As I have worked with clients, I am continually recommending that they consider self-publishing. I almost always get the response, “But isn’t that looked down upon?”
I can honestly answer, no. Self-publishing and the tools that allow you to self-publish have greatly improved. The finish product is one in which the author has chosen everything, the font, the cover, the font of the chapter numbers and page numbers. It really is a complete work by the author.
Self-publishing and eBooks have become a mainstay in the industry. The one thing that hasn’t changed is a publisher’s need to control. Even in an age where publishing is more about free expression and the freedom to express any thought you want using sites like Smashwords, Createspace, and others to develop content. Publishers are hanging onto the old guard way of doing this, now almost more than ever. The model they know: permission based publishing and that same way of thinking could be one of the biggest downfalls of the industry if someone doesn’t shake up the model and offer them a new way of looking at an age-old market.
The more big house publishers hold onto control, the more they are going to lose it.