Self-Publishing: Another Well Known Romance Author Going Rogue

I just read an interesting blog post where another fairly well known romance author is going to start self-publishing her own books. She walked away from a nice book deal, with a well known romance publisher, to do her own thing.

Of course I'm a little cynical when it comes to these blog posts. There are too many little things not mentioned in the post and I start thinking twice. On the surface it seems like an explanation as to why the author is going rogue. But I'm one of those who read between the lines all the time, and I have a funny feeling the post was more about promoting the new self-published book than it was about letting readers know the true reasons why the author decided to self-publish. I could be wrong. Maybe the author I'm talking about is branching out on her own because of the reasons she posted. But I'd be willing to bet there's more to the story.

And even if there isn't, I do have to admit I admire published authors who decide to self-publish. Especially authors with good book deals from large publishers who have already established a fan base...even if they are full of shit most of the time (smile). There have been times I've thought about doing it myself. But I have just as many reasons for not going the self-published route as some authors have for going the self-published route. One reason is quality of life. I love my publishers and depend on the collaboration. If I had to do it alone, I'd never stop working and I'm already working six and seven days a week writing. I need to know Holly at ravenous romance likes the title, or hates the title. I need to know Claudia at Loveyoudivine thinks something will work...or won't work. I don't do crit groups and I need the publisher's input all the time.

There are so many things changing in publishing these days no one can predict the future and no one can say who is right and who is wrong. But it should be interesting to see how it all turns out in the end. I do know one thing for certain...and this is because I've been around long enough to see how things repeat themselves over and over again...not everyone will be Barry Eisler or Amanda Hocking. It doesn't work that way, in life or in publishing, and I'd hate to see a lot of good authors leave viable publishers with dreams of becoming Barry Eisler or Amanda Hocking.