Last time I rode this particular ride, independent authors didn’t really exist. Sure, self-publishing was a thing, but it was the kind of thing you knew to avoid, like the wrong neighborhood, pyramid schemes, or cheap whiskey.

There were a few well-known self-publishing scams, a few venues for honest self-publishing (“vanity press,” where the point was mainly to make books for yourself and your family, not to turn a profit) — and then there were the publishers. That was that, those were your options, end of story.

Cue 2017, and self-publishing isn’t a niche service or a bad joke anymore. For most authors — especially the ones who aren’t already internationally famous, have 7-figure publishing deals, and split their time between writing novels and sipping umbrella drinks — it’s a legitimate, competitive alternative to the traditional publishing house. More work, more return. I can live with that.

I could talk upsides and downsides, but that’s boring. What this new stuff gives me is pretty simple:

• It’s pretty cool that the market has changed so much that authors can decide to go outside the traditional publishing business without hamstringing their career. An author can experiment, fail fast, find their niche and have a blast doing it.
• I’m looking forward to finding an awesome visual artist, and then working with them to make some killer book art. Cart before horse? Absolutely. Fun to think about? Hell yes.
• It’s great that I get to create my own relationship with my editor. Publishers can complicate a relationship that should otherwise be built like a good friendship founded on common interest, honesty and good-natured name-calling.
• I love that I can write the stuff I want to write, get it out there, and let real folks tell me whether they like it or not. Nothing tells an author what they need most better than a reader who wanted their work to be great.

Long story short, I’ll make a bunch of mistakes going this route. I’m going to have a lot of fun doing it, though.

And just for the record: if I do happen to get a 7-figure publishing deal one of these years, I won’t blow it on umbrella drinks. I’m more of a gin kind of guy. More on that later.

[header image ‘In February’ by Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski]