When I finished my manuscript for The Buzz, I had every intention on finding an agent and then securing a publishing deal. I did as most writers and sent out a few query letters and waited for a response and what followed in the following weeks and months is how I came to self-publish.
How I Came To Self-Publish – My Story!
While I waited for responses to the query letters I’d sent out, I decided that I wanted to publish my own novel. It’s a decision that shocked even me as I had previously sworn off self publishing because I didn’t want to be solely responsible for the distribution of my novel.
However, there were a few factors that changed my mind about self-publishing. Namely my goals as a writer and the circumstances around when I finished my manuscript.
Let me explain…
I wanted full control of my novel.
I didn’t want a publishing company to change my book title, decide on the cover, edit out parts that I loved, or put me on a time schedule. That doesn’t fit my personality at all. For me that would take away my control and would make it feel like a job. I wanted the process to remain authentic and as exciting as it felt when I first started the writing process.
Also, after doing research I realized that marketing for the most part is the responsibility of the author, especially a new author. That meant, whether I wanted to be fully responsible for the sale of the novel or not, I would have to be involved in the process in some way.
That’s how I came to self-publish. It felt right and it fit with my goals and what I was trying to accomplish at that time. Now obviously there are numerous benefits to signing with a traditional publisher, but this blog post is not to discuss those benefits but instead to express how I came to self-publish and why others possibly decide to self publish.
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