Self-Publishing cha-cha-cha
Now, that I ranted about self-publishing and POD, I wanted to note that I'm not opposed to self-publishing. But the folks posting the kinds of remarks I quoted are self-publishing out of ignorance and that is the worst possible choice to make because self-publishing is HARD. It's way harder than commercial publishing because you've got wicked odds that the only people going to see your book are your friends and family (assuming they like you that much 'cause if you're going with a POD, your product is going to be EXPENSIVE).

But, these kinds of remarks show folks who self-published for smart reasons:

My nonfiction picture book has a clear market through museum gift shops and zoo gift shops and I could reach all those markets directly. Plus, I could sell them in school visits -- and it doesn't hurt when you're booking to have published a half-dozen science-based nonfiction picture books. So why let a commercial publisher have a cut? I did the research and I knew how to self-publish wisely.

I'd published several novels with commercial presses but they felt one of my novels was for a niche market. Now, I knew I could reach that niche market directly, but I also felt it had broader appeal. And I knew it could be part of my school visits. So I researched self-publishing so I could know how to become my own publisher and do it well.

I do school visits as a storyteller and sometimes I tell stories I made up. Having a book to sell with my visits boosts my income. So I had a story collection printed that I could hand-sell at these visits.

I was writing religious picture books that clearly taught a lesson. The big Christian publishers are virtually impossible to break into and you really do have to have an agent -- and there aren't many with that specialty. So I went with a really tiny micro press doing POD, even though I knew my books would not end up in bookstores and all sales would be hand-sold. It's not the ideal, but I feel good about the hundred or so of each copy that I'm likely to sell.

I wanted to get Granny's book in print while she was still alive. She's not going to be taking any writing classes or "building her craft." But the grandkids will have a copy of her story and Granny will get to hold one in her hands. That's really enough for us.

Self-publishing and even POD through one of the "self-publishing services" can work. I know that it can. It just isn't likely to work for 99% of the people doing it. And when it doesn't work, too often folks fall back on the old "it's all publishing's fault" grumble.

Another reason self-publishing/POD publishing and working through one of the eensy weensy POD micro presses makes me sad is that too often folks start there and stop there. Their career never goes any further because the pressure to do ALL the selling as hand-selling is a huge hungry time monster that gobbles up the time needed to do what folks needed in the first place -- working on their craft and learning the industry. So they get stuck. They do book after book that sells a couple hundred copies (if they're good at hand-selling). And they invest a lot of time in convincing themselves that they are actually getting the exact same experience they would have at a larger commercial publisher.

Anyway, that's the rest of my rant.