The Decision to Self-Publish

Most of you have probably seen me throwing up links and talking about my alter-ego.  It's less an alter-ego and more a pseudonym.  Along with my love of all things Urban Fantasy, I have quite the adoration for Regency Romances.  I'll admit it, I'm not much of a historian.  I love them simply for the sap.

For those of you that don't know, I've recently self-published a short novella under the pen-name Diana Connell.  Along with the novella, I have plans for a quartet that I'm going to be spending the next couple years working on.

Does that mean I've stopped writing other things?  Nope!  Not hardly.  This year alone I've written four novels, nearly finished a fifth (stupid Nano-novel, I'm still procrastinating diving in and finishing it) revised two, written a novella, revised the novella, published the novella.  It'll take a little juggling, which I've gotten good at this year, but I should be able to produce two RR novels a year, and still get other things written.  I'm still planning on subbing my young adult to agents.  I'm still going to resume subbing FAERIE BAD LUCK to agents.

I still want to go the "traditional" route to publication.  But, let's face it.  The publishing landscape has drastically changed in the past few years, and if I really want this to be my career, I can't really sit around and wait to be picked up by an agent, then wait some more before a publisher decides I'm worth a shot.  The best way to get my stuff out there, right into the readers hands, is by self-publishing.

Now, I'll admit it, because I'm an honest sort of person, a couple of years ago, I wouldn't have considered self-pubbing.  There was still a big stigma surrounding it, and it was the mark of an amateur, a clueless plebeian of the writing community.  To admit to being self-published was to guarantee you didn't get picked up by an agent.  A lot of that had to do with the quality of tripe that was being self-published, because anyone that produces a book can do it.  That's still true, but the publishing community has come to realize that not all self-pubbed books are crap, and not all self-pubbed authors are clueless.  Actually, there's quite a few of them that are REALLY GOOD.  Like, six figure deal with one of the big six publishers kind of good.

There's actually been several cases where successful self-pubbed authors have gotten their stories picked up by a traditional publisher.

The publishing industry is changing.  The whole damn world is changing.

Am I self-publishing with an eye to make millions quick?  Hell no.

Do I expect to become a best seller and have my romances picked up by one of the big six, or even a smaller traditional publisher?  Nope.

Then why am I self-pubbing?

Why, for you, dear reader.

I have stories to tell, and the big thing about being a writer (at least for me) is sharing those stories.  I was happy for a long time just writing for myself, sharing things with my younger sister, but now I want more.  I want a wider audience.  I want more people to experience the worlds I visit in my head, meet my characters.  Have a laugh, shed a tear, get angry.  Books should make you feel, and I'm not going to inflict emotion on anyone by keeping my books to myself.

Well, maybe money factors into it a little bit.  There's something about earning royalties that makes you feel like a real writer.  An author.  Frankly, I'm happy with the little I've made.  Which, to date, has been about enough to cover the cost of purchasing the stock images I used on the cover.

If you've been dying to read the books I rant and rave and complain about in the archives of this blog, then I'm sorry to disappoint.  You'll have to wait a while.  But please, feel free to go and take a peak at that pen-name of mine (she's on facebook and twitter, too) and maybe take a gander at the sample available for the novella.