Reddit mentions of Upriver, Downriver

Self-publishing has its pros and its cons. I self-published my first book because it was quite long, and a lot of what I was hearing was that a longer book makes it even more difficult for an unknown author to get picked up. I self-published my second, shorter book, sort of as a support to my first. Another reason I put them out was just to sort of establish a footprint as a writer. I would like to get traditionally published. and think I'm probably better suited for it, but until then, I think attempting some traction in other ways keeps me motivated.

I'm not good at advertising. I'm pretty blunt about it, as you can see with the links. People advocate schmoozing on social media, or blogging. A lot of it seems to be writing about writing, or self-publishing, and I don't have the interest or the energy for that (except for right now, I guess). I also don't have the money for bookbub and the like, so I don't do any of that right now. I'm a pretty poor example of the business aspect of self-publishing, and there's many others who have a lot better things to say about that.

I think a big problem with self-publishing, is that the books that seem to get the most attention aren't that diverse. A lot of it is disposable genre stuff, with an ethos towards quantity over quality. People seem to care TOO much about the business side of things, churning out book after book (always in a series) and throwing money at it, and it seems to me a pretty cynical approach. I understand people want to make a living, but I also think it does some detriment to self-publishing as a whole, and that if people are ever going to take it seriously there needs to be more risk taking.

EDIT: I also want to add, that traditional publishing also sucks too. Too often success seems to be contingent on going to a prestigious school, getting an MFA, living in New York, and knowing the right people – any or all of the above. I'm sure there are many exceptions, but the aura around big publishing is discouraging.

EDIT 2: Another word about advertising. Not just the links, but this entire post is advertisement in a sense – putting forth a personality, in conjunction with a product, and hoping that it's appealing. Maybe other people aren't as cynical, but I think with being an artist in the social media age, there's sometimes this weird blurring between congeniality and opportunity. It's a bit predatory, and a bit symbiotic. Self-publishing might mean that you're always on, always trying to seed your art in other people's minds.

I can definitely recommend Upriver, Downriver. Does that sound more your type of thing?