I'm dithering a bit, pondering all the this-and-thats, and

all the hems-and-haws and shill-I-shall-I, that (for me at least) are conspiring to keep me hesitating to pull the trigger on an e-publication. Having said that, I don't know what-all is really holding me back. I have a wee collection of stories, more or less concocted precisely for the purpose of putting out as a "loss leader" - something to put on the shelf, more as a means of having a "real" tangibility to deal with in the toe-dipping trial phase of looking up the details of a new venture.

The whole notion of e-publication is exciting: I really want to participate in the "democratization" of publishing. I really would like to get my writing out for a taste of what the greater public's response (or not, which will be telling too) will be. And I've also pretty much convinced myself that at this stage of my life I don't have what it takes to pursue the "conventional" avenues of sending query letters to agents, or magazines (in the case of short stories) of any of that bullshit. If I'm going to do that, then I'm right back in the mode of "doing stuff I don't want to do for some purpose other than the joy of the actual work at hand." My "work at hand" needs to be writing, for the next (last) five, ten, fifteen, twenty or however many more lucid years I'm blessed with. All that other crap is diversionary bullshit - I'm not contemplating a joyful entry into the book publishing business. I don't need to make a living at writing, but it would be very nice to generate some attention, some buzz, and a few bucks here and there are a means of keeping score, I guess.

It appears to me that between them, B&N and Amazon are doing their damnedest to make it irresistible for an independent, unknown writer to publish his or her own works, and widely, and at no real risk or expense. I'm trying very hard to find a downside, and if I don't come up with one soon, I'm a goner, and will be a published ("e-published" I guess, I'm still antsy about "self-published") author.

"Somebody stop me!"