Traditional Publishing Verses Self-Publishing
In this age of technology book publishing is in flux. Any one who can write can get published instantly. The situation is outrageous for those who have struggled through the traditional way of getting published. The battle, however, is not between those who have or want to get published traditionally and those who want to self-publish. The battle is for the end result: A good book!
If you think, who needs to go through the hassle of finding an editor or a publisher? Who needs critiques and comments from publishing professionals? Why experience discomfort only to have to wait for months and risk getting eventually rejected? Right?
Wrong! After you have selected one of your several drafts that you feel passionately about and revised it to the best of your ability, it still needs to go through the grind of publishing professionals.
The critical assessment of your work will correct the details and make huge improvements to it. Your final work will be polished, its strengths enhanced and its weaknesses minimized. When your best potential shines forth and the manuscript is pushed up a few notches only then should your book reach its readers.
And not a day before that! You don’t want your readers to think that your book is incompetent. They may not know the reason of the book’s incompetence but they certainly can feel it in their gut. And if this happens, it’ll be your worst nightmare! By going through the grind of professional scrutiny you eliminate that sort of terror.
Let me give you an example. I am proud of being a good cook but that doesn’t make me a chef. I satisfy the taste buds of my family members much more than an average cook would, but in no way would I be able to cook mouth watering dishes for a crowd or manage a kitchen in a restaurant. For that I would have to go through training and critical assessment of professional chefs.
Under the dissecting eyes of trusted professionals, chefs or editors, my cooking or my writing would run through the furnace of criticism, guidance and learning. That is good! In time, I would undoubtedly serve praise worthy gourmet dishes at a restaurant to hungry guests or sell good books for my voracious readers.
But until then I need to keep writing and getting each one of my manuscripts assessed by publishing professionals whom I trust. Only then I can decide whether I want to search for an agent or get self-published. And that decision is only mine to make.