Before E-book Self-publishing Was Popular

 

Giant Galaxy NGC 6872 Image Credit: Sydney Girls High School Astronomy Club, Travis Rector (Univ. Alaska),

“I hadn’t known the club I was trying to get into held fast to the rule that self-published books were crap and any novelist who dared try to do it by herself would only get the back of a bookseller’s head and nothing but derision.”

MJ Rose commenting on her late 90’s self-publishing efforts.

An interesting post appeared on Buzz, Balls & Hype, the other day, concerning the efforts of MJ Rose to self-publish on the web back in the days (1998 to be exact) when special formatting did not exist for maybe PDF files. In those days, e-publishing was so out of favor that self published e-book authors were not allowed into MWA and the Author’s Guild, nor could they find much acceptance with a literary agent.  However, as Miss Rose is quick to point out her life as an outsider did not last long; for in several months she had a legitimate publishing deal with an agent and publishing house.

Her first self-published effort was called “Lip Service”, but today the book is available as a paperback from a mainstream publisher. I read the novel many years ago and remember the book as a fun read that delves into the inner world of a NYC woman with a mediocre marriage. But what is important here are Rose’s comments on the current state of affairs, where some successful authors (not me) can sit down and chose whether they are better off going the traditional paper route or striking out on their own via Amazon, Apple and Barnes & Noble. No matter how things turn out recent publishing developments of the last six months have taken a fascinating turn.