Publishing
Exclusive or everywhere is often framed as a strategy question, but it usually feels more personal than that. You are not just choosing a platform. You are choosing which readers you are prepared not to reach.
That seems like the awkward bit people skip over. The numbers matter, of course, but so does the shape of the audience you are willing to lose in exchange for the one you keep.
Publishing decisions have a habit of sounding principled when they are really practical, or practical when they are really emotional. Probably both, if we are being honest.
That seems like the awkward bit people skip over. The numbers matter, of course, but so does the shape of the audience you are willing to lose in exchange for the one you keep.
Publishing decisions have a habit of sounding principled when they are really practical, or practical when they are really emotional. Probably both, if we are being honest.
The part people skip is that “reach” is not a neutral number. It’s usually someone else’s storefront, someone else’s rules, and someone else’s memory of what you said. That matters more than the tidy little spreadsheet version of the choice.
Sometimes the real question is whether you want distribution, or whether you want to keep enough control that the work still feels like yours.
Sometimes the real question is whether you want distribution, or whether you want to keep enough control that the work still feels like yours.