Pros and Cons

My last post I covered knowing what you want from your writing and publishing. With a lot of drama going on in the writing world, I'm reminded why I'm primarily indie. When I first went indie, my husband sat me down and said "Hey, make a damn choice and stick with it." Or something to that effect. So as I do with many things. I sat down and made a list. A list of pros and cons. I'll share them for you and I invite you to continue the list on your own or in the comments.

Indie Publishing
Pros:
I get to keep more profit
I control everything
I don't have to change my story (this has happened to me on a short through trade publishing)
My deadlines, my schedule

Cons:
Most of the profit goes back into publishing
Everything comes out of my pocket or I have to learn how to do it myself
Still have to depend on others for cover art and editing

So those are generals, I actually listed out what I get to control and what was going to cost me. I also tried to draw on experiences of others, with keeping in mind that I wasn't going to be an over night success. From there I moved on to trade publishing, including small presses- anything that I had to write a query letter, submit, and wait on.

Traditional Publishing
Pros:
Professional editor
Professional Cover art
Marketing?
The attraction of a big name behind the title.

Cons:
Possibly less royalties
Very little or no control
Still might have to do all my own marketing.
Could take a long damn time.

Both lists are close to being even, Trade has a few more pros, but since marketing is questionable, it evens out. To me. To someone else they may think that trade publishing is better. To each their own. However, due to recent events (that because it's not SPE related, I won't mention here in detail) I'm very happy that I didn't put all my eggs in the trade publishing basket.

The thing is that indie publishing met up with what I wanted and what I need. I have a wonderful support team and I've learned a ton on this journey. I've even learned a program that I swore I'd never get along with. I have to say that I like having the control over everything. Down to what edits make it in the book (have I mentioned how much I love my editors?) to what the cover looks like, to the release day. I get to throw my own parties, decide how I want to market, say what events I go to. I can also hammer down my own timeline and if it doesn't get done, I only have myself to blame.

So while you're asking yourself: What do I want out of my writing. Also ask yourself: Which route is best for me?