When the question of self-publishing comes up in my undergraduate fiction writing classes, I usually say that it's only a viable path if the writer is also a designer, editor, publicist, distributor, etc. That is, a self-published author needs to be able to do at least five jobs brilliantly, instead of just the one—writing. Given my lack of expertise/instinct in those other areas of book production, I'm super fortunate to be with a publishing company that puts a crew of creat