Any writer/illustrator who self publishes knows some awkward moments. Here’s two:
- Someone says ‘is it self published?’ at a book fair as they pick up a book. They then pretend to ponder whether they want to take the risk on a book without celebrity reviews on the back and a well known logo. They don’t. They’re just lingering out of politeness. They smile, put it back and walk on.
- A published author says ‘oh which publisher did you go with?’ while knowing full well you self-published. They are feigning interest in order to demonstrate they have a publisher and you don’t. Some authors love a humble-brag.
A few awkward moments are no reason not to self-publish.
I’m going to do a bolshy little bite-sized series of posts about the reasons why I self-publish.
Here’s reason number one:
TIME
The average life expectancy for a male in the UK is 79 years. I’m 53. So I might have, if I’m lucky, 26 ish productive creative years left.
I already have a mountain of ideas I want to share with the world, and the mountain is constantly getting bigger.
There is no way, if I relied on the timetables and tastes of publishers, that I would get to the top of that mountain of ideas. I might not even set off from base camp. Self publishing means managing my own time so I avoid the frustration of relying on other people’s agendas and timetables. Self-publishing means I stand a fighting chance of getting my work done before I die.
Which seems a pretty good reason to do it.
