Self-Publishing vs. Getting an Agent

[kowaiyoukai]

IDK. It all seems so ridiculous to me. I mean, pay hundreds-thousands of dollars for editors, ISBN, cover art, blah, blah blah, etc and then you get a small percentage of royalties. How can you even guarantee that what you earn back is going to be anywhere near what you put into it in the first place? And how can soemone who is poor, like me, get any kind of money to even begin to try self-publushing?

On the flip side, I've been told so many opposing things about agents. Some want money upfront, some only get paid if the book sells. Some are willing to work around your schedule, some want you to work around theirs. And so on. I just think I'm too annoyed with it all.

I would just love to finish my original, make it a PDF file, and sell it to people for $5 a pop. That's it. Is that too much to ask for, really?

What do you guys think? What's better? Or, would you actually buy a PDF file of a book for $5? Or does anyone have any really genius ideas? Because that would be AWESOME.

AS FOR EVERYTHING ELSE: Yes, I'm still writing Apogee and other fic. No, I'm not posting any today. Yes, I'm still watching shows and playing catch-up with video games, TV, movies, books, and comics. No, I'm not up to date in anything yet. I did just start Felicity, and I checked wikipedia to see who she ends up with, and I'll probably stop watching because I LOVE Noel and Ben's an asshole with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. OK. That's all. :D

Comments

[bloodsorrow.livejournal.com]

What is this original, and in what state of completion is it?

[bloodsorrow.livejournal.com]

I actually just saw this on Slashdot.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ja-konrath/ebooks-and-self-publishing_b_764516.html

[kowaiyoukai.livejournal.com]

Oh, thanks for the link! I'll check it out. My current original project is a five novel urban fantasy series. I've got the entire plot planned out and scenes from all five books written already, but the first book is about 1/3-1/2 done. I keep jumping around, writing whatever comes to mind, in the hopes that I'll finish it faster. But we shall see.