Self Publishing - the easy way?

Thinking about it, there is another reason to get an agent which I have not mentioned.

For some background, my first set of books were small press/self-published. This was a deliberate choice and an agent or publishing house was never considered, since in that niche everyone is. Entry is set-up your imprint, set up your ISBN, get books printed and you're in. A few years back before I was involved, all it took was a stapler and photocopier. My first book sold out two runs - about 600 books total even though frankly on a re-read it needs work. Later ones did better: 200 in one convention was our record.

So why don't I do this again? Self-publishing is easier now. Create an account with lulu, upload your Word file and done. Anyone can do it.

Except that's not right.

Anyone can do it badly. To do it properly you need a team:
A proof-reader - and not you! Authors normally miss their own errors.
An editor - I had two, who also contributed to the writing, while I edited them.
An designer or typesetter - to make sure the book is actually readable.
An illustrator - If you are illustrating a book then get a pro.
A printer - obviously!
A distributor - we got lucky and signed up with two.
A marketer - this was just us and a set of forums.

So why, with some small publishing success, do I want to go for an agent and a publishing house? To be honest because small press publishing done properly is a lot of work. It took nearly a year for that first book to go from concept to book to market.

And on consideration I want to write books, not do the support and logistics to print, distribute and market them. Let that be someone else's job, not only because they can do it as well as me, but because they can do it a whole lot better! Meanwhile I'll get back to what I am good at: writing.

Of course, I still own the imprint, the remains of my sheet of ISBNs, the printing gear and have access to my distribution network, so if I don't find an agent it might not be the end of the world... Just more work!