Self Publishing Summit 2012 - Is Self Publishing Really the Enemy?

So here is the thing about getting published these days. It is notoriously difficult to become a published author regardless of what genre you write. Not only that but it is even harder to actually become a successful enough one that you can make a living out of it. There are, of course, so many people who love writing so much they dream of becoming the next J.K. Rowling or, dare I say it, E.L. James. (I shudder to think there could be another one!)

What the problem with traditional publishing is for (budding) writers such as myself is how hard it is to get noticed by a publishing house. It seems like there are so many nameless, faceless people behind the grand name of a publishing house that are so far out of our reach that the task of getting their attention seems to be an impossible one. Such is the volume of intake they get that most of them never take unsolicited manuscripts. Instead, they advise that the best possible way to a book deal is through getting a literary agent.

With companies such as Amazon coming in fast and heavy giving writers the opportunity to self-publish their work in recent times, the end of goal of getting work published has suddenly become that much easier. Now, with the ever growing e-book market and the opportunity given to writers to self-publish their books, it seems publishers are looking to demystify their reputation for making it difficult for writers to get published.

 So here, then, comes the Self Publishing Summit 2012. Held at Kings College London, the event is supposed to gather publishers, literary agents, writers, etc. to discuss the traditional publishing, self publishing, marketing, sales, etc. Basically, all of the things that go into making a book from its conception by the author to the book on the shelf that the public go out to buy.

It sounds similar to the Penguin Open Day I attended back in 2010.

Great! Except not great.

Visiting the website, the short summary of the event seems to want to tackle the problem publishing houses are having of the increasing number of authors who are opting to self-publish. Indeed, the second paragraph explains that publishing in the 21st century is more about the business of publishing rather than art. (I wish I were going to the event just so I could see whether or not that is the overall message behind this event).

Whilst I applaud the honesty of this, I do find that the whole idea behind this summit is to appear as though the literary business are trying to embrace self-publishing. It seems to me, however, that they the whole point is to show writers and prospective writers that publishing is a business and that they need to understand that, but also self-publishing is not the best way to go about getting published. (The incentive for writers to come along and pitch their book idea to win a marketing a publishing prize worth £3000 by the sponsors of the event, I think backs up the impression I got from the website).

I disagree, I think there is plenty of space in the literary business for both traditional publishing and self-publishing. I also acknowledge that there are also smaller publishing houses out there that perhaps may not be fairing so well against the business of self-publishing. I know that but my point is that self-publishing is not necessarily the first option for many people. For myself, I see it as an opportunity that will always present itself for whenever my books are just not what any publisher is looking for.

I am just a writer, I don't know much about the business of publishing that a lot of those working in publishing have to go through. I would love to learn more about it just so that I can understand and learn about the seemingly mysterious goings on behind the company names. It's sort of like wondering what happens when the Queen is like around friends and family at home or what President Obama does when he is not doing President-y things.

This really is just my opinion. Do I want to get published? Yes. Do I want a publishing house to back my book? Of course I do. But I try to be realistic, and somewhere in the back of my mind, lingering in the background of my dreams, is always going to be the option to self-publish if I get rejected by them all.

The point is that self-publishing, in my opinion, is just an alternative way of getting published if traditional publishing fails. I don't think publishers have anything to be worried about since the whole institution of publishing is so revered that it will stand up to the younger, easier, competition that is self-publishing. (E-books are totally different problem entirely, however!)

So if a publisher decides to pass on my books that is just fine, I can always publish them myself knowing that I tried to do it the traditional way first but that the best option is for me to do it myself.

Hey, it's just business!


 *The Self Publishing Summit 2012 is being held at King College London on 24th November, 2012. Tickets cost £45.