A need to protect? Not so much.

It’s more a need to educate.

Apparently some people confuse a desire to ‘discuss’ things or a desire for more ‘education’ with a desire to ‘coddle’.  FYI, really, I’m not a coddler.  Ask my kids, and if I’d coddle anybody?  It would be them-love them more than anybody and anything, and I do my best to protect and care for them.  But I know they are sometimes going to trip, they’ll fall, and when I see it happening, I don’t immediately leap to kiss their every bruise.  If they get up on their own, they are fine.  Falling is how people learn.

But another way people learn?

Education.

And if people don’t openly discuss what they know and what they’ve learned?  Harder for those who haven’t had the experiences to get educated.

Before I quit working full time to write, I was a nurse.  One thing nurses are all about is education.  We’re all about education, we’re all about advocacy, and it’s kind of hard for anybody to make educated choices if the info they need to make those educated choices isn’t always easy to find.

Anybody who has ever done a search on “How many books can the self-published author expect to sell?” is going to realize pretty damn quick that info isn’t all that easy to find.

Zoe Winters posted that:

hehe Shiloh! I think one of the big problems is that there doesn’t seem to be a “lot” of really reliable places self-pubbing authors (or those who are thinking about that) can go for information, that’s legit.

And I can’t say she’s wrong.

So I like to offer my opinions, my viewpoints, and some info I dig up on the web… and I’m to be fussed at for ‘protecting’ people?

I’m curious.  When was it a bad thing for people to educate themselves?

It’s not.  It’s never a bad idea for people to see mutltiple sides of ANY scenario. Now if somebody researches AuthorSolutions/Dellarte/AuthorHouse, if they get their facts, get their info, make an informed decison and they still decide that AuthorSolutions/Dellarte/AuthorHouse is the best choice for them?  Hey.  Go for it.

There are other options.  I would think a wise writer would want to research, to know all their options.

And I want to make noteagain I’ve got no problems with self publishing-the kind where the writer might very well front all the money, and all the risks, but also keeps all the profits.  It can be a dicey, risky road and it can be a costly one, deciding on the route, but if a writer wants to it?  That’s their call.  But if they are going to front the money and the risk, then I really think they should keep the profits, too.  That’s kind of the basis behind ‘self publishing.’