My first two travel books were published traditionally in 2021 and 2023 by a small
independent publisher. Building things slowly but surely, it seemed to be going
quite well but then suddenly, he went out of business quite unexpectedly in the
summer of 2024. Within a month my print and e- books were withdrawn from all
marketplaces and all the hard work I had done to promote and help sell them was
lost. Feeling very disappointed, I decided not to go down that road again...
I retained the copyright, so after three gruelling months of learning to use new
softward and making the necessary changes, including a new cover design,
I opted for self publishing and republished one of them:
Travel Takeaways:Around the World in Forty Tales .
I'm now writing a second book in a very different genre, combining humour with a
cat story . The question is whether to plunge into a search for an agent for this kind of book (any suggestions?) or go my own way and self publish. Any thoughts or
similar experiences, anybody?
(Disclosure: I am a self-publishing consultant.) The ultimate question is always this: how will you market, or help to market, the book? Getting an agent is harder than ever these days, and any agent or publisher will want to know what your 'reach' is – social media, etc. Of course, that is also something that would affect your ability to market your own book. I suppose the new book sounds a bit of a hard sell to agents I think, not that there's any harm in trying! Self-publishing will give you a bigger slice of the revenue for sure – but then you also have the upfront costs to consider if you need help. One other thing to consider is what your goals are: lots of sales? Or a sense of 'scratching an itch', enjoying the writing and then seeing what happens with putting the book out in the world? I hope this at least helps you make your decisions!