Validate Me

These days, the eternal question for an author seems to be, Will you self-publish or look for a publisher? There are plenty of pros and cons in either direction and really it's a hard choice to make. Recently I made the decision to sign with a publisher who had offered me a contract and I did it mainly for two reasons.

First, this particular publisher was set up in a team structure I really liked which gave me the chance to connect with a book manager whose role on the team was largely focused on marketing the book. I don't like marketing. I'm not very good at marketing. I definitely don't yet know enough about marketing to fix those first two problems. So I was highly motivated to sign on with the publisher for the marketing assistance. So thrilled with the idea of having someone to help me figure out what I'm doing!

Second, it made things feel more official. I self-published Into Shadow and Into Light, and even though I did follow professional standards (I work with beta readers and I have an editor and hired a cover designer... things that the publisher provides in the team structure I mentioned before to ensure high-quality books), I guess I felt like it wasn't real enough. I didn't get that seal of approval from a professional who looked at my work and declared that it was good enough to publish. That's totally on me, just a personal neurosis. So having a publisher tell me they liked my book and wanted to re-release it under their imprint was incredibly gratifying and validating.

Sadly, only a few weeks after I signed the contracts - while I was still basking in the warmth of feeling wanted... the publisher folded. It is no more. No team, no support, no warm glow.

Still, I'm not in a bad situation over all. The book rights will be returned to me pretty quickly, and since work on the new cover art and re-editing were about to begin but not yet in progress, I don't have to struggle with the rights to various pieces of the work as many authors and their teams are now having to do. I'll be able to move on to the next step - whatever that is, without too much pain.

For now, I think I'll hang out in the self-published world a little longer. This experience has made me a little wary of small presses... and Harper Collins hasn't come knocking on my door just yet. The best part is that I made a lot of connections with some really great people during my short time working with the publisher, and I will continue to enjoy those relationships. I can learn a lot from them even though we're no longer working with the same company.

Even better, I may still get to hang on to that marketing expertise that I wanted so badly. The book manager for my team is thinking about going out on her own so she can continue to work with her authors. I'll cross my fingers that we can work that out so I can enjoy some of the benefits of both sides of the publisher/self-published decision.