/lit/ - Literature

Simply put- and this is a black pill many can't handle- nobody in real life takes self-publishing seriously.

If you told someone you're a published writer, they would expect you to have gone the traditional route. They want to be able to walk into the bookstore and see your novel there. The minute you say "I published it myself", you lose ALL credibility and its dismissed as a vanity project.

People may show their support for you self-publishing, but inside everyone will think it's because you couldn't hack the traditional route. This isn't just normies, either, it's what most of us here in /lit/ believe too.

And it's based on truth. Anyone can self-publish whatever schlock they've scribbled up; traditional publishing is inherently a form of quality control. To even be considered by the top publishers you need to first win over one of the well-known agents. This is impossible without an objectively good manuscript. Once the agent is convinced, the publisher then needs to be convinced of its artistic value as well- the strength of the story, characters, prose.

The traditional publishing route also qualifies you for national and international literary awards, like the booker prize, NYT bestseller list, etc. Not to mention the marketing that traditional publishers WILL put in if they're one of the big ones.

So in short, if all writing is to you is a means of making money, then go for self-publishing on amazon with the rest of the smut writers who cater to the lowest common denominator in exchange for a few extra dollars a month. However, your work will never be taken seriously as literature, nor will you be taken seriously as a writer. And that's simply a fact of life.

Any other non-beginners in this thread? Intro to my latest short below, just submitted it and hoping it'll be my first accepted for publication:

It seems increasingly likely that I really will undertake the expedition that has been preoccupying my imagination now for some days. An expedition, I should say, which I will undertake alone, in the comfort of Mr Farraday’s Ford; an expedition which, as I foresee it, will take me through much of the finest countryside of England to the West Country, and may keep me away from Darlington Hall for as much as five or six days. The idea of such a journey came about, I should point out, from a most kind suggestion put to me by Mr Farraday himself one afternoon almost a fortnight ago, when I had been dusting the portraits in the library. In fact, as I recall, I was up on the step-ladder dusting the portrait of Viscount Wetherby when my employer had entered carrying a few volumes which he presumably wished returned to the shelves. On seeing my person, he took the opportunity to inform me that he had just that moment finalized plans to return to the United States for a period of five weeks between August and September. Having made this announcement, my employer put his volumes down on a table, seated himself on the chaise-longue, and stretched out his legs. It was then, gazing up at me, that he said:

‘You realize, Stevens, I don’t expect you to be locked up here in this house all the time I’m away. Why don’t you take the car and drive off somewhere for a few days? You look like you could make good use of a break.’

How the FUCK do I sit down and write

>>16738178
>Write two short stories since July
>One is 5k, one is 1.5k
>Polish them again and again
>Submit them anonymously to multiple beta readers
>Rave reviews, urge me to submit for publication
>Send both out to magazines catering for respective word limits, 15 or so magazines
>4 rejections, silence from all the others

Gutting. Think I'm done with short stories for now in any case. Time to crack on with the novel.

>>14954073
sometimes our duties toward god and man require us to get all worked up about the future