Self publishing, by the numbers.

[SheilaT]

1. It has been my experience that

most people who self-publish shouldn't. They don't know how to write well in the first place and do not get sufficient editing. I have always regretted when I purchase a self-published book.

Yes, I know about respectable writers who have in the past self-published, and a few already established ones who are doing so today.

The other trend I'm extremely disturbed by is the "Print books are dead. Soon, real soon now everyone will read ebooks and only ebooks." Really? Unfortunately, Amazon is the biggest offender here. While I understand the appeal of ebooks, to promote them totally in place of print books is a Very Bad Idea. For lots of reasons, not the least of which is, what are you going to do when the format changes? You don't think it will? When was the last time you bought an 8-track tape? Meanwhile, print books will remain readable so long as someone is still alive who can read the language. I understand the Smithsonian owns a whole bunch of audio recordings that they cannot play because they don't know exactly what technology was used to produce and then play them.