Self-Publish or Perish

Valerie McGee, author: I had a small publishing house that held onto my book for five years then apparently went out of business after I had amassed close to 6,000 pre-orders, so I self-publish. I don’t have that kind of time to wait around.

Marcia: It seems to me that more black authors, male and female, are self-publishing. One reason may be that it is easier now, because of advances in the technology of printing, than ever before. Also, I think that black authors have more self-published role models (people who started out self-publishing and eventually had their work picked up by major publishing houses.)

What troubles me is that there is the instant gratification aspect to self-publishing which may be a reason it's particularly attractive to black folks. The new generation of African Americans doesn’t like to wait for anything. However, we have to remember that the first African American authors were self-published. Harriet Wilson could not find a white publisher for her slave narrative. Maybe the more things change, the more things stay the same.

Technology advances and instant gratification has made self-publishing a viable option for many writers. However, many of these self-published books are poorly written and edited. Later this month we will discuss novel writing basics and why so many self-published authors like Joy of Dollar Bill, Monica Carter and others are going against the grain and the elements of style, while climbing the best seller’s list.

Go To Page: 1 2