Lia Declan's Musings

Every writer eventually reaches a moment when they stare at their completed manuscript and ask the question that has haunted creative people since the invention of paper:
How can I publish this?

The question arrives with all the subtlety of a falling piano. One minute, you feel triumphant. The next minute, you realize you have created something that needs to leave your computer, enter the world, and survive the opinions of strangers who own Goodreads accounts. No one warns you that finishing the book is only the beginning of the suffering.

Before you choose a path, you should ask yourself the most revealing question of all.

Why do I want to publish?

Writers sometimes avoid this question because it requires honesty, and honesty has never been a natural strength in this profession. Writers create characters who are honest. They themselves prefer to walk around with three different delusions at once. So let us examine the usual motives.

Reason One: I Want To Get Rich

This is charming. Sweet, even. Precious. The industry appreciates your optimism in the same way a parent appreciates a child who announces a plan to become an astronaut despite failing basic algebra. It is technically possible, but so is winning five lotteries in a row.

Traditional publishing can, in theory, produce wealth, although it often functions more like a financial escape room designed to keep you confused while you wait eighteen months for the next royalty statement. The checks do arrive, eventually, but they tend to resemble polite gratuities. The type of money someone hands you for helping them carry a couch up two flights of stairs. “Thanks for the help, buddy, here’s a fiver.”

Self-Publishing can bring in income as well, although anyone who describes the royalty structure as generous is either misinformed or attempting to sell you a course. The platform will take its percentage. The printer will take its percentage. Taxes will take their percentage. You will take the crumbs that remain and congratulate yourself for being a “published writer”.

If your goal is wealth, you might still achieve it through talent, strategy, or sheer cosmic coincidence. Just, please, don’t assume publishing is the path where it happens quickly, predictably, or with any clear sense of logic.

Reason Two: I Want My Story Out In The World

This is the first reason that exists in the realm of adulthood rather than fantasy. If what you want is for readers to actually read your work before humanity completes another rotation of the sun, Self-Publishing becomes a rational, respectable, and strangely comforting choice.

Self-Publishing allows you to place your story in the hands of real people right now. Not next year. Not after sixty rounds of submissions. Not after a chain of emails where everyone apologizes for the delay in their response time. Now… Today… This afternoon, if you have enough caffeine and working internet.

And while Self-Published earnings are rarely glamorous, the arithmetic is both simple and honest. Sell one thousand copies. Make a few dollars per book. You walk away with money that actually exists and a thousand real readers who chose your work without requiring a committee to approve it.

Traditional publishing often promises a greater reach, although the timeline is so long that by the time the book appears on shelves, you may struggle to remember who your characters are. And even with professional distribution, there is no guarantee that you will sell more copies than you would have sold independently. Some traditionally published books thrive. Some vanish quietly into the literary abyss. Most land somewhere in the vast middle where nobody is entirely sure what happened.

The Persistent Myth That Self-Publishing Is Not Real Publishing

Some people cling to this opinion with the dedication of a hobbyist conspiracy theorist. They speak with great authority about the purity of tradition. They treat gatekeeping like cardio. They reference things like prestige and legitimacy as though these concepts are tangible objects that can be held between two fingers and inspected under a microscope.

The truth is really much more simple than that. Self-Publishing is real publishing. Traditional publishing is also real publishing.

Both produce books.
Both produce authors.
Both produce occasional miracles and occasional disasters.

The idea that Self-Publishing is somehow less authentic comes from individuals who enjoy the idea of an exclusive club more than they enjoy the idea of creativity. These are the same people who say things like, “Anyone can Self-Publish.”

Yes. Anyone can. That is the entire point of a democratic system. Anyone can also audition for a talent show. That does not mean everyone will become a finalist, nor does it mean the finalists are the only people in the world with talent.

Traditional Publishing: The Clear Eyes Version

Traditional publishing offers industry reach, experienced editors, professional cover designers, marketing assistance, and a sense of validation that can silence your inner critic for at least thirty seconds. There is a thrill in receiving an offer. A professional read your work and believed in it. This is not nothing. For some writers, it’s everything.

Traditional publishing also involves a timeline that could be used to age wine. There are long waits, longer waits, and occasional periods where time stops entirely. Communication often arrives in the form of polite emails that thank you for your patience. The royalty structure operates on seasonal rhythms, and the checks are rarely surprising in a positive way, regardless of what you see on the tele or read in interviews.

Still, the appeal is clear. Partnership is appealing, and the reach is real. The structure helps shape careers, and many writers thrive here.

Self-Publishing: The Clear Eyes Version

Self-Publishing offers control. Immediate release schedules, full ownership, and direct relationships with readers. The ability to correct a typo within fifteen minutes rather than fifteen months. The chance to make decisions quickly without waiting for approvals. Transparent sales data.

The trade-off is labor. You are the marketing team, the accountant, the entire infrastructure. Every success belongs to you. Every failure also belongs to you, which is inconvenient but honest.

Royalties are not high, but they are yours. The platform will still take its cut with enthusiasm. But the process is clear and the timeline is yours to command.

A Brief and Necessary Discussion About Reviews

At this point in the publishing conversation, someone always asks a very delicate question.

What about reviews?

Writers whisper this question the same way medieval villagers whispered about curses. They act as though the traditional publishing path will protect them from criticism. They treat traditional publishing like a magical shield and self-publishing like an immediate ticket to humiliation.

Let us address this with the kind of abstract clarity usually reserved for medical charts and architectural blueprints.

Traditional publishing does not guarantee positive reviews. Self-publishing does not guarantee negative reviews.

The only true guarantee is that human readers react to books in unpredictable and occasionally baffling ways.

Some readers will like your book, maybe even love it. Some readers will react to your book as though it personally ruined their week. You could craft a sentence so lovely that bees gather to pollinate it, and someone will still insist that the pacing felt slow. This is normal, it’s expected, it’s the literary circle of life.

To illustrate this point, consider one of the most successful traditionally published novels of the modern era. The Da Vinci Code sold tens of millions of copies. It inspired films, academic debates, conspiracy theories, and an entire wave of historical thrillers. It also has an astonishing number of one-star reviews written by readers who felt personally victimized by its existence. Some people call it brilliant. Some people call it nonsense. Both groups read it, which is the entire goal.

Popularity does not protect you. Prestige does not protect you, and a book deal certainly doesn’t protect you. Reviews are not a moral referendum. They are simply the opinions of people who had access to a keyboard.

Writers sometimes imagine that self-published books face harsher criticism. This is completely wrong. Self-published books face the same criticism as every other book. Readers either connect or they do not. People don’t decide their enjoyment of a story based on the logo printed on the spine.

A traditional imprint cannot force a reader to adore your plot. A self-published listing cannot force a reader to despise your characters.

Readers enjoy what they enjoy. They dislike what they dislike. They often disagree with each other in spectacular fashion. This is why there are so many book clubs out there. Wouldn’t it be boring to sit in a club meeting where everyone agrees every time?

If you publish a book, any book, through any method, a wide variety of opinions will appear. Some will be enthusiastic. Some will be confused. Some will be written by individuals who clearly forgot to take their medication before logging on. And, believe it or not, there are people out there who just love writing negative reviews for what they believe is the fun of it.

This is freedom. This is proof that your book exists in the world. If your work collects praise and critique and the occasional baffling rant about how you personally offended someone by naming a character “Chris,” it means you achieved the thing most writers never reach.

You were read. That is the only review that truly matters.

If you get a hundred reviews, and half of them are bad, you’re doing well. On the other hand, if you get just one review that says, “This book changed my life in a positive way,” then your book has achieved its greatest potential.

So Which One Should You Choose

The right choice is the one that matches your goal. If you want structure, partners, professional scaffolding, and a slower but potentially larger reach, traditional publishing fits. If you want autonomy, immediacy, and actual readers sooner rather than later, Self-Publishing fits.

There is no lesser path. There is no superior path. There is only the path that matches your motivation.

Publishing is not destiny, it’s a choice.

The only true mistake is to leave your book trapped on your laptop, waiting for permission that no one is required to give you. Oh, and buying a hundred paper copies of your book the same day you publish it. If you have plenty of extra cash, get as many as you like, but if you’re buying them with your last few pennies, don’t.

Order a few, but cap it at say ten or twelve. See how it goes, and if you sell out, fantastic. “I’m sorry ma’am, but I’m sold out. I would be happy to take an order, or you can purchase it online,” is a perfectly acceptable response.