Self-Publishing Reality Check

David Carnoy has written an incredibly insightful piece about the caveats associated with self-publishing that should answer any and all questions anyone has about the nature of that industry. Despite rumors and predictions to the contrary, I don't believe that self-publishing is going to be the panacea for either writers or publishing itself, that many are suggesting. And as Carnoy points out, caveat emptor.

What's interesting of course is that Carnoy went the standard route, only to land where I have--with a good manuscript, in fact a "bigger book" than those published by the independent presses, but one that didn't make it through the entire acquisitions committee. It is important to note that Carnoy decided to go the self-publishing route "against the advice of his agent."

You can probably guess the rest. Although it is easy to actually publish your book and make it look good--not great--(Carnoy chose the print-on-demand service BookSurge), the reality is "Good self-published books are few and far between" AND "the average self-published book sells about 100-150 copies."

This is why you do no want to get stuck with 500 books in your basement. And most importantly why you do not want to quit your day job.

Go read Carnoy's post for yourself. He does not knock the concept; he just asks you to consider your goals. If you want to create a family heirloom--self-publishing is the way to go. If you want to become an author; it is not.

Just some food for thought as the new year beckons. Maybe all those out of work editors and agents will band together and create their own publishing house that caters to first time authors....Hey, I can dream can't I?