Feet up and a cup of tea after a hectic day at Nottingham Writer’s Conference at the impressive Portland Building at Nottingham University.  Over a hundred writers enjoyed a full day of panel discussions,  networking, catching up with old friends and making new ones.  I found the discussion on self publishing particularly interesting. The panel,  Cathy Bramley, Alan Dance, Wilf Morgan and Georgia Twynham described their journeys into self publication, the advantages of control over every aspect of book production and the disadvantages of funding and having to do everything yourself.  This does all result in a good understanding of the mechanics of the journey from manuscript to print.
The following panel was a question and answer session with leading agents, Carole Blake, Sheila Crowley and John Jarrold. The panelists gave a wide ranging and fair insight into the modern world of commercial publishing.
All of which still leaves the writer with the decision of whether to self publish or to seek a traditional publisher. My feeling is that it comes down to the individual author’s preference and, perhaps  more importantly, the nature of the project.  A paper book is expensive to produce,  store and distribute,  a project which lends itself to electronic publication tends to be less expensive per unit and may be more suitable for self publication. The paper book is,  without doubt, still the natural choice for local interest or specialist non fiction works,  for much fiction it is too expensive unless you can produce very large numbers .
Either path is equally valid, the author has to decide which one to follow.
Writing East Midlands are to be congratulated on an inspiring conference.