People ask me all the time, “Is it better to try to find a traditional publisher or to self-publish?”

My answer is always, “It depends.” It depends on your goals, your resources, your book idea, the marketplace. There are many factors to consider.

Nevertheless, there are several good reasons to consider self-publishing first.

1. It’s very, very difficult for a first-time author to get published these days by a legacy, or traditional, publisher.Ironically, part of the reason for this is precisely because the current technology makes it so easy to publish! There are so many books out there, the bookstore shelves are overcrowded (and that distribution mode is so flawed—but don’t get me started on that!). Publishers are more and more wary of publishing unproven authors.

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