I know the arguments going around against self-publishing. They are pretty much the same ones that have been going around for years.  Here a few of them:

1. Self publishing is expensive. You have to foot the bill for everything from formatting to cover art.

2. The final product is usually not up to the quality of a NY published book.

3. Self pubbed books cannot get distributed into brick and mortar stores.

4. The writing inside a self-pubbed book is terrible.

5. Most indie publishers(or places were self-made publishers can create and sell) are either expensive, or scammy.

But to the tune of Barbara Streisand’s The Way We Were, this is not so anymore.

Thomas Leuthard / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

This is why you should be self-publishing your book now:

1. When you have to foot the bill for everything, you sometimes learn new skills. I now know how to format my ebook and print book and yes, even Photoshop (and most recently, Adobe Illustrator) to do my own covers.

2. I believe most self pubbed books today are of HIGHER quality in their finish than ever before. We have to be. It’s expected of us. With more competition for digital shelf space, only the cream of the crop will make a dent.

3. This one is a laugh. There are just about NO brick and mortar stores any more, so who cares about having a book in one? Far more important to find and connect with your reader online. Yeah, when you hear that Barnes & Noble is closing its doors, you can just smile and nod right along with me.

4. Ditto to number two. We have to make the best quality book, meaning best written book, that we can turn out. We have a lot of competition, and I do not mean from NY. Most self published writers hire editors now, and cover artists, and other pros to help make their book the best it can be. If you get a bad one, just trust me, it is NOT the norm but rather the exception.

5.  Now with the popularity of Amazon and Smashwords, there are no longer any reasons to fear your print on demand provider. These are the big hitters and they are very quality-focused. I trust them. You should too.

If you want to have a discussion about why you should self publish your book now, leave me a comment below. I am really glad I chose this route.