On the one band, I totally agree with you. On the other hand, for years the truth for first-time authors who go the traditional route had been:
- Write book
- Find a publisher
- ???
- Profit!
Over and over again, agents and publishers tell writers they want books which already have a “platform” – an existing fan base for the writer, who are eager for a book to be published. The easiest examples are the “blog books” where material already published on a blog is edited and added to, then sold in book form.
First-time, no-name authors are expected to foot the bill for and do all their own publicity, even with a publishing contract. You get the benefit of saying you’re being published by a known entity, but that’s about it.
As far as getting in bookstores goes: a lot of the major bookstores don’t even put out copies of all the books they carry. I’ve sent clerks to the back storage room more than once for a book I wanted that per the web site the store had 20 copies of. They did – in the back room. Not very good for discoverability.
And if you need to do all that yourself, paying for an editor and cover designer so you can self-publish doesn’t seem like that much extra work. And if you’ve had to do it once, you may as well apply all the skills and contacts you’ve collected to the next book too.
