Mystery fans are the truest critics of the genre. We have read so many mysteries that we could probably write one in our sleep. So why not write one? Many mystery fans do, and the ones who self-publish can face the hardest route of all.

(I loosely define “self-publishing” as having printed one’s book with a fee-charging press rather than being paid by a publisher for the rights to print one’s book.)

On the one hand, the self-published authors experience the exhilaration of the entrepreneur. They publish with no compromises. They decide the title and cover art – not some marketing department. They keep the story true to their own inner vision. They don’t have to negotiate with editors seeking to shape the book towards the latest market-research trend. Once they earn back their initial cost, they get to keep all the profits.

The downside involves competing with the big publishers for the public’s attention. No one can create a beautiful book like a big-name publisher can. We readers tend to be aesthetic snobs, ogling the award-winning cover art and fingering the heavy-weight paper and even inhaling the crisp scent of the pages.

By contrast, the self-published book can seem shoddy. Many are filled with typos. Readers think, “This isn’t a real book.” That is if readers notice the self-published book in the first place.

The self-published authors of nonfiction sometimes find success on the strength of their topic. But the self-published fiction authors face the toughest road of all. They must convince readers to buy an unknown and “nonessential” story, a bit of escapism, that looks cheaper but has the same price as the average best-seller. Often self-published authors have been rejected by all the big-name publishers. They believe in their work enough to back it with their own money, and push it into print. That takes a lot of courage.

Why read a self-published mystery? It can get you away from the sometimes over-processed fiction from the big-name publishers. Also, you may just run across the next big talent early in his or her career. In addition, the self-published mystery can show you through its own construction what you could be capable of when you write your mystery novel!

For those considering self-publishing, I’ve included some links at the bottom of this article. The offsite one is to the “Writer Beware” spot on the website of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Since 1998, “Writer Beware” has alerted new writers of ALL types of fiction to questionable agents, publishers, and other sharks in the literary sea waiting to take advantage of the unsuspecting. Do your research and take care when you start your self-publishing adventure.