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DIY? Sally talks about self-publishing.
There are several reasons why writers might consider self-publishing their work.
For some, self-publishing offers a short-cut through the often frustrating and almost always lengthy process of finding a traditional publisher. Others realise that their manuscripts will be of interest to a limited market, and so are not likely to interest a mainstream publisher. Still others prefer to keep creative control of the whole process.
Books that lend themselves to self-publishing rather than traditional publishing include family histories, memoirs, personalised stories, books in an unfashionable genre, cross-genre books, how-to books and poetry.
Some authors self-publish some of their titles, while selling others through mainstream channels. I have chosen to do this with my workshop titles, and also with a handful of novels.
Consider the two novels described below.
Translations in Celadon
Rosanna is living in a world of her own creation, although she believes it was made by somebody else. Rosanne is sure she could work it all out, if only she didn't keep turning into a horse. Meanwhile, she must negotiate with a princess, a werewolf, a wisewoman and a groom who, like Rosanna, were originally someone else.
Replay
Ellie loves Harry more than anyone in the world, and so she should. He is her husband and they've been together for a thousand years. Inwardly, Ellie and Harry feel like the Saxon teenagers they once were, but outwardly, Ellie is a modern teenager and Harry a schnauzer dog.
These stories share themes of self-image, fate and self-determination, although the plots, settings and characters are really quite different. One was accepted and published by a mainstream publisher and became a "Notable" book. The other was turned down by three editors and is now self-published. Which is which? Why?