Publisher or self-publishing?

One of the most difficult decisions to be made by anyone writing a book, and therefore dedicating thousands of hours to this task, arises at the exact moment they intend to launch it on the market. One of the greatest desires of those who write out of love or passion is to be able to share their stories, emotions, and thoughts. Royalties are not a priority, at least not for me.

The literary market is a veritable labyrinth for those who are starting out. Many renowned publishers don't even bother to read the manuscript proposals submitted, keeping their "cartel" reserved for authors who already sell or those they "recommend." They dominate the shelves of large bookstores and their communication spaces. Then there is a vast option of publishers, called second-tier, whose purpose is only to profit from the work, almost disregarding quality or potential. As long as you pay, almost anything gets published. Just go to a FNAC, Bertrand, or other bookstore and randomly open various literary works. You'll find everything. High-quality works, and others that aren't even good enough for a textbook. And so much quality work remains underground. There's also a fringe that calls itself a publisher but in practice is nothing more than a printing company. They limit themselves to printing the book and little else. Budgets for publication range from a few hundred to thousands of euros. There are options for everything.

For those who don't want to get involved in this labyrinth, there's the so-called self-publishing, in which you become responsible for all the tasks inherent to publishing, and you have at your disposal free platforms that put the book on the market. Many are comprehensive in terms of countries and locations where they promote the work, but in practice, the book is only present in the online market. There is no or microscopic promotion in bookstores. And the software provided is not always the best option to achieve a work with the desired presentation. In addition, the book ends up having its price increased due to shipping costs. This implies that the author must have a genuine promotional machine that is always active and able to "sell" their work as a differentiated product that deserves the additional cost for the customer to read it. You will always be limited in the choice of places where your work is visible.

The time when publishers carefully analyzed literary works and their quality, and based on these criteria "bet or not" on their publication as an investment... has simply died! With an important closed circuit, barred to newcomers, the decision is therefore to choose between a second-tier publisher or self-publishing. Automotive printing companies are naturally excluded.

The labyrinthine part is making a decision in this context!

Spending thousands of hours writing has this benefit and this reward.

These are the so-called modern times!

Speech given at the launch of the 1st Edition of my book "De Rédeas Soltas" in Lisbon