It might be right for you. Or it might not. I’ve posted some considerations over at Smash Cut Culture.

Here’s the beginning:

The short answer is yes, you should start getting your work out there and building an audience. This applies not only to novelists, but musicians, filmmakers, theatre artists—all creative fields.

But let’s focus on books. That’s what I’ve been doing lately.

Advances in technology mean we don’t have to follow the conventional wisdom of decades ago. Traditional publishers are still relevant, important, and deserving of respect, but they don’t have to be the sole gatekeepers of the literary world. Readers can do an excellent job of that, too.

If you’re a writer who yearns for a career in fiction, self-publishing should be your proving grounds. Show the world you’re capable of developing a professional-quality work, and demonstrate the thick skin of letting readers form their own opinions about it. Make connections with other authors, and conduct yourself as a professional.

But becoming a self-published author is not for everyone. Here are just a few considerations, and this list is by no means exhaustive:

Read the rest, please…

Several years ago, I was hanging out with some friends at the International House of Pancakes in Williamsburg, Virginia, and they asked what I had done at work recently.

I answered, “An Episcopalian church had a ‘Blessing of the Clowns’ service for National Clown Week, so I covered that.”

They couldn’t tell if I was being serious or sarcastic.

“Yes, National Clown Week is a real thing. Richard Nixon signed it into law in the ‘70s.”

That didn’t help.

It wasn’t sarcasm. There is indeed such a holiday as National Clown Week, and it’s observed the first week of each August. Continue reading →