The arguments against self publishing

From 2016, which seems like another world now, but a lot of this rings true for someone considering self publishing.

If you self-publish your book, you are not going to be writing for a living. You are going to be marketing for a living. Self-published authors should expect to spend only 10% of their time writing and 90% of their time marketing.

Some of what she writes I do not agree with, wholeheartedly. For example: “Gatekeepers are saving you from your own ego.” Yes, to an extent. But if that happens, it’s a happy accident. Those gatekeepers (editors at publishing houses) are not really thinking about you at all. They are thinking about themselves. And their positions in an increasingly endangered industry. And “the market” as they see it. And as they want it to be. Your ego has very little to do with their calculations. Same goes for you.

“Good writers become good because they undertake an apprenticeship.” I don’t know. I’ve read some pretty good debuts recently. Some of which were also first time novels.

“70% of nothing is nothing … You can put all of that effort in, do all that marketing, and still not make a living.” True, but zero percent of nothing is also nothing. If you write a book, and decide you’re only going to go the trad publishing route, and the gatekeepers aren’t in the market for what you’re selling, then you end up with a donut anyway.

So I say, nothing ventured, nothing gained. And also, Who Dares, Wins.