I guess most writers these days get tempted to use one of those Print on Demand self-publishing services.  I say this as someone whose entire fiction collection has been self-published.  OK, if you want to get technical, the last two were published by a publisher who claims to be a standard publisher, but anyone in the industry knows this is bunk.

I am hardly one to go against self-publishing.  The publishing world is just filled with too many people who ended up successful by self-publishing something.  That book "The Shack" that is probably still lurking on a New  York Times Bestseller list was self-published.  It does happen, and it happens just enough that it gives most writers a bit of hope.

Let me say that if you do decide to self-publish, just do it because you want to see a few copies of your novel published and you hope to sell a few to friends and family.  If you have dreams of having book signings and ending up on various talk shows with your book while stacks and stacks of them stand in bookstores, you had better get rid of those dreams right now.

When you self-publish, it is nearly impossible to get the book into bookstores.  I say "nearly" because nothing is truly impossible.  Some local bookstores, if you can still find a locally owned bookstore, will let you put a few copies on their shelves on a commission basis, for example.  However, there are problems when the bookstore needs to return the books when the book is self-published.  It is much easier for a bookstore chain to deal with major publishers than trying to deal with individual authors.

As such, it is nearly impossible to get book signings at major bookstores.  Since the book isn't likely to be on their shelves, it is less than likely that they will want you to show up with boxes of your books and take time away from sales of books they really want to sell for you to sign three copies. 

While the non-fiction books I have published were published by standard publishers are small, there is a world of difference.  There is nothing like having paid editors helping make your book read and sound better.  There is nothing like having a design team layout your book for you and sending you gallery prints.  There is nothing like having a team dedicated to just creating your book cover.  Even the smallest of them have marketing departments.  Yes, if you self-publish all of the marketing falls right into your lap.  Having someone else putting out the press releases and making the phone calls is a huge benefit.

So, I know the temptation is just to do it yourself.  However, if you can keep at it, and find a standard publisher, you will see a world of difference.  That's just my two cents.  You may have had a different experience and I would love to hear about it.  Leave a comment if you self-published and had a huge success.  We could all learn from it.