I sincerely do not understand this.

Self-publishing is a business decision.  Some books and authors will do better self-publishing.  Some will do better trade publishing.  Sometimes an author will do better trade publishing one particular book and self-publishing a different one.

Sometimes self-publishing might be a personal decision.  That’s fine, too!

But when—and why—did self-publishing become a cause?  Why is it something some people feel the need to evangelize and “convert” others to?  When did tearing down or looking down on trade publishers—or authors who choose to trade publish—become part of what some self-publishers[1] like to do?

I just don’t get it.  I really don’t.

Most, though not all, of my close writer friends are aspiring to trade publish, because they’ve determined that’s what will be best for them and their books.  I’m self-publishing, because that’s what I want to do with my books.  It just seems incredibly odd that I would go to one of my friends who wants (or has and is happy with) a publisher as a business partner and try to convince them that they’re wrong.[2]

Who am I do say that?  Why would I say that?  There are so, so many reasons to pursue one route or the other.

Not to mention that self-publishing is often a shit-ton of work and initial investment, if you want to publish at a standard comparable to trade, and that there’s the business side of things that a lot of writers just don’t want to tackle—I don’t know why I would automatically assume that anyone else would be up for that.

Of course, I do discuss self-publishing with friends and colleagues.  All the time!  We talk about the pros and cons.  We talk about the business side of it, and what it can involve.  You know, as you might do when you’re artists exploring any sort of business decision.  And yeah, we discuss the pros and cons of trade, too.  We talk about bad deals, or bad publishers.  Just as we talk about pitfalls one might run into self-publishing.  We exchange knowledge.  As you do.

But I see some people fly the flag of self-publishing as if it’s a religion they want to convert people to.  A religion.  Which, why! Not to mention that even if we were talking about religion—look, I’m totally fine with people being whatever religion they want to be (or no religion!) as long as it works for them and their life, and I love discussing religion and learning about other religions, but when people shove their religious texts in my face and tell me I’m doomed if I don’t subscribe to their beliefs—well, I’m not a fan of that at all.

Even if it’s the religion I belong to.  Especially if, as it makes the rest of us look bad.

Not all self-publishers, of course!  But why is it even happening at all?↵
Likewise, if one of my friends tried to hammer at me all the time about why self-publishing was the wrong way to go, I’d be more than a little pissed.↵