[Credit: stuartpilbrow]
Let me start with a disclaimer. I’m actually cool with self-publishing. It’s an admirable endeavour when other routes to publication haven’t worked. The issue I have is with people who advise aspiring fiction writers to start down the self-publishing route and bypass agents and / or traditional publishers. I feel this is doing these aspiring writers a great disservice. Self-publishing should be what happens after you’ve tried the traditional route. Why? Remember that old saying by W. Clement Stone? “Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star.” Well, starting with self-publishing when you’re a fiction writer (and sometimes, a non-fiction writer) is like aiming for a tree branch. It rarely gets you anywhere near the moon and the stars, and in my view, if you love writing, why the hell not give the moon and the stars a go?
Let’s start by figuring out what the moon and the stars are for writers. For some, it’s being able to tell their story to as many people as possible. For others, it’s the pure joy of putting pen to paper. Then there’s being able to tell people you’re a published author or simply making millions, like JK Rowling 
For many, it’s all four.
Let’s start with getting your story out there. So you self-publish your book but then what? Just because you’ve built it, they won’t come. High street bookstores are unlikely to pick it up, and Amazon will take it for a few bucks but won’t highlight it unless it miraculously becomes a best seller. Most good journalists won’t review it (trust me, journalists don’t take self-published books seriously) and unless you’re a marketing or PR guru, it’ll be very difficult to promote it well. But say you do manage to bring attention to it.
The next hurdle is trust. Sadly, self-published books have a bit of a grim rep. Whether it’s because people associate them with their Aunt Bettie’s History of Littlehampton book with its funny photoshopped front cover, or because they’ve read a self-pubbed book chock-a-block full of mistakes (which, sadly, most self-pubbed books have due to the lack of a decent editor and proof-reader), there’s not a great deal of respect for self-published books despite there being some decent ones out there.
Why? The fact is, anyone with a few bucks can self-publish. Anyone. But not anyone can get through the publishing gatekeepers. So Joe and Joanne Public would rather part with their money for a book that a traditional publisher has liked enough to publish, not the book your old boss or good friend has liked enough to provide a blurb for. This is why self-published books on average sell dozens (if you’re lucky hundreds) whereas traditional publishers tend to sell in the thousands.
Now if you’re one of those writers who doesn’t care about book sales and it’s all about the love of writing, then self-publishing is worth a shot. But consider this: you’ve spent a year or so writing your book, maybe more, maybe less. So why not try to get paid for your hard work, rather then pay, as you would with self-publishing. Just give it a try, you know? For a start, most reputable traditional publishers will pay an advance (usually in the thousands if through a larger publisher). Then you’ll get royalties for every book you sell (once you make back your advance). Sure, you’re not getting the whole sehbang in your pocket as you would with self-published sales but your self-published sales will strain to reach the hundred mark whereas a traditionally-published book can reach into the thousands, tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, hell millions (plus you have an advance, remember). Even Kevin Weiss, CEO of a huge self-publishing company in the US (Author Solutions), admits 80 per cent of their authors fail to break even whereas traditionally published authors always do as they never had to fork out in the first place.
Maybe you’re one of those deep souls who really doesn’t care about money. Unless you’re lucky enough not to have to work, if you love writing, surely you want to write for a living? If money allows you to do that, suddenly money is pretty cool huh? Okay, the chances of making a living from writing novels is minimal but you sure have a better shot of it via traditional publishing then self-publishing. So why not aim for the stars?
And then there’s being able to tell people you’re a published author. Most savvy people will not accept you are one if you’ve paid to have your book published because, as I’ve said before, anyone anyone anyone can self-publish.
As for the idea that your amazingly successful self-pubbed book will garner the attention of traditional publishers, this does happen but not often. Your chances of getting an agent and then publisher are higher.
So what I’m saying is, give traditional publishing a chance first. Don’t let people tell you traditional publishing is a pipe dream; that getting an agent is impossible; that self-publishing is the first and best option. It isn’t. The fact is, if you write a damn good book, someone will take notice and maybe you’ll get published and maybe you’ll make money. I never thought it was possible a year ago and now here I am, making money, not dishing out money.
I’m sure many people will disagree with me on this and am happy to read people’s views. But I want to stress: my issue isn’t with self-publishing, it’s with people who advise you to self-publish before trying the traditional route, and are therefore putting you out of pocket.
