They call it self-publishing now - Indie-Pub if you want to make it sound a bit cooler.
But, to all intents and purposes, it’s still vanity publishing.
Someone pays you - it’s ‘proper’ publishing. You pay them - it’s ‘vanity’.
But here’s the question that’s vexing me at the moment.
When I try to analyse the reason why I’ve resisted this most obvious of steps i.e publishing my own book, I come to a rather astonishing and ironic conclusion.
The reason is this.
It's vanity - no more, no less.
Simply put, I don’t want to be seen as someone who can’t get published via orthodox routes.
I want to be part of the club. Name on the list.
So, oddly, ‘vanity publishing’ is a terrific misnomer - it’s not for the vain, at all.
Quite the opposite. You actually need balls of steel and the skin of a rhino - because you’re going to have face down those people who look at you a bit sideways when you tell them you don’t have a publisher, no three-book deal - and still hold your head high.
I’m still thinking about it though.
