I am a published author.
I did it the old fashioned way. I didn’t take a first draft to Kindle Direct Publishing. I wrote until my fingers bled. I received hundreds of rejection letters. I schmoozed. I drafted. I compromised my principles. I survived an editorial process. And I didn’t stop until someone other than myself put their money and reputation on the line.
Lately, I’ve seen many authors failing to make any differentiation between published author and self-published author. At first, it irked me a little, but I had to ask myself: why shouldn’t they? Self published authors are actually making real money. They have their process. I have mine.
Still, though, how do I know I’ve “made it.” I passed my million words and 10,000 hours years ago. I could look at book sales, but that’s almost more a function of marketing. Is there any metric of writing success?
Then again, should I really worry about it? I’ve been trying for so long to snag a traditional publisher with actual paper books, maybe I should be living in the now. Allowing myself to be happy that I’ve met me goal.
Perhaps the greatest measure of success is that people have bought my book and enjoyed it. I know I can be happy with that.
Speaking as someone who was published but things went horribly wrong, I think it is less of a difference between being self-published verses published, but the amount of effort put into creating a good product. And the only way to tell is sales and how many people make you happen (which I equate to the number of people who seek me out to tell me they like it).
I’m looking for the gatekeeper (someone else putting money into it) simply because I know how easy it is to create a Kindle book and throw it up. Of course, I want someone other than myself to tell me I’m a good writer. 🙂
In the end, I don’t think it matters if I self-publish, publish through a gatekeeper, or even give it away free. The only thing that really matters is when I get that comment that someone loved it. 🙂
(The money and fame is just a nice bonus.)