"Publishing is a business. Writing may be art, but publishing, when all is said and done, comes down to dollars." ~ Nicholas Sparks
In today's digital age, writers have fewer barriers to publishing than ever before. Anyone with a computer and internet connection can publish a book with minimal cost.
Writers choose from two publishing paths: traditional publishing through an established publisher or self-publishing. Each path brings its own set of opportunities and challenges. You may choose a different path based on your book's subject, genre, and audience. I'm a hybrid writer, which means that I publish some of my books through publishing houses, and I publish some of my books on my own. When I write a new book, I analyze it to see if it (1) fits with a particular house, and (2) has high commercial appeal based on current or predicted trends. If it fits both criteria, I tend to use a traditional publisher. I wrote The Deadland Saga when the zombie trend felt saturated (and thus may have had less commercial appeal), and so I chose to self-publish; The Colliding Worlds Trilogy is science fiction with romantic elements, which is an evergreen niche, and I published through Simon & Schuster. I take this hybrid approach so that I can still write exactly what I want to write even if the story isn't a perfect fit for a publishing house.
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