If I self-publish, does that make me a writer?

My goalToday is November 1.  November is NaNoWriMo.  You may remember that last year I began writing a book in November, and even though it’s not a novel (it is one of my apologetics lectures expanded into book form) I used the prompts from NaNoWriMo as motivation.  I never finished my book though.  I have written approximately 10 percent and I have someone who has agreed to edit it for me.  I see no reason why I cannot be finished with the entire draft stage before the month is over.  With that said, this November I don’t necessarily have the goal of finishing, but I do plan on making progress every single day of the month, including Thanksgiving. Feel free to keep me accountable towards my goal.  Text me, tweet me, leave a comment here, whatever.

My Question

Even though my book is still pretty nascent, I have considered what to do when I finish. Should I submit it to a traditional publisher, or should I have it self-published?  As I see it, there are only four advantages to traditional publishing

1.  Approval – If a traditional publisher agrees to use the resources that publishing a book requires then it means that somebody (who should know) thinks I am worth publishing.  In my estimation, this is the number one reason by a long way. In my mind, even though this is the number one reason, successful sales of the book would make this reason obsolete. 2.  Promotion - Since the company has a financial interest in the success of the book, they would have a reason to promote it.  Also, since it’s their business,  they have the know-how and resources to make it financially successful. 3.  Editing – I have someone who has agreed to edit my book and I am planning to pay her.  If a company agreed to publish the book they would have their own editor to and it would save me some money.  Speaking of money… 4.  Getting paid  - I am certain that I would make less money by going through a traditional publisher.  I am also sure I will not be happy about what happens with the rights to the book.  I am also pretty sure that I would be on the losing end of a contract.  However, there is no up-front cost.  Self publishing, at least if I decide to have print copies made, is very expensive on the front end.

That’s it, that’s the list.  And really, if I am honest, the first reason is the only reason that would motivate me to seek out traditional publishing.  In every other way I think self publishing is better.  I keep the rights, I can do what I please with it.  I will make more money if it actually generates sales.  If I were already a published author, this would not even be a question for me.  I would self-publish.

I know that technology has changed the world, and publishing is one of the areas where the impact is strongest.  There is no need to go through a traditional publisher, but if my book is self-published, I feel as if I am being dishonest by saying I am a published author.  (There is one post on this blog that has been read several thousand times and only received positive comments, so it’s not as if I have had no success at writing. It just doesn’t feel the same)

I know I often beg for comments, but I would really love to know your thoughts on this. Especially if you have been published before.

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NaNoWriMo Take 3

I just realized that it is November and we need to start another collaborative story on the blog.  This was incredibly fun for the last 2 years.  The only thing I regret about it is that it has only lasted a few days each time.  Here is a link to the 2009 story, and the 2008 version. Please write something.  The story going in unexpected ways is what makes it fun.

We will do this the same as we have for the last 2 years.  There is a tab at the top "collaborative story" that contains the story.  You add your portion to the comments and I will place it in the body of the story.

More rules

1. No one can write two consecutive portions
2. Portions may not be longer than 400 words
3. Be aware of continuity.  Please read the story and relate your section to the rest.  We don’t want this to turn out like Snoopy’s novel.   Not too many meanwhiles etc.
4. No quick endings.  Please don’t have aliens destroy the world, or some sort of catastrophy to end the story short
5. Please don’t negate the contributions of others, (e.g. Then he woke up…it was all a dream)
6. Don't worry about continuity.  This story will feature the same William, but he doesn't have to work for the Wisconsin board of tourism and cheese relations, he doesn't have to know anything about particle physics and he doesn't have to even know who Michael Strahan is.  This will be like the Simpsons where Homer still works at the nuclear power plant even though h has held 100 other jobs and been fired dozens of times.
7. Careful of content/language.  Try to write your portions without swears or non PG-13 content.
8. I reserve the right to edit your portion for spelling grammar and format.
9. Have fun

Seriously...please participate!

NaNoWriMo Project take 2

Remember this? That story did not go at all the way I expected it to.  I certainly didn't see Michael Strahan showing up.  It was kinda fun

Well it's November again, NaNoWriMo, so let's take another crack at writing a collaborative story.  Again this year I'll make a tab at the top with a link to the story.  You add your contribution in the comments and I'll move it up to the body of the story.

The one thing we need to make it better is your contribution.

Here are the rules.  same rules as last year:

1. No one can write two consecutive portions
2. Portions may not be longer than 400 words
3. Be aware of continuity.  Please read the story and relate your section to the rest.  We don’t want this to turn out like Snoopy’s novel.   Not too many meanwhiles etc.
4. No quick endings.  Please don’t have aliens destroy the world, or some sort of catastrophy to end the story short
5. Please don’t negate the contributions of others, (e.g. Then he woke up…it was all a dream)
6. Careful of content/language.  Try to write your portions without swears or non PG-13 content.
7. I reserve the right to edit your portion for spelling grammar and format.
8. Have fun

Finally – Try this. even if you don’t think this is your thing or if you aren’t creative, write one sentence.  Give it a shot.  I think this might be fun.

NaNoWriMo Project

Sometimes on youth trips we play three-headed storyteller.  It's a game I adapted it from "Whose Line Is It Anyway."  It works like this; you get three people and each of them contributes one word to a story.  keep going in a rotation.  They always turn out to be funny. Thinking about that game got me to thinking.  November is National Novel Writing Month, and I have this great forum, I have a bunch of regular readers who are also creative.  Although many of you are too shy to ever post anything I still think we can make this work.  So I want to attempt a project.  Between now and the new year you will notice a new tab at the top of this blog called collaborative story.  (I was going to sticky it, but was afraid it would get too long and overwhelm page 1)  In this tab we will write a collaborative story.  Any and all of you feel free to contribute.  Even if you are a first-timer, or a reader who never contributes, you are welcome to join in.  I will leave the first section very open ended, but sooner or later, some of you will need to fill in some details.

Here are the necessary rules:

1. No one can write two consecutive portions
2. Portions may not be longer than 400 words (for reference, the prior 2 paragraphs were 178 words )
3. Be aware of continuity.  Please read the story and relate your section to the rest.  We don't want this to turn out like Snoopy's novel.   Not too many meanwhiles etc.
4. No quick endings.  Please don't have aliens destroy the world, or some sort of catastrophy to end the story short
5. Please don't negate the contributions of others, (e.g. Then he woke up...it was all a dream)
6. Careful of content/language.  Try to write your portions without swears or non PG-13 content.
7. You put your portion in the comments, I will add it to the body of the post and delete the comment.
8. I reserve the right to edit your portion for spelling grammar and format.
9. Have fun

Finally - Try this. even if you don't think this is your thing or if you aren't creative, write one sentence.  Give it a shot.  I think this might be fun.