Marion Gropen, one of the “list moms” on the self-publishing e-list, responded to an ongoing discussion of “self-publishing” vs. “subsidy publishing” and whether the retailer/book buying world sees the former with just a jaundiced view as the latter. The general consensus on list (from people who should know, as they’re speaking from their own experience on both sides of the printing press–the “mainstream” and the small publishers) is that there is a difference. John Culleton pointed out that Library Journal reviews some self-published fiction every issue but never reviews a book from a subsidy press. Anyway, Marion said today:
If you set up your own, and publish well, no one will CARE whether or
not you are self-publishing. They’ll just care about the packaging and
the content and the marketing, and decide, if you’re lucky, that this
is a smart new small press to watch.
I sure hope she’s right!! Packaging and content, I can do! Marketing…I sure hope I can do. We shall see… I friended Marion when she mentioned having an lj, so you can read her posts on my flist now. 🙂 She’s very, very savvy and experienced in this field.
4 Responses to My words of encouragement for today…