I talk to a lot of writers every week who are not getting their publishing needs met. I can summarize a writer's needs with a fair amount of accuracy after 18-years of being in the biz.
The number one author need is: Validation. Every author needs to know that their content is meaningful, stylish, potent, subtle, well crafted...the list goes on.
The number one author need is: Do the work of publishing and selling for me, I want to go back and write some more. The POD revolution that is blowing like a blizzard across the publishing landscape is short circuiting the author need to go back and write. In the last five years I've heard many, many, many "authors" complain about having to market and promote their POD released title. Presumptious as it may be, I think it is a fairly obvious and fairly accurate conclusion to make when I assume that the need POD publishing is not meeting is the author's need to be heard.
Writing is a solitary pursuit. Every writer needs to, every once in a while, come out of the "cave," look around, see if anyone's awake and willing to listen to, read, or look at what they've created. One of the troubles with POD publishing is that the writer has to pretty much abandon the cave and go trudging about the wide, wild, wicked, world begging ingrates to please, please, please take even a passing glance at his/her creation. Few writers enjoy this process. Those that do are probably marketers and publicists at heart. God bless 'em. They'll sell as many books as their heart desires. The writer, meanwhile, is left pretty much alone, pretty much wandering around with a dazed look on their troubled faces, repeatedly asking themselves in a hushed monotone, "What am I going to do with all these books?" God bless 'em. My heart breaks for them. I know they started out with high hopes and when I see them clobbered on the side of the road like a road killed deer, I feel their pain.
One thing I can tell these poor unfortunates is: All is not lost. You can leave the creation in the ditch and go back to the cave and start healing yourself by returning to the joy of writing. It is a good thing to have learned that you're not a marketer, a publicist, a huckster, a hypester, a hamster. Don't dispair. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, abandon the futility and pursue the life within, the writing life. It is still there, an ember, waiting to be fanned back to life. Don't delay. Life is short. Get back to what you love and leave the publishing to trained professionals because publishing and selling books is a nasty, ugly, dirty, tooth and nail, bare knuckle fight for writers. But, for people who love the down and dirty, grit and grime, daily wrestling match that is publishing, life is grand; life is, for people who relish a good sporting commercial and cultural brawl, exciting, rewarding, and satisfying. If, as a writer, you have the good fortune of landing your creation into the lap of an enthused commercial brawler, you are most blessed.
If, on the other hand, you are an "author" (You may have noticed my subtle distinction in the paragraphs above) POD publishing, marketing and promotion may meet your need to be up on the podium, in front of the audience, standing on the corner handing out flyers describing your most recent scintillating product. Think about the distinction between being a writer and an author. It may prove beneficial. It may meet a few of your basic needs to know the difference between the two and you may become a happier writer, or author, as a result.
Oh, and one more thing. I think it's poor form to pitch your POD/self published book to a publisher. It's like asking us to pick the road kill up out of the ditch and to make a delicious meal from the remains. Now, I grant you, an outstanding publisher like Savage Press could probably make a feast out of a fiasco, but, I believe, most publishers would not see it as a joyful pursuit.
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