For the last month and some Cecilia and I have been researching, learning as much as we can about the publishing world. You would think as published authors we already knew a lot. As it turns out, there is a vast amount of information floating around on the new emerging publishing world of which we were still not aware.

Of course, every single author out there (those not living under a rock) knows about self-publishing but many still don't understand how empowering the new publishing world can be. We set out on a quest to understand and demystify self-publishing.

For starters, we wanted to gather a list of pros and cons so we could analyze and decide on it for our own work. We read blogs, books, interviews, listened to podcasts, YouTube videos, and in the end our conclusion is that the pros outweigh the cons by a large margin. Such a large margin we couldn't justify NOT self-publishing anymore.

Yes, there are hurdles and expenses associated with self-publishing if you want to do it right, but the results and benefits, based on other authors' experiences, seem more than worth it.

The most important lesson we learned during our in-depth study was never to cut corners. Publishing houses spend good money on editing, eye catching covers, and typesetting (for print) for a reason. It sells. Don't think that just because you CAN self-publish without those items being checked off the list, that you SHOULD do it. Think of yourself as a solo publishing house and have your work edited, critiqued, reviewed prior to publishing it. If you are not a Photoshop expert, have nice covers designed by a cover artist. And if you are considering Print-On-Demand, have it typeset.

The key is to be honest about your work, understand the tribulations it may cause and move forward learning with and from the process as you go. As for us, we know there is a lot of work ahead of us but we are facing it head on, hoping to draw the best out of the experience.

Sláinte!