It hurts me to ask that question, but after reading this article in USA Today, I must. I’ve dreamed of having an agent to work with. He or she would work hard toward finding a publisher, and on the happy day the manuscript is sold, the team would expand to include an editor and the publishing team. This is where the dream bubble pops, however. From everything I have heard, and please correct me if I’m mistaken, the budget for marketing my book will be virtually zero, and I’ll receive no assistance or support in doing so, which means I’ll have to sell the book myself. I’ve heard that a publisher can get my book into a national chain of bookstores, but that just means my book will be placed on the shelf with 500 other new ones that month, and if it doesn’t sell like gangbusters, Barnes and Noble will pack it up and send it back in about six weeks. Then I will have a black mark on my marketability scorecard when I attempt to publish future books. Wouldn’t it be smarter for me to go this self-publishing (or E-publishing) route, see how I do, make a few bucks, celebrate with my friends and family, and try to build on that success for future books? Would anybody care to weigh in?