Why it's not cringey to self-publish your own book

Let's talk frankly for a minute.

When many of us writers first dreamt of "being a writer" what we saw in our fantasies was probably something glamorous: a clambering agent, a traditionally published book, and perhaps even a red carpet debut for the movie adaptation of our bestseller. Very few of us initially imagined the perhaps less-glamorous world of self-publishing.

There's reasons behind this. Self-publishing wasn't as prominent when we were kids, but also, traditionally published bestsellers are what we are used to seeing in media. But even when we grow into ourselves as writers, some of us still feel the tug against the self-publishing world, and some folks may even feel as though they are giving something up by self-publishing.

And I'm not here to debate traditional versus self-publishing (maybe another time). But I am here to talk about the stigma of self-publishing and how it gets internalized by writers, because I think self-publishing is a wonderful avenue and tool for writers. So let's chat about it.

Disclaimer: I have self-published a book. But I have also had plays and poems published traditionally. So I have some sense of both spheres.

Stigma #1: Anyone can self-publish

You've heard this before — or something like it, "Anyone can self-publish." It's meant as something that is at best, belittling, and at worst, derogatory. There's a coded understatement here: if anyone can self-publish, why is it so special that you did it?

I think we see this often — that people undervalue creative pursuits because "anyone could do that." I've lost count of the number of people who have told me that they always had a book inside them. But every time someone has told me about their writing I've always offered the advice of:

"Life is short, you should write that book."

Self-publishing is accessible — and I don't want to pretend that this isn't a wonderful thing. I don't understand why accessibility has to lead to devaluing. What's wrong with nourishing our little creative spirits? Why do we have to gatekeep storytelling — one of the oldest and most valuable pastimes of the human race?

It's hard to write a book. Otherwise, everyone who has ever said, "I've always had a book inside me," would have instead told me, "I already wrote the book inside me."

But even if everyone wrote and self-published books — isn't that a good thing? Shouldn't we as writers always champion the creative spirit? Shouldn't we all rejoice that someone else has dipped their hands into the waters of storytelling and found refreshment?

Every story is a unique glimpse into the life and mind of another, and I for one, will never be mad that self-publishing made it possible for more stories to be told. We don't need to create an environment of creative scarcity to appreciate the creativity around us.

Stigma #2: Self-published books are lower quality.

I've often heard self-publishing framed as a 'way to make a quick buck' by girlboss/grindset types. The idea being that it is simply so easy to pump out a book and sell it for that sweet, sweet "passive income." This helps contribute to the idea that self-published books are passionless and made to be cheap harbingers of money.

And I won't pretend like that doesn't happen. There are certainly folks who throw a first draft into a self-published book or worse, use generative AI to write the book for them. As I mentioned, this is an accessible form of publishing, so there are no barriers for entry — not even a spell check.

But I think the answer here is to lift up the voices of self-published authors who are putting their all into the craft. I think that amplifying those who are dedicated, careful, and passionate will slowly lift the stigma. Because I've read some damn good self-published works. And those incredible authors have changed my perspective on the genre entirely. They are the reason I have chosen to self-publish myself.

So let me take a moment to practice what I preach, and point you to some of the self-published authors who changed my mind:

• Marissa Lete - Echoes
• Stephen A. Roddewig (fellow Vocal creator) - A Bloody Business
• Claire Fraise - They Stay
• Sophie Johannis - Traces

But if you need a few "big names" to be convinced, here are a few famous writers and their self-published works:

• Stephen King - People, Places and Things
• Rupi Kaur - Milk and Honey
• Margaret Atwood - Double Persephone
• Andy Wier - The Martian
• Mark Twain - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Stigma #3: The elephant in the room

But as a writer who loves the accessibly of self-publishing and knew that wonderful self-published books existed, I was still hesitant to self-publish my own work. And that's because of a less discussed third thing, the elephant in the room...

I wanted to be chosen.

I wanted an agent or a publishing house or an editor or somebody to say, my work was good. My work was worthy of being published.

Because for me, the scariest part of self-publishing is that I had to believe in myself. I had to do it without the external validation of someone saying I wrote something special. I'm normally a private and slightly anxious person, so the idea of putting myself out there with no assurance felt embarrassing, and yes, cringey.

I've gotten a little more confident after self-publishing my first book. But if I'm being honest, as I stare down the June release date of my next book, I still find myself falling back into the pitfalls of uncertainty, wishing that a magical fairy would flutter down and gift me with a better sense of confidence.

But this is something that has been unexpectedly liberating about the process of self-publishing. If I had confined myself to traditional publishing in search of external validation, I would have never learned how to trust myself as a writer. I would have always written for what I thought others wanted, rather than writing for myself.

Both of my books are a bit experimental: The Wailings is a horror novella told completely out of order; and my upcoming book, All the brooding flowers, is a poetry book laced with hand-made paper collage artwork.

I never even tried to traditionally publish either of these titles because (a) I didn't want to, and (b) I didn't think that traditional publishing was best for these pieces. I was worried that these books would become something else in my efforts to make them "palatable" for the traditional world. So I chose to believe in myself and my creative choices, no strings attached.

Self-publishing helped me learn the hard lesson of valuing my own work, and taught me the beauty of intrinsic motivation and creative control. And so, for the first time in my short career as a writer, I put the chips on me. And regardless of where I go from here, I will always be a better writer because of it.

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Thanks for reading!

And if I've piqued your interest in self-publishing, you can read more about my processes for both books here: