Self-publishing or what?
Asking for your thoughts....
This photo is one taken in Norway in 2022, snapped by birth photographer extraordinaire Eva Rose. Paul and I visited her home in our camper and we were enthralled by the majestic mountains.
Climbing to reach this spectacular vista was a struggle - I was (and still am) unfit and I have drop-foot, the consequences of a back injury several years ago. The effort to take each step was made easier by the loving encouragement of Eva Rose, her husband OJ and mine - they held me all the way. They pulled me up at times!
Similar effort has been needed to write my second memoir - I’ve needed so much encouragement and support even though I’ve wanted to do it for years. Latterly, the guidance and mentoring has come from friend and fellow midwife Amity Read - so now I’m on my way and my book proposal has gone to a potentially interested publisher. I am waiting. Yikes.
In the meantime I’m seeing posts from others who are self publishing and it’s got me thinking. Then I need to look into the alternative and explore pros and cons - until then I thought I’d ask you - this wonderful writing to community. What do YOU think?
I’d love to hear from you,
What publishers want today is someone with a platform - they do so little compared to years ago - authors are expected to do the bulk of the marketing. But… if you have a good publisher and/or agent, there’s far less work involved with the technical side. Another consideration is costs… is it a so called vanity project or are you wanting just to get the words out via Amazon (no costs…)? If you want to continue to be ‘a voice in the world of birth’ I’d stick with traditional publishing - but if you’re a maverick and don’t want your work and words controlled then DIY… just my thoughts from hanging out with people who’ve done both.
I think it depends on many things - if you got a deal, do you trust them to actually market the book? Would it take a lot of that admin and effort off your shoulders? Are you looking to maximise your revenue? In which case waiting for your measly royalties is not ideal.
If you self publish, personally I'd pay a professional editor and a good proof reader. I find typos, errors and narrative arch mix ups distracting in self published books.