On publishing fiction

I have been observing the fiction publishing field for a while now, with a mixture of incredulity, hilarity and despair. Just as I think that things can't get any worse, events prove me wrong. My initial book-publishing experiences were in the non-fiction field, which is by comparison boringly predictable and straightforward. This did not prepare me for the game of chance (with the deck heavily loaded against the author) which the hopeful novelist has to enter. I have been more of an observer than a participant in this, because for my first novel I made only a brief attempt to have it traditionally published before time pressure (there was a particular deadline I wanted to hit) caused me to switch to self-publishing. That proved successful for me, so I took the same route with my second novel. However, I am very much aware that self-publishing has problems and disadvantages as well - they're just different from those of traditional publishing. I decided to put my experiences (plus those of others) and thoughts down in the form of an article 'On publishing fiction' on my website. This has been updated several times as new information emerges, and is still a 'work in progress' - you can read it here: http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk/OnPublishingFiction.htm