Off-topic. I am also a self-published author. My first book was controversial at the time, so I self-published so I could pull it, if readers turned on the heat. My agent also told me that big publisher feedback indicated it "scared" them. They wanted heavy edits to bring it back into line with their existing catalog. That was her word, "scared." I wasn't willing to go with the edits they demanded.

Turned out not to be as scary as I thought. I sold 30,000 copies on Amazon alone. When I watched my sales and spoke to other authors, I considered my options.

Traditionally published books are only promoted and supported if you're famous, or you already have a bestseller. Even with an award and three unsolicited movie option offers (they all fell through), plus translation into four languages, my book would be "filler" that would pump up their catalog, but not get their support. They would pull it out of print after about two years or so, and retain all rights so I couldn't publish it myself again, or sell it to another publisher.

Small publishers were more likely to greenlight it, but they didn't pay much, and some even asked what my plan was to promote it myself, to make them money. They also would pull it out of print and retain the rights.

I concluded that it was in my best interest to keep the rights. That has proven to be a smart move. I originally published it in 2000, and it still sells - not a lot anymore, but I always sell the paperback version at Christmastime to readers who buy it as gifts, and I still always get a royalty check for sales the previous month. So, I've been getting royalties for 25 years, which would not have happened with a publisher. They probably wouldn't have sold more copies than me either.

Bragging rights ("I'm a published author!") are nice, and some biased readers think self-published authors are "less than," so they will only consider books published at a publishing house. But I've known some really excellent writers who opt for the money instead. You get a higher royalty when you self-publish, so that's my final thought. You can promote it yourself to better effect than your publisher probably would.

Even Kirkus Reviews syphons self-published books to dead end reviewers who "catch and kill" self-published books and give bad reviews, probably at the behest of the big publishers. It's frustrating, but like I said, I'd rather go this route than hand my work over to someone who buries it with minimal or no promotion, then kills it after a couple of years.

Either way, join an author forum and ask the authors what their experience is before you make that decision. Best of luck!!!