It's a bitch. On the one hand I know a few people who are making 10-20k a month self-publishing. I'm aware that a "Reddit audience" exists for anything I write (ahh, but how big is it? And how much do they care?). I'm aware that going through Kindle on my own will make me 33 cents on the dollar, while going through Penguin will make me ten. I'm in the best possible shape to self-publish, considering everything. On the other hand I have the endorsement and the enlisted help of a NYT bestselling author. I have a friend whose wife sold "Devil Wears Prada" and five or six similar-sized books and projects. I have had contacts with publishers and agents at obscenely high levels compared to anyone else on this journey and I recognize that "bidding war" trumps the shit out of "nickels and dimes through Amazon." I recognize that it is a deeply enviable position. I also recognize that I need a book first, so I'm focusing on "writing it" rather than "selling it."