Much like with prospectors at the peak of California’s Gold Rush, there was a time when writers rushed to self-publish because they saw other writers striking it rich when editors at traditional publishing houses spotted their books and signed them to lucrative deals. I understand the temptation.
Much like those prospectors found with the reality of digging for the gold, the big strike proves far more elusive for self-publishers than those big success stories suggest. Gold is struck, certainly… but enough time has passed in the history of self-publishing that we know banking on the big strike is a very shaky strategy.
That’s the topic I take up in today’s DearEditor.com today question-and-answer post.