I attended my writers’ meeting last Saturday. I gave a presentation on fiction book proposals. Before the meeting started, we went around the room and introduced ourselves(the same people do not always attend.) There were a few people in attendance who were self-published authors.

One of the attendees has already sold a lot of copies of her self-published book. I suggested, since her book of devotions was so popular, that she go with a traditional publisher. She stated that she felt the spirit telling her to do it this way, and she thanked others for their publication suggestions, however, she couldn’t go against what the Spirit was telling her to do. Can’t say that I blame her, but when she told the pricetag attached to her self-published book, I nearly had a heart attack!

Another woman had her self-published titles with her. She’s a reverend, and has a large speaking platform. This enables her to sell lots of books.

I’ve learned over the years that self-publishing can work for some. I think it works for those who have a unique subject matter for their books. Also, if you have speak regularly and have a large platform, then it may work best since you’ll probably sell lots of books after the speaking engagement.

I’ll be posting part two, the down-side of self-publishing later this week.

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com