Going the ePublishing route alone

The Case for Self-Publishing

This last weekend's New York Times had an article by mid-list, established author Neal Pollack, which I found so interesting hat I printed it off and filed it.

It is a candid revelation of Pollack's decision-making process when he made up his mind to have a go at self-publishing.

As he says, there are plenty of stories of successful self-published authors going the rounds. "Witness the March news that the thriller writer Barry Eisler had backed out of a half-million-dollar deal with St. Martin's Press," he writes. Eisler had done his sums, it seems, and reckoned that over time he could make more money by doing it alone.

So, despite the added fact that spectacularly successful self-publisher Amanda Hocking is now going the traditional route (coincidentally with the same publisher, SMP), Pollack has decided to give self-publishing a try.

As he says, he has the credentials. Unlike a newbie on the scene, he already has an audience and a following. 

He also has good reasons.  In the old days, as all midlist writers know, it was possible to live on advances, as long as the books came out regularly.  Now, the advances are very much smaller.

And the technology is available, so why not?

I'll be following the progress of Neal Pollack's self-published book, Jewball, with interest.

It will appear later this year on the Amazon Kindle store.