To Self-Publish or Not to Self-Publish

I've gone both routes. Self published many years ago, then my last book was Random House/Broadway, next one is with Portfolio.

The real answer is it depends on (1) your bigger business plan (meaning is the book largely a lead-gen mechanism for a bigger funnel, do you want to get paid well to keynote or are you looking to make bank on sales) and (2) the size and loyalty of your tribe.

The bigger and more committed your relationships and tribe and the less you are looking to generate revenue through channels that still hold traditional publishing dear, the easier it is to choose and succeed on the self-publishing side.

My writer friends have told me that they only self-publish if they can't get a real publisher to go with it. A real publisher brings a lot more to the table than just killing some trees and laying some ink on it.