Another Reason NOT To Self Publish

This column is about books. The self-publishing of books. A major problem today. I read an article this evening on Yahoo! about a gentlemen whose income of more than $20,000.00 a month came from book reviews. He is now in some legal hot water for this and I will tell you why. Now, as we all know I am a critic from Luridlit. I don't make that kind of coin because unlike this gentlemen WE DO NOT CHARGE FOR A REVIEW. Sure a publisher may send me an advanced copy but that publisher knows I may trash it. Welcome to adulthood. No one should charge for a review, this is the clear unspoken truth of literary criticism and has been so since the day a dude burned his fingers picking up the first Gutenberg and gave it a thumbs up. Listen writers all -- you should not pay someone to read your book. It is that simple. $99.00 a review and sometimes $299.00 a read; his customers were primarily all self-published authors. People, there two problems here-- 1. Work your craft. Self-publishing may hold the fast satisfaction of a fixed product bound tightly and colorfully in your hands; once the sugar high passes that self-published book is not viewed the same as another book, maybe even of lesser quality, that has come to the shelf via a more traditional route. Pure and simple self-publishing is fraught with fees; many outlandish. If your writing is that good, deal with the rejection and revisions and find the proper home for your work. In the long run the satisfaction is deeper and more worthy. 2. Anytime you encounter a fee in connection to publish, or for a review, or to enter a contest --- look elsewhere. Rejection and revision make us better writers not someone paid to extol our virtues especially when that person praising us may have not even have read the book. Come on, writers all look for truth in their work. Wriers all look for that honest voice. Our culture has gotten to be lazy and result oriented. Work is viewed as something disgusting and for losers. Yeah, I listen to those people. So be careful for what you wish for and be careful for what you pay for. Self-publishing may be nice to impress your family and friends but in the long run it comes up short if your aim is to be true. You want to impress --- do it the right way. In the end it will pay bigger dividends.