Devoted to publishing, publishers and to those who craft the written word

It's the eve of the National Book Awards--one of the most dramatic honors a published, well-respected writer can receive--and I'm writing about self-publishing.

I think the hype around bestsellers and the hullabaloo surrounding writing awards creates the false impression that writing will somehow make you rich and famous. If you're thinking about self-publishing, don't do it because you're looking for money and awards--it's dangerous lie that will distract you from the love of writing that got you here in the first place.

Over at Writer Beware, novelist Victoria Strauss is blogging about the pitfalls of self publishing, debunking myths about the profitability and popularity of our humble profession. Read her essay and follow the links as you think about print-on-demand or self-publishing. Take your morning dose of reality:

"Brunonia Barry's self-pubbed debut novel ... has garnered a lot of press and spawned a flurry of blog posts. (Scratch a self-publishing success story, though, and you usually find a special circumstance of some sort--this article enumerates some of the advantages Barry had that most self-pubbed authors don't.) ... there are the shills trying to make a buck on the writerly pipe dreams that inevitably result from this kind of hype."

I'll be covering the National Book Awards with Marydell, Levi Asher, Ed Champion, and Sarah Weinman, but I won't be looking for get-rich-quick or get-famous-quick schemes. I'll come back with practical stories about how to keep writing because you love it, not because you expect to win the novel-writing lottery.