A: It doesn’t really matter that it’s Amazon: it’s still traditional publishing, albeit with a publishing house that has exceptional insight into what sells books on the biggest online bookstore in the world. So we’re talking things like editorial and cover design you don’t have to cough up cash for, an advance on royalties, and promotions (on Amazon sites) that you wouldn’t have access to otherwise. I know writers who have enjoyed incredible self-published success and then signed deals with Amazon Publishing, and the thing is, Amazon know just how successful these writers are – they know that they don’t strictlyneed Amazon Publishing – and so they offer advances and promise benefits that are of real value in order to be, for the author, the better option. So if you were offered a deal with Amazon Publishing, I’d say: definitely, take it!

But there’s the thing: your options aren’t self-publish or publish with Amazon Publishing. They have to come to you. They have to bestow upon you the magical “Yes”. And that’s just the situation we’re trying to avoid, is it not? Waiting by the phone? Being entirely dependent on someone else to make our writing dreams come true? So I wouldn’t worry too much about it. If they come calling, we can worry about it then. In the meantime, let’s get on with the business of self-publishing…