Self Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing - podcast

Author Kathi Macias offers insights on the role and value of self-publishing, and weighs the pros and cons of self-publishing versus traditional publishing. Experts used to advise authors not to self publish because there wasn’t any marketing—you had to do it all yourself. But now days, traditional publishers don’t usually provide any marketing either, so you have to do it yourself no matter how your book is published. So as far as marketing is concerned, self-publishing and traditional publishing are on even ground. Distribution is the difference. Most bookstores won’t carry self-published books unless they know the author—for example, if it’s your hometown. But if you can overcome that obstacle, you can go a long way with a self-published book. The market is changing, and if you do quality work, your self-published book can compete with books from traditional publishers. But quality work is important. Go to a quality self-publisher that will do a beautiful job, and then the fact that it’s a self-published book won’t make one bit of difference to readers.