This article was last updated on the 17th of July, 2015 by Patrick Carpen.
Not too long ago I read a letter to the editor of the Stabroek News suggesting that self published writers should not be classified as “writers”. The writer of the article was someone named “Krishna Nand Pesaud”.
To say this person is ignorant of the pros and cons of being a professional writer would be an understatement. And the heading of this article “It’s OK to Self Publish” is more than just an understatement. In fact, not only is it OK to self publish, it is “perfectly OK” and even “commendable” to self publish.
The idea of getting published by an established publisher is often wreathed with glory. The select few who have their work singled out from the piles of rubble which flood a publishing house will have good reason to celebrate.
But that’s just one side of the story. To say nothing of books, so many great products would never assume their rightful places in enriching our lives if everyone waited for a stamp of approval from people who couldn’t care less.
Let facts be presented to a candid world: publishers just don’t have enough time to properly go through all the manuscripts they receive. Consequently, many really really good writing go unnoticed by the big name guys.
How about purchasing your own ISBN, hiring an illustrator and paying a printer? If you strongly believe in your talents, remember the old saying, “no one, except you, should tell you, what you can and can’t do”.
Critics claim that the practice of self publishing greatly increases the probability of flooding the book market with substandard work. This idea may have some amount of truth in it, but the facts speak for themselves: some of the greatest writers in history were self published. I will name a few:
Stephen King
Mark Twain
John Grisham
Walt Whitman
Beatrix Potter
