How Do You Want To Be Published?

I’ve been writing for a long time now with limited success. As a working mum, bringing up a young family, its always been hard for me to find the time to write consistently and most of my writing has been in fits and starts.

 

During this time, I’ve had several short stories published in women’s magazines, but so far have had little luck with sending longer pieces of work to agents. 

 

With the demise of the short story market I have lost a little bit of my love for writing short stories and so am concentrating now on writing romance novels. 

 

In the past I’ve been a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and have received feedback on a couple of my novels through the New Writer’s Scheme. This year I’ve been working on one of those novels previously submitted and dare I say it, I think now it’s in much better shape. 

 

It’s always been my dream to be traditionally published – it’s the ultimate validation that you are indeed a writer and that your writing is worth paying good money for, but recently my thoughts have turned towards self-publishing. 

 

Self-published books haven’t always received good press. The ability to easily upload and publish a piece of writing meant that anyone could become a published author regardless of the quality of that work. This has led to a poor reception for self-published authors. 

 

But following my research I think the tide is turning. What has struck me more than anything is that self-publishing doesn’t have to be – and shouldn’t be – second rate. In fact, I think it would be impossible to make a living from your writing if you didn’t consistently produce professionally written and edited work. There is of course much to learn and that’s what I’ve been trying to do through online courses, and the increasing number of podcasts which are available to listen to, and the thought of being in control of my own destiny is certainly appealing. 

 

With my youngest about to head off to university in September, finally the time might be right to devote more time to my writing and building a business out of one the things I love doing the most is certainly appealing.

 

What are your thoughts on traditional versus self-publishing?