Self Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing

Nothing can set off a writing group quite like a conversation about the pros and cons of self-publishing versus traditional publishing. In today's ever increasing technological society, more and more authors are choosing to forego the the usual hurdles of agents, publishers, (and all-too-often editors), and deciding to publish their work themselves.

In this post I am going to attempt to give my opinion on the subject. Now before anybody gets it into their head to grab their torches, pitchforks, and break out into a rendition of "Kill the Beast", let me get a few things out of the way first:

1) I do not in any way think Self-Publishing is inferior to Traditional Publishing.

2) I do not in any way think Traditional Publishing is inferior to Self-Publishing

3) I do not think every book that has ever been Self-Published is not worthy of the paper it is printed on (or in most cases the space it takes up on your hard-drive).

4) I do not think every book that has ever been Traditionally published is well-written or interesting just because it was published that way.

5) I do not think of Self-Publishing as a last resort used by authors when they've been rejected by everyone else.

6) I have no intention of invading your village, pillaging your goods, assaulting your women, or eating your children.

I simply have an opinion. And the last time I checked, I was entitled to one of those. So here it is:

For my first foray into publishing, I have decided that I will publish traditionally or I will not publish at all.

Wait! Wait! Quit pointing those things at me. I have my reasons.

Contrary to popular opinion, I am not one of those people who believe that we need agents and publishers to act as so-called "gatekeepers" and tell us all exactly what we should read. I'm just of the mind to believe that we need them to tell us when we should read something.

Think about it. Most published authors take the time to thank and acknowledge their agents and editors for their tireless and hard work on their behalf. Now I know every writer out there has multiple friends and family members who are expecting a big shout out on that front page of their first book. So tell me why then would authors risk potentionally alienating their sister's best friend's cousin just so they would have the room to thank those individuals that we authors supposedly do not need?

It is because for most of us, we do need them. We need them in that desperate can't-even-breathe-if-you're-not-around Bella/Edward sort of way.

We work non-stop preparing our final draft, diligently editing and cutting and polishing, before we submit our work to agents. When we send it out we think that our baby is shiny and perfect. However, once it lands in front of an agent, what they see, more often than not, is potentional. Not a masterpiece.

At least I know that I didn't pen the next great American novel on my first try. Hell, who am I kidding? I didn't even finish the novel on my first try.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that there aren't some well-written, well-edited, self-published books out in the market. Jenny Pox, by JL Bryan is self-published, and BTW terrific. But, sadly, a large amount of them are not.

And I'm not trying to say that an author cannot be successful self-publishing. A lot are. Amanda Hocking, author of the My Blood Approves series among others, is a twenty-something who penned 17 novels in her spare time, began self-publishing them in April 2010, and became a millionaire doing so.

She also provides my case in point. I have never read Ms. Hocking's Trylle Trilogy, an urban fantasy about a girl who discovers she is a troll princess. I also have no intention of doing so. Why? Well, I'm glad you asked. (You did ask, right?).

I read the reviews by readers on Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, and every other website known to man.

Again with the pitchforks? Really?!

Give me the benefit of the doubt. I am not some drone who believes everything I read and bases my opinions upon it. I usually take both the good and the bad reviews with a grain of salt. I know these are subjective. But here is the problem with the Trylle Trilogy reviews:

Hundreds and hundreds of her loyal readers are crying foul. They're hurt. Outraged. Vomiting. They publish a post and come on a few days later, still angry, to add to it. They are screaming words in big bold letters like BETRAYAL & HATRED. And here's why:

Ms. Hocking decided to end the trilogy with a twist. Something her loyal readers claim they never saw coming and are none-too-happy about.

While there are plenty of posts citing grammer and spelling mistakes, nobody is questioning Ms. Hocking's ability to tell a good story. Most laud her first two books. Ultimately, they are questioning her choices and the seemingly inexplicable change of character in her protagonist Wendy in the final installment.

She'd spent 2 of the 3 books building an all-comsuming love between Wendy & Finn, and in the end Wendy chooses another.

This has left her readers with a bad taste in their mouths and a hollow feeling in the pit of their stomachs. A void that now can never be filled. A wrong that can never be righted.

And it is exactly this that terrifies me most, and sends me running for the arms of an agent or publisher.

My sister, Katie, is always the first person to read my work. And she has, unfortunately, read some versions of my novel, Bloodletting, that I wish I could take back.

She has called me in the middle of the night foaming at the mouth and spewing venomous words I didn't even realize she knew. My sister, my best friend, my own flesh and blood, told me in no uncertain terms that she was having great difficulty not hating me. That she wasn't even sure that she could speak to me for a few weeks. At least not until she had time to cool off.

And she did this because I, as the writer, had made a choice that fit with the story I was trying to tell, but that didn't agree with what she, as the reader, had been led to believe would happen.

We're writers. We like twists. They keep our story interesting and moving along. They make us feel unique and profound. But if you do a complete 360 with your characters, it has a tendency to induce vertigo in your readers.

We have to please ourselves, but we must also please our readers. We cannot have a twist just for the sake of being different, if it is so contrary to the rest of the work that it makes our readers violently ill.

It's out there now. And although her readers are crying for a rewrite - telling others to skip the final installment and leave the end to the imagination - it cannot be undone.

If only someone had told her to wait. To think about the ramifications before she published.

I would like to believe that had an agent or a publisher been involved, they would have done for Ms. Hocking what my sister did for me. That they would have yelled and screamed and stamped their feet until finally she came to see that our view as writers is but one. Then, with the help of her agent/editor/publisher, found an ending that would have pleased both writer and readers.