From INDIES UNLIMITED: The Persistence of Self-Publishing Stigmas and How To Transcend Them –

In the world of independent writing there exists an enormous pool of resources designed to guide, educate, inform, cheerlead and help independent writers. Indies Unlimited is one of the most popular of those sites, one that works hard to provide what authors, writers, and those working with them need to move constructively forward in a constantly changing industry. I was delighted to be invited to write a “guest post” for them.

In thinking about what salient issue to cover, I decided to throw some focus on the conundrum around “the quality of self-published books,” an ongoing discussion, even debate, that rages (OK, maybe rages is too harsh; how about persists?) amongst publishers, marketers, promoters, reviewers; magazines and newspapers, certainly readers and even writers, as the self-publishing trend continues to expand.

Those of us in the category are inevitably faced with a set of preconceived ideas and opinions about what a self-published author is and what that author provides by way of their independently published book, and while many of those notions are folly — or certainly non-applicable to the better writers — they DO, unfortunately, apply to far too many. This piece offers some rethinking about how to change that reality:

The Persistence of Self-Publishing Stigmas and How To Transcend Them:

We self-published writers are like the big kids Mom and Dad left at home with the baby; there’s a list of instructions on the refrigerator but we’re basically on our own. Which means we have no choice but to step up. To meet the challenge. To make sure the “baby” that is our book flourishes as well as the one down the street with the high-priced nanny…

… yet one [writer] remarked that most self-published writers can’t afford editors and cover designers and so they “do the best they can,” their books going out “as is.” Another told me, “Readers are less picky because ebooks are so cheap”….

Click HERE to read full article at Indies Unlimited.