Sue Grafton the respected crime writing novelist once described self publishing "as admitting you're too lazy to do the hard work." She described it as taking a shortcut, and that writing is an art, and "there are no shortcuts in the arts."

As a self published author I respectfully disagree with this. Yes you can can argue that by paying to become published you decided not to wait for agents or a publisher to pick up your work, but to say we are too lazy to do the hard work is simply not true.

If anything the work is harder when you "self publish. The author is responsible for everything concerning his or her work. Among this is the editing, (you must pay if you want a professional editor and not everyone can afford this)the promotion of the book. (the author is solely responsible for spreading the word to anyone from book stores, and readers)

Everyone's situation is different we know that. And yes people have different ways of viewing self publishing. But to say it's a lazy way of publishing is not fair at all. I can't speak for everyone who chose to self publish their work, but I chose to go that route because I believed in my work, and I wanted it to be out there.

With so many authors trying to become published today, more and more are choosing this option. I know how hard it is to become published by a traditional publishing company, but I have not given up my dream of doing this one day.

Perhaps it is fair to say that self-publishing is a easy way to become published. But it is certainly not a lazy one unless the author is too lazy to do the work involved. For me it's a challegne indeed, but as I slowly build a fan base, I don't regret doing it.