For the last few years I’ve been a judge for a self-published book contest, which means that I have read about ninety self-published books. I’d be willing to bet that that’s more than the average person has read, and every time I read one of these books, I think to myself—why did this author choose this path? Would a commercial press have published this novel? What’s the difference between this and a more traditional book?

For those who don’t know, self-published books are those that the author arranges to have published herself. Pays for herself. And probably sells herself. There’s no selection process. You want to do it, you do it–assuming you have the money and the willpower to finish writing a book. To me it would be like saying you don’t want to go through the college application process—you will go and sit in the classes and learn what you can, but the actual diploma doesn’t mean anything to you. You might learn a lot following this path, or you might learn nothing. It would be up to you.

So, the big question is, how are these self-published books? Are they awful?

Some of them are. Some of them read like the sex fantasies of people who live in nursing homes, and that’s as much as I want to say about that. But most of them are okay; a few are wonderful. The one I think should win is a terrific book and it should have a wide audience. There do tend to be a lot of typographical errors in almost all these books, and that really undermines the authority of the author. On the other hand, the books tend to be passionate. You don’t go and put down a lot of money on a project that may never bear fruit, unless you feel strongly about it. So the voices of the authors tend to come through very strongly, and this is no small thing. I recently read a very commercially successful book that read as though it had been written by a committee and, when I was done with it, I felt as though I had been swindled out of twenty dollars. So voice counts for a lot with me.

The biggest problem with these books, that I see, is that they tend to feel rushed. I get the sense that some of the authors got to the last page of the first draft, looked around and said, Done! Reading self-published books makes you realize what a good editor can do.  (Thank you Emily!) Don’t stop with the first draft; push yourself further. And be patient. Writing is not a race. There’s no glory in being the first one done; you want to be the best one. So, if you are thinking of self-publishing your book, take your time. Make sure you publish the best writing you can.

How about you? Anyone have experience with self-publishing?