Publishing
Do you intend to self-publish or use the traditional route to publish your novel?
I have always defended the traditional route, but I am now more inclined to self-publish, because the odds are stacked against the would-be author.
However, I will exhaust the traditional route to test the water, before I turn to Plan-B.
I have one self-pub and one small-press trad. It seems to me whichever route you travel, the level of promotion you're able to achieve will define how successful you are. And that depends both on the popularity of your subject/genre and your publisher.
Apart from increased paperback sales, I can't see any big advantage to using a small press publisher at the moment, given the control one signs away. Of course that may be unfair - I always thought I'd have to have 5 or 6 books out there so see any real sales volumes, but I guess we live in hope! The Trad production is generally better than I could have achieved myself and the book went through an external edit, whereas I'd have self-edited if I was also publishing. But promotion? I'd give it a 'vaguely disappointing'. And 'vaguely' because if there was any they never told me about it.
I always wanted to be traditionally published but right now I'm considering going back to self-pub for my third story. Anyone else have a similar experience?
I like you want to give the traditional rout a good try before resorting to the self-publishing method. The thought that someone may WANT to publish my work is the part that thrills me, if I may use that term without sounding like a five year old.
Regards and good luck Adrian.