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I have self-published eight books so far – two adult novels, five children’s picture books and one colouring book. A question I get asked all the time is why I didn’t publish traditionally. Usually people who ask this question are genuinely curious but there are those who assume I am lazy or less-than for choosing this route.
Let me tell you first off, self-publishing is not the easy route. Second, while there are pros and cons to both traditional and self-publishing, for me the choice was simple. I chose self publishing for five main reasons.
- Control
When you self-publish you have control over the entire process. From start to finish, all the decisions are yours. While this can be daunting, I like this level of control. After taking 11 years to write my first novel, I wanted to be able to choose the cover I wanted and to have my characters depicted how I see fit. I had a vision in my mind for years of how my book would look and I knew I didn’t want to deviate from it.
2. More Creative Freedom
This one may be a bit more controversial as I know agents and publishing houses are not all the same. However, in general, an agent and a publisher are looking for topics that sell and are popular or “in” at the moment. It’s a business for them so they are less likely to take a chance on a story that may…
