Let's say that you are still on the fence of publishing traditionally or going on your own. Obviously, there are pros and cons either way (that is not the point of this post). In any case, you have a story that is finished and it is pretty dang good. You have gotten some good feedback from critique groups and beta readers, but for some reason, it has not gotten any significant traction with the editors and agents.
So...
You decide to throw caution to the wind and self-publish it. Of course, you still have it out there with some editors and agents. Hey, you have heard that they take previously published works, right?
Now, here is where it gets sticky (or could get sticky).
If you come to me, for example, and you tell me the work is self-published, I want to know your sales numbers, AND more importantly, I want to know ALL of the people you have attempted to send it to. See, here is the problem. If you have already sent it to specific publishers, and they rejected your story. that bridge is now burned. If your sales figures suck, that is telling me that your story might not be good. Sure, you may tell me it is marketing, but let's look at the optics. You have sent it to a lot of editors and agents who have passed on it, AND you have not tried to sell it on your own and your sales numbers are ugly???? You have heard the phrase? "If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck????"....
Here is another scenario. Let's say you do start the process of self-publishing, get the ISBN but never actually follow through. IF an editor now is considering your book, things get a little sticky because now they see the book is already published. Having to work through the logistics if they want to sign you to a contract, especially if you are not strong on publishing contracts can get pretty dang ugly.
Look, it doesn't matter what you do. Just think. That temptation may be too great and exciting. I just don't want it to bite you in the butt later.
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