Hello! Welcome back to the blog. It’s been a while since I last posted, so I should probably give you an update. Reel Ghosts is available for purchase on Amazon (there’s a link in the Books tab on the menu). It’s part of the Kindle Unlimited program. If you’ve read it, an honest review would be greatly appreciated. I’m currently reading the first draft of my next novel, The House That Wasn’t There. The possibilities are exciting. Enough about what I’m doing. Let’s talk about why I decided to go with self-publishing.
If my calculations are correct (something might have slipped through the cracks of time) then I have written 7 novels in my lifetime. The House That Wasn’t There will be number 8. Of Those 7 finished novels, 5 have been in the middle grade horror genre, while 2 have been adult horror. That’s a lot of writing, where much was learned about myself as a writer and the writing process. The first novel I wrote (a middle grade horror novel) wasn’t seen by anyone’s eyes but mine. That’s fine, as it wasn’t a good book. The second book (an adult horror novel) was better, yet wasn’t publishable. The handful of agents I queried agreed. For a span in my late twenties and early thirties, I focused on middle grade horror, finishing 4 novels. It was during that time I realized submitting to only a handful of agents wouldn’t get the job done (thanks internet). Querying more agents came with a drawback. If you have queried agents before, then you know what I’m referencing. Rejection. I received a lot of rejection letters and emails during that span. I wrote what I still think was the best middle grade novel I’m capable of writing. It was rejected. The early posts on this blog chronicled my journey as I switched from a middle grade horror writer to solely focusing on adult horror. Reel Ghosts was the product of that change in focus, a novel that attempted to blur the line between psychological and paranormal horror. I was and still am proud of that novel. Seeing it rejected was hard.
By the time I realized Reel Ghosts wasn’t going to be traditionally published, I had become jaded towards the mainstream publishing world. I had read books by authors whom I felt weren’t as talented as I, nor were their books as good. Jaded and more than slightly bitter, I know.
There was another problem. I felt as if I was stuck in an endless loop that kept repeating. Write. Submit. Reject. Write. Submit. Reject. The loop was a byproduct of my own self-confidence, caused by a single-minded focus that failed to see other avenues as valid. The loop needed to be broken. The choice was obvious, though difficult.
Self-publishing.
Self-publishing has its pros and cons. Pros: control, more accepted than in the past, access to a wide variety of readers are just a few. Cons: self-promoting can be an issue, standing out in the crowd, requires discipline.
It’s a hard road if chosen. I’m still learning lessons. Hopefully, in the future I’ll be able to write a post about how to be successful as a self-published author. Right now, I’m still walking that road.
Now, should you choose to self-publish your novel?
Do you want to take control of your writing and publishing future?
Are you good at self-promotion?
Can you properly manage your time between writing, revisions, and promoting?
There are a lot of self-published books out there. Can you stand out from the crowd?
Output is important in the self-publishing world. The more books you have out in the world, the more likely you are for a reader to find you. Therefore, can you write quickly enough to take advantage?
Ultimately, the decision is yours. I’m glad to have broken the loop and delved into a new adventure. Where that adventure takes me remains to be seen. Thanks for reading, and remember to follow your dreams, even if they terrify you.
Stephen Roth
Stephen Michael Roth 