Self-publishing and the snobbery issue

/ Marcia Meara

Excellent post, well stated, and (in my opinion), very true. I’ve read some pretty poorly edited traditionally published books lately, and some absolutely perfect self-published ones. And it’s time for “some” writers to stop trying to paint self-published writers as authors who couldn’t make the grade.

9 thoughts on “Self-publishing and the snobbery issue”

  1. Hear hear. Though to be honest, plenty of your general readers don’t realise that many books ARE self published, and you see this in reviews, where they complain and wonder ‘how this ever got published’, when you or I know it was an indie book.
    It’s mostly authors, publishers and book snobs who know and distinguish.

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    • True, but it’s especially galling to hear other writers acting like those who are self-published are lesser creatures. As you say, readers don’t always know, but I’m a firm believer in writers helping writers. Hence the motto on this blog. 😀 A good book is a good book, no matter HOW it gets in front of the public. That’s my story, an’ I’m stickin’ to it! 😀

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  3. Glad you like the blog, theallsaints4. I wish I could give you some tips about traditional publishing, but what you’ve experienced is exactly why so many of us have turned to self-publishing. We have control over our own successes and failures that way, and aren’t held hostage to the market, as defined by the traditional publishing companies.

    For myself, I figured at my age, I didn’t have time to waste on countless rejection letters, so I went for publishing my books on Kindle and then print-on-demand with Createspace, right from the start. It has worked very well for me, so far. No, I’m not going to hit the NYTimes best seller list, but I’ve been pleased with my progress to date, and do have an audience that enjoys my stories. You might consider going that route. (It won’t preclude finding a trad-publisher at some future point, either.) Hope this helps!

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    • Well, I’m glad you’ve given self-publishing a try, and I’ll be checking out KC’s link soon. The only thing I can add is that while I might decide to use Smashwords along with KDP, I’m not sure I’d use them instead. KDP is the big dog in the industry, still, and you’d probably find it worth your while to publish there, too. Just something to consider. There’s certainly more than one way to go about all of this, and we are all learning every day. 🙂

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      • Thanks for the tip. To be honest I just like writing and if one person pays for my book I am over the moon. Smash words allows you to give up to 100% discounts any time you want and it works very well without the fuss but I hear what you say and may give it a whirl. Thanks

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        • Hey, if you’re happy with how it’s working for you, then that’s all that counts. You asked for tips, and those were all I had to offer, but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, as they say. 🙂 I could be doing more if I worked it harder, too, but I like where I am, so far. We each have to find our own path at this, especially as new as the whole process is. Good luck!

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