Self-publishing…

There was a rumor that short story collections did not sell.  You could not find a publisher to put them together, much less convince a bookstore to place them on their shelves.  An author should keep submitting stories to literary journals in the hope that one would be accepted.  There is no money to be made: it is only a way to get one’s foot in the door, because one day there will be a novel, the big thing.  Having published short stories is a way to elongate one’s resume to propel one’s first novel up the slush pile.
I have come to the realization that I just needed to get my writing out in print.  The perspective of receiving more rejection slips keeps my pen up.  After all, why should I write if I know my chances of having someone, anyone, to read the story?  I already have a number of reasons to block myself, why add this one?  It is even worse after finishing school, where at least one gets the teachers’ feedback.
Enters the Internet.  I first thought I would build a web site with paid access (for a very low fee) to stories.  I would use my programming background to devise a method of payment.  There would still be no book.
Add to this the new print-on-demand method.  An author can now put together a book and “publish” it on a web site from where readers can buy either the printed version or the PDF file.  For a low fee, it is possible to obtain an ISBN and get it on “Amazon Marketplace,” which I suppose is simply representing the vendor.
So my plan becomes:
– continue writing!
– put together my first collection, Heating Up the Fog, from my master’s thesis, and publish it; have a book to brag about at a launch party.
– set up a web site, www.heatingupthefog.com, with more stories (for free!) and cross-referring with the book.
– do fun Marketing with little cards sending people to the web site.