Met an artist and an author, could I get any luckier? The Artist moved to the South from Canada to take care of her parents. Speciality is rivers and landscapes...Walla, my cover. Met with the author of "Our War" for several hours. Said self publishing was the only way to go, sounded good. Said agents are just another expense and many people write then for lack of confidence, ability or for whatever reasons go no further. If you have a good story and believe others will find it interesting...Go do it. Certainly there has to those printers/publishing houses looking for business and I don't mean those circling like birds of prey. They print, bind and box, no rocket science business. Why not start with some low number in print, beat the bushes for business and shoot for a break-even point first. Then just see what happens or am I just as et-up with the dumb-ass as I was before?
Self publishing is a route I'm considering but I think of it as more of a backup in case I can't get published the traditional way.
There's nothing wrong with self-pub, but you should go into it with both eyes opened. From the way you wrote your original post, you sound like you heard one piece of advice from one author, and you already believe in it totally, and you make it sound like it's going to be easy. Certainly it sounds like you think it's going to be easy. Like I say, nothing wrong at all to self-pub, but don't go in thinking it's going to be easy, because you couldn't be more wrong. Companies, no matter their trade or product, worldwide, has marketing and sale departments - why do you think that is? People are paid to come up with strategies, and people are paid for the people they know, favours they could get. Why do you think that is? Because while it's not impossible for you to perhaps do something similar, it IS hard work, it does take lots and lots of thinking, preparing, and capital to invest to make a proper job of it - it's a full-time job, which also does take experience to do well in. Now, if you have the energy, the enthusiasm, the brains and the willingness to work like this, and you don't mind failing a couple of times while you accumulate the experience and expertise, then yes, it sounds like self-pub really could be for you. But if you self-pub without first having an awareness and understanding of exactly what it would actually entail for you to market your book and get it out there, then you might as well throw your book into the trash because no one's ever going to find it, let alone read it. Self-pub is a legitimate way of publishing, but it comes with its own challenges that are different to the trad route, and you should better know what those are before you go ahead. If after much research and consideration, you find that self-pub is the best route for you and your book, then by all means go for it. But different books would be suitable for different types of publishing, and different things that matter to each individual author would determine which route you're most comfortable with.
I kind of side with McKK in that the author's experience (the one you met) maybe gave you a one-sided view on the issue, simply because it worked for that author; I mean, it's not only about (self) publishing, no-one knows what path is best for you and what path will actually work. But to be sincere, if I met an author I respect, and got an advice from him/her, I would take her at her/his word totally too. What you received from her was a result-advice after a process which she had gone through. Sometimes I feel it is the process that matters most, 'cos everyone learns a bit different lessons from it. I certainly do agree about both eyes open, about a sensible take on what you write. Doing a lot of research on what might work lessens possible disapointment.