Read this:
By self-publishing, I hope to liberate myself from two burdensome responsibilities—recouping the enormous, up-front costs of conventional publication and the necessity of earning large profits if I expect major houses to remain interested in my work. I’m seeking rational alternatives to the conventional routine of book promotion, an uninspired ritual that may garner 30 seconds or 30 days (if you’re lucky) of shelf life in mega chain stores, but mocks the aspirations of serious fiction and cultivates no audience for it.
John Edgar Wideman Embraces the Future
Read it again.
Yes, he said that. He self-published because he is “seeking rational alternatives to the conventional routine of book promotion,” which is “an uninspired ritual that may garner 30 seconds or 30 days (if you’re lucky) of shelf life in mega chain stores, but mocks the aspirations of serious fiction and cultivates no audience for it.”
Ok, the emphasis was mine.
Now go read the rest of the article at publishersweekly.com
