Thanks to Chris the Story Reading Ape for making this terrific Jane Friedman article available! I’m closing in on the decision as to whether to self-publish or go the traditional route with a small press, so this article is a godsend!

In my annual chart,The Key Book Publishing Paths, there is one column that is most vexing and problematic for writers to navigate: small publishers.

Into this category falls some of the most prestigious publishers you can imagine, that can boast of New York Times bestsellers, and that writers dream of working with.

But it also includes publishers that started up last year out of someone’s home office, run by people who may not know anything more about the publishing industry than you do.