That is the question.
This post is a brief update on my work-in-progress, The Children of Falore (temporary title).
Those of you who pay any attention to my annoying ramblings on Twitter know I’m nearing the end of the first draft of my current manuscript. I’m shooting for about 75 thousand words for this one, and if today’s writing is a success I’ll be at about 57-58 thousand.
My goal has been, for some time, to finish the first draft by the end of the month and self-publish the book by mid-April (I outline A LOT, so I won’t have to spend a lot of time on re-writes).
Recently, however, I’ve been toying with the idea of going the traditional publishing route, for several reasons:
- As of now, I can’t afford to shell out 300 euros on a cover artist. I’ve checked into those stock cover design sites, but have yet to see one I like. As I’ve said before, I’m just not into stock-photo covers. Sorry.
- Traditional publishing has always been my long-term goal. I have another fantasy manuscript on the backburner, and I know for sure I’ll be querying that one, but maybe I should give the current one a shot as well…?
- My self-publishing journey with Little One was…rocky. The initial release was a flop, and I’ve had to revise the files SO many times, it’s not even funny. Plus, I really, really, really hate Createspace. The reviews have been phenomenal ever since, but I honestly don’t know if I want to go through that much stress again.
All that being said, I also have great reasons to go ahead and self-publish:
- A lot of people are waiting to read it. It might sound pretentious, but it’s true. The snippets and passages I’ve shared have generated a lot of interest, and I don’t want to have to wait months or years before even knowing if it’ll be published.
- I have some upcoming marketing opportunities (book fairs, events, etc.) that could really jump-start sales if I go ahead and self-publish. If I wait, I’ll miss out.
- I do think this novel could do well as an indie book. Given a bit of luck and exposure.
- I really want to have control over what my cover looks like, and I know 99Designs (the site I used for Little One) yields amazing results. I just need to come up with the funds.
For now my focus is solely on finishing the first draft. Once that happens (end of the week, hopefully), I’ll have to make a decision. The perfect solution would be to find funds for a cover artist, proofreader, and formatter. That would remove the cost issue and the stress of doing it all myself. This book could hit Amazon within the next two months. If not, we’ll see.
I’ll keep you all posted. In the meantime, keep calm and write/read on! Have a great Monday, everyone.
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