Why I Self-published My First Novel

As detailed earlier in this blog, I've been curious about the self-publishing industry and especially Amazon's offerings in that arena- Kindle Direct Publishing in particular. Hybrid publishing caught my eye, where authors may choose to self-publish an eBook but leave it to a traditional publisher for a print edition, if it worked out. Certainly, the benefits of Amazon's program are compelling- up to 70% royalties in perpetuity, total control of your book in every aspect, and the instant gratification of creating and publishing quickly.

There are downsides, of course. The self-publisher must take all the risks and do all the work, often in areas he/she has no expertise in. Not to mention the supreme difficulty in self-editing- the author is almost never going to be the best editor of his/her work. Competent, perhaps, but they can never have that neutral detachment necessary to truly see their work through an expert's eyes.

I chose to do this largely because I've always wanted to, and I think Noah's Custodian is decent. Can I do better? Yes. Could it be a more polished book? Yes, with help, I think it could. But I think it is still pretty darn good, and worth reading. An author can probably always find things he wish he would have phrased differently, or wished she spent more time on. I have a dozen ideas for books I'm very excited about, but I didn't want to write those in the rush of NaNoWriMo. Noah's Custodian sprung into my head and was a thrill to write in the span of a month, but I want to take my time and spin those ideas into awe-inspiring stories, at least to the best of my ability.

I tried a couple of places to get Noah's Custodian published to no avail. So I figured why not offer it to the world, learn a bit about self-publishing in the process, and hone my marketing skills. Most importantly, get back to writing something new, tackle one of the projects that has been kicking around in my head for a decade. My hope is that my first book sets the stage for those yet to come, and helps me build the discipline necessary to become a full time writer.. in addition to my career and full-time duties as a family man.

Perhaps, some day, writing will be my career. We'll see.