsletter? This month I'm featuring a writer who did the 3 Day Novel weekend, to follow up on all my 3 Day Novel posts...but maybe for November!
I did the contest officially last year and wrote 26K words, with the results being the first book in my series on Substack! I intended to do it this year to start writing book 3 but ended up putting the long weekend of writing towards finishing book 2. Still, it was time well spent, though! It's nice to take a weekend to do nothing but focus on writing (or artwork!) once in a while.
I am at 2-3 on the scale. The only case when I will go the traditional route is if I find some passionate people in some publishing company, where I don't have to compromise too much with my composition.
Otherwise, I am all for self-publishing irrespective of how many copies my book sells.
I've already made my decision (I am not only an indie publisher but I'm putting my novels on Substack first and THEN going to Amazon!) but it's fantastic that you've spelled things out so nicely for others. It's a hard, often gut-wrenching decision for most authors to make (what if! being such a hard thing to overcome), and it's helpful to have someone spell it all out.
That was a useful read, Alison!
I self-published my first book of my art in 2019. 'SneakyArt of Eau Claire' won an IPPY and Midwest Independent Publishing Award in 2020, and has done me a tremendous amount of good in several other ways. I chose self-publishing for a number of reasons, including the ones you explained in this post.
To add a small point to the ones you've made, I would say it is a writer's responsibility today to objectively assess the book's target audience. For example, should a first-time writer in Wisconsin have the singular goal to reach the NYT Bestseller's List? What about having a dozen copies in every bookstore in their county? I would argue self-publishing makes the latter option more realistic and more rewarding at the same time.
Success is a small word with many big meanings. Every writer today should unpack it and decide what they truly want.
Nishant, you've brought into light some excellent points here! Including the author's responsibility. Huge point about making connections with regional bookstores. Congrats on how well your art book has done--very good indeed!
Thank you very much. We could talk about it sometime if it is an interesting topic for your substack. I'm working on my second book right now, also with the intention to self-publish. With a much larger global fan-base, it may be possible to get interest from a traditional publisher. But I expect the process to be too tedious and lengthy for the goals I have in mind.
Possibly a Q&A for my first-of-the-month newsletter? This month I'm featuring a writer who did the 3 Day Novel weekend, to follow up on all my 3 Day Novel posts...but maybe for November!
Absolutely! A 3 Day Novel sounds intriguing, I'll keep an eye out for that post!
I did the contest officially last year and wrote 26K words, with the results being the first book in my series on Substack! I intended to do it this year to start writing book 3 but ended up putting the long weekend of writing towards finishing book 2. Still, it was time well spent, though! It's nice to take a weekend to do nothing but focus on writing (or artwork!) once in a while.
I am at 2-3 on the scale. The only case when I will go the traditional route is if I find some passionate people in some publishing company, where I don't have to compromise too much with my composition.
Otherwise, I am all for self-publishing irrespective of how many copies my book sells.
I've already made my decision (I am not only an indie publisher but I'm putting my novels on Substack first and THEN going to Amazon!) but it's fantastic that you've spelled things out so nicely for others. It's a hard, often gut-wrenching decision for most authors to make (what if! being such a hard thing to overcome), and it's helpful to have someone spell it all out.