Author, Publish Thyself

Like every other participant in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest, I thought I had a chance.

So when my pitch didn't even make it past the first round, I was disheartened—but I knew I wasn't alone. Hundreds of other hopeful writers hadn't made the cut either. I stumbled across one in particular who'd tweeted something to this effect: "My ABNA entry didn't make it. Guess I'll have to take the self-publishing route." The poor guy sounded so defeated.

But that's just my outlook on the whole vanity/self/indie-publishing scene. I may change my mind someday. I did so about blogging (here I am), and I did so about eReaders.

Nathan Bransford has been blogging about the Kindle self-publishing revolution for a while now. Apparently, some folks are making serious money at it (millions). Aaron Polson's taken the plunge, as have other blogger/writers I follow. Will I hop aboard the bandwagon too?

Not at this time. I still believe my work benefits from editorial input. Maybe after I've sold a few Mercer, Quasar, or Coyote Cal tales to markets and the rights revert to me, I'll sell them in a Kindle collection for $0.99. But for now, I'll keep to the more traditional route.

> This week's W1S1 story is shaping up nicely, and I'll have it out well before Saturday. Yahoo!