Having published five books under another pen-name through a publisher, I thought I'd share my reasons for believing self-pubbing through Kindle/Nook/Smashwords really does ROCK.
1. IF YOUR BOOK SUCKS, IT'S NOBODY'S FAULT BUT YOUR OWN.
One of my most frustrating experiences as a writer was when my editor made me change the ending of one of my novels, making my heroine choose a path that I didn't believe was right for her. I felt the ending sucked, but what was I to do? Pull my book and not finish out the series? Yes, I do have crit partners that give me their input on the direction of my novel, but as a self-pubbed author, all final decisions are mine!
2. KNOW HOW YOUR BOOK IS SELLING FROM DAY TO DAY, SO YOU CAN ADJUST YOUR MARKETING STRATEGY. If you only get royalty reports every month, quarter or (gasp) year, you won't know if your marketing has paid off and you may miss a lot of potential sales. On the downside, we Kindlers can get a little obsessive with checking our earnings. Guilty as charged!
3. IF YOUR COVER SUCKS, IT'S YOUR FAULT, TOO. That's right. You have to power to shop for artists. Though artwork may be costly, that's one of the downsides of self-pubbing, but, IMHO, it beats having a publisher tell me 'too bad, so sad' if I don't like my cover.
4. YOU DECIDE WHEN THE BOOK IS RELEASED. And you don't need to wait a year after you've finished the book for it to come out. I've had readers email me after a book was released asking me questions about my heroine's motivation, etc... I honestly forgot what happened in the novel. I was too wrapped up in my upcoming release.
5. BACK TO NUMBER ONE - IF YOUR BOOK SUCKS....YOU CAN FIX IT!!! That's right. You've learned a little bit more about the craft of writing since pubbing that bomb a few months ago. Your plot had more holes than FLABIO'S underwear after a spicy chili eating contest. So go pull the darned thing, fill in those holes and upload it again. That's the magic of self-pubbing through Kindle! PJ
