"The Case for Self-Publishing" -- New York Times essay by Neal Pollack

531 Views 3 Replies 4 Participants Last post by Kenneth Rosenberg, May 23, 2011

Mike McIntyre

Discussion Starter · May 23, 2011

From New York Times Sunday Book Review, May 22, 2011:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/22/books/review/the-case-for-self-publishing.html?_r=1&ref=review

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Decon

· #2 · May 23, 2011

Mike McIntyre said:
From New York Times Sunday Book Review, May 22, 2011:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/22/books/review/the-case-for-self-publishing.html?_r=1&ref=review

Sorry, I'm not sure I can say this, but he comes across on the pompous side. Some professionals just can't leave their elitism where it belongs ... in the grabage can.

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Ryne Billings

· #3 · May 23, 2011

Just no.

Today, though, self-publication crackles with possibility as never before.

This is common sense, but it's also positive.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend this to a first-time author. A self-published book is almost certainly going to end up on the digital slush pile, with fewer readers than the average blog post. But for a writer like me... self-publishing seems to make a lot of sense at this point.

This is pure ego. And yes, I cut a part out, which is why I added the elipses. What I cut off wasn't redeeming either. It was just him clarifying that "a writer like me" refers to midlist writers.

I should add than many successful self-published authors were first-time authors when they went indie too.

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Kenneth Rosenberg

· #4 · May 23, 2011

I do like that he seems kind of upbeat and enthusiastic about the idea. Much better than that woman on the Huffington Post the other day who basically said, "if agents don't like you then you might as well give up," and "forget about succeeding unless you hire people to help you." That one really chapped my hide! ::)