I had a lovely afternoon today watching Dial M for Murder by myself and organizing my quilt in progress with the lovely Garden Party fabrics of Anna Maria Horner. Ya like? Very bright and eclectic I think.

I’d never noticed it before, but other than the actual murder, Dial M for Murder has virtually no action. It’s all dialogue but for some pacing, rummaging, and general everyday sort of stuff. But the suspense is killer!

The follow-up to yesterday’s post on the Pro’s of self-publishing, today I’m posting about the Con’s…

1. No one with any publishing clout has your back. You don’t have a savvy agent or editor fighting for you, determined to sell your book whatever it takes.

2. Significant (although not prohibitive) financial outlay at the beginning as you’re having to pay to print the books in bulk quantities.

3. Lots and lots and lots of work. My writing was on hold for about a year as I donned the many hats of a small press owner.

4. Limited distribution. Unladylike Pursuits made it into Barnes and Noble and Borders, but didn’t have a chance in Target (my dream), Walmart, or any other discount or grocery stores.

5. The stigma. Particularly within RWA and with other authors–not so much readers. And while this doesn’t really and truly bother me, it does a little.

6. The warehousing. I currently store the inventory for U.P. If I self-publish my next book, I’ll have to add to my stock.

7. The dire importance of reviews. With publisher backing and placement, reviews don’t matter as much as they would for a self-published book. It had to be my reviews, particularly my review in Booklist, which I’ve recently discovered was quite the coup as they only review 100-200 romance titles a year, that got me the placement I had in libraries and bookstores.

Okay, that’s all I can think of right now. Anyone else have any thoughts?

I may have started something similar before, but I’m older now, er…more experienced, and I think I can do a better job. That said, I’m going to start a list comparing the pros and cons of self-publishing vs. traditional publishing. And just to clarify, by self-publishing, I’m not referring to iUniverse or any of those print-on-demand services. By self-publishing, I mean I am the press.

So, today I’ll list the Pro’s I’ve come up with for going the self-publishing route…

1. Much, much quicker turn-around time on getting my book into print. If I were to decide today that I want to self-publish, I’d pretty much be constrained only by the six months lead time required by the more influential print media to review a new release. (Versus a couple of years–I’m guessing–if I were to sign with an agent today).

2. To publish Unladylike Pursuits, I had to purchase a bank of ISBN numbers, so I have plenty of leftovers just waiting to be used up. And I’ve also done the leg work to set up my own press: Impress Ink

3. The book design, from the cover to the font selection to the layout of the book is at my (and likely my husband’s) discretion.

4. Having learned so much and developed so many useful business relationships the first go-around, I think the process of getting this book out there has the potential to go much smoother.

5. I retain all the rights–including ebook–and as such, all the profits (after selling the book at wholesaler discounts).

6. I continue to feel like I’m bucking a rather archaic system, moving forward instead of in reverse.

Anyone have any other thoughts, pro or con? I’ll type up the con list, as I see it, for tomorrow’s post.