photo credit: http://www.jektz.com

Did I consider going the traditional publishing route? Of course I did. There isn’t an author, or want-to-be author, out there that hasn’t daydreamed of being picked-up by a traditional publishing house, given a huge advance, and being allowed to write full-time without fear or worry of not being able to pay the bills. 

The reality is that daydream becomes a reality for far fewer authors than you’d think. With that in mind, self-publishing has become a great alternative to traditional publishing. Over the past few years, self-publishing has also become more and more acceptable as a form of professional publishing. 

The benefits of self-publishing are numerous: 

1. You Can Make More Money
   Unless you are Stephen King or John Grisham you have the potential to make a lot more money by self-publishing than you will going the traditional publishing route – AS LONG AS YOU DO IT RIGHT! The money you can make from your book doesn’t end with book sales, you also have to consider the possible income from movie rights, audio books, author appearances, foreign rights, and special packages that you are able to offer when you maintain full rights to your work. 
2. Control Over Cover Design
   As a self-published author, you have final say over what your cover looks like. You will have to hire a cover artist, unless you are artistically inclined, but you control the final product. When you go down the path of traditional publishing, your publisher will take on control of your cover and often you have little to no input on how the cover looks.  
3. Speed To Print
   As a self-published author, you control when your book publishes! That doesn’t mean you should publish your first draft, but when you are ready to publish – after all formal rounds of edits – you are in control of hitting [PUBLISH]. If you go the traditional publishing route, your publisher determines your publish date. At the time your novel is complete, your publisher may determine that the market isn’t right for the genre, this can result in your book being shelved for an undetermined time… and sometime indefinitely. Self-publishing can speed up your publication date by a year if not more.
4. Content Control
   As an author, you put your heart, soul, sweat, and tears into your book. As a self-published author, you publish your book – the book you want to publish! As a traditionally published author, your book is changed – adapted – converted – whatever you wan to call it by the numerous interns, editors, publishers, and marketers at the publishing house. By the time your book goes to print, it may not even resemble the story you had originally set out to tell. Traditional publishers control character development, story arc, even the ending of the story, and so much more. If they say change it – you changed it. In the world of self-publishing, you determine what needs to be changed. You’re editor will give you suggestions, but you decide which of the suggestions you’re going to take and which ones you’re going to toss out with last weeks trash. 
5. Avoiding Stress
   You are worthy! Why put yourself through the stress and anxiety of submitting your manuscript to hundreds of publishing houses only to be turned down time and time again. The fact of the matter is, it doesn’t matter how good you are – you can be turned down by a publishing house. Their acceptance is often based on the market – what is selling at the time of your submission. The following is a short list of BEST SELLING AUTHORS who were all rejected at one time or another: 

• HERMAN MELVILLE 
• ERNEST HEMINGWAY 
• GEORGE ORWELL 
• H.G. WELLS
• F. SCOTT FITZGERALD
• STEPHEN KING
• WILLIAM GOLDING
• MARGARET MITCHELL
• WILLIAM FAULKNER
• ANNE FRANK

NOTE: This list is just a small sample of best-selling authors who received that dreaded rejection letter… the list could go on and on and on.