When books only came on paper, self publishing was a serious commitment, with thousands of {insert currency of choice} invested into even a modest print run before factoring in the cost of any efforts made to sell and promote your book.
Now, with ebooks and ebook readers gaining popularity, the possibility of self publishing in an electronic format seems very attractive. Indeed, why would you let someone take a chunk of your profit just to convert your manuscript to kindle format and stick it on Amazon? You could do that yourself, and chances are your own publicity efforts will be the driving force behind sales anyway.
In print format the benefit of going with a publisher who will absorb the initial outlay to get the book printed is obvious, but where is the benefit when you're talking electronic media?
Okay, so far I've probably given the impression I'm all for self publishing but I'm really only playing devil's advocate here. Personally I find the ease with which aspiring authors can self publish to be detrimental to the whole system.
Getting your book rejected by a publisher is a sign that it needs improvement, not that you should just go it alone, but many writers are now skipping the whole tiring editing thing and going straight to the sale point. In short, a lot of poor quality dross is swamping the market and giving all self published work a bad name. Publishing with a publisher is like slapping a "quality control" sticker on the front of your book. It tells the reader they can expect a certain level of quality in what they are buying.
(I should point out I'm referring to self publishing and then SELLING your work, I am not including sites like this where the work is free to view)
So, what are your views on self publishing? Do you think it is a legitimate route to take?
Would you buy a self published book by someone you didn't know personally?
Do you think it is acceptable for established authors to drop their publishers and go it alone once they have an established fan base?
I'm interested to see what peoples views are on this topic.
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