Self publishing and E-books

I'm gradually reaching an accommodation with the 21st century...but it hasn't been easy. Five years ago I would have laughed at you if you told me I would be thinking about publishing an E-book--and I would have swore up and down that I would never, NEVER, read an E-book.

Time marches on, however, and we evolve. I even evolve--more or less. E-books are here to stay, and anyone who writes books needs to educate themselves about the E-book market. In view of that, a few weeks ago I made the decision to release Judgment Tramp as an E-book. I'm not saying I'm comfortable with the idea--not yet anyway, but I know I have to do it in order to reach my goals.

I initially felt the same way about self-publishing. I didn't really start out thinking I would self-publish, but now I don't think I'd be interested in doing it any other way. Don't misunderstand me; there are many pitfalls to self-publishing, but there are also rewards. I guess I'm a bit of a control freak in my old age--and I want my books to reflect my personality, not my agent's idea (or an editor's idea) of what will sell.

I am not a fan of Publishing-On-Demand. I print my books myself, I can sell as many books as I want--and I can sell books at prices that POD authors can't touch. I think POD will stick around for a while, but the E-book levels the playing field more than POD ever did.

I'll be talking more about this over the next several posts--stay tuned.