By Willa Paskin
Hemispheres Magazine - United Airlines
The Price Is Write
NOT SO LONG AGO, self publishing was a dirty word. For the serious literary artiste, there was only one route to success. First, you’d find an agent to submit your proposal — or perhaps a finished book — to the major publishing houses. Then, with any luck, an editor would take the bait, treat you to a few boozy lunches (preferably at the Four Seasons), fork over a hefty advance and enlist the marketing department to propel your masterpiece onto best seller lists. Most self-respecting authors would sooner have used their manuscripts to line hamster cages than turn them over to a vanity press, traditionally viewed as the last resort of the vain, the foolish and the hopelessly amateur. But as an increasingly mercurial economy forces the publishing industry to rethink its modus operandi, book deals (not to mention advances, lunches and expensive publicity pushes) are becoming harder to come by — and self publishing suddenly seems reputable.
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