<p>i am going to be a senior next year and one of my passions that I will write about to colleges is writing in general. I love to write poems, short stories, etc, and recently have completed a multi-chapter novel.</p>
<p>i have been thinking about getting it published either by self-publishing or regular publishing-company publishing. If i do manage to get it published, i want to choose the path that universities will think is more impressive. Which option do you think looks most attractive to colleges? or does it even matter? Some people have told me that self-publishing a novel shows as much determination as printing it through an established publisher.</p>
<ul>
<li>legion</li>
</ul>
<p>Self-publishing is pretty much not published. Anyone can self-publish anything. No one has to approve it or invest in it except yourself. By sending it to a website to get it printed and bound, you're just prettying it up. Technically, we're publishing our thoughts right here on this forum by pressing “post”. Easy.</p>
<p>Publishing through a real publisher is difficult and would be seen as very impressive. Best of luck!</p>
<p>Go the traditional route of publishing.
Sure, you may not be guaranteed to be published, but it's a far better investment to spend money on envelopes and mailing and possibly get an advance or at least some advice that will help you if you decide to send out something else for publishing than it is to self-publish and spend money you're likely not going to make back.</p>
<p>Or at least that's my opinion. I'd really recommend just making internet searches about self-publishing and traditional publishing for a short time each day for a little, draw up a list of pros and cons of each along the way, and decide for yourself. Take into consideration time, costs, quality of the published material, and anything else that seems important to you when you start to look at the methods you can use to get your words out there.</p>
<p>traditional role, like they said anyone can self publish</p>
<p>bump</p>
<p>and also I wanted to know if publishing a real book will put me above the bar of the "average applicat" in colleges eyes, and if so, how much impressed will they be.</p>