Self-Publishing vs. Vanity Publishing
Dec. 3rd, 2009 08:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pameladlloydIt seems like I've been running into discussions about self-publishing wherever I turn these days.
Over on the Writer Beware Blogs!, Victoria Strauss discusses the blurry distinctions between paid publishing options.
NYT Best-selling author Mike Stackpole (one of the Arizona authors and a recent guest at TusCon 36) is front and center in the i09 article, The Best Way To Break Into Science Fiction Writing Is Online Publishing. An outspoken advocate of self-publishing, Mike often discusses it on his blog at Stormwolf.com; his two most recent posts about the topic (in order of posting) are: Self-publishing isn't quite it... and Re-Christening Self-Publishing, in the latter of which he suggests the term, Vipub, short for Vertically Integrated Publishing, as a way to avoid the stigma associated with the term self-publishing.
At the moment, I'm merely a bystander. The most I could self-publish would be some short stories, which I could easily post on my website, but they'd act only as a form of advertising. I'm not set up to generate income from them and I'm not sure I'd want to try. I also suspect that if/when I do complete a novel, I'll try the more traditional (for values of traditional that reflect the last 50-150 years) route. Or, not. But, until I've got a book in hand, its all pretty much a spectator sport for me.
ETA: One thing I have considered doing is creating and making available audio versions of my previously published stories, which seems like a fun way to share them.
Over on the Writer Beware Blogs!, Victoria Strauss discusses the blurry distinctions between paid publishing options.
NYT Best-selling author Mike Stackpole (one of the Arizona authors and a recent guest at TusCon 36) is front and center in the i09 article, The Best Way To Break Into Science Fiction Writing Is Online Publishing. An outspoken advocate of self-publishing, Mike often discusses it on his blog at Stormwolf.com; his two most recent posts about the topic (in order of posting) are: Self-publishing isn't quite it... and Re-Christening Self-Publishing, in the latter of which he suggests the term, Vipub, short for Vertically Integrated Publishing, as a way to avoid the stigma associated with the term self-publishing.
At the moment, I'm merely a bystander. The most I could self-publish would be some short stories, which I could easily post on my website, but they'd act only as a form of advertising. I'm not set up to generate income from them and I'm not sure I'd want to try. I also suspect that if/when I do complete a novel, I'll try the more traditional (for values of traditional that reflect the last 50-150 years) route. Or, not. But, until I've got a book in hand, its all pretty much a spectator sport for me.
ETA: One thing I have considered doing is creating and making available audio versions of my previously published stories, which seems like a fun way to share them.
