Quote:
Originally Posted by ApK
Perhaps it was the idea that we don't self-publish as first choice.
It's a new era. eBooks and the Internet are changing things, and there are a heck of a lot of good reasons to self-publish an eBook as first choice now.
Perhaps it's a little different for self-publishing print books via a vanity press or the like, and certainly there will be a lot of chaff among the wheat, but I'd say self-publishing an ebook rather than doing the possibly-years-long agent/publisher contract route is akin to a film maker going out and actually making his movie and showing it, rather than trying to get a deal with a studio first.
The audience will propel you to success or bury you in obscurity on the basis of your work, not on the whim of a publishing house gatekeeper.
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The fact that anyone and everyone can write a book and make it available to the masses nowadays makes the gatekeepers more important, not less so. What you call "whim," I call quality control.
Of course there are probably a few gems among all the self-published books. But I don't have the time or the inclination to look for them.