16: Self-Publishing Is Ownership, Not Vanity

16: Self-Publishing Is Ownership, Not Vanity

From For Women who Write by Mikaela Mathews

February 23, 2026 · 22 min · Season 1 · Episode 16

About this episode

Mikaela Mathews discusses the misconceptions surrounding self-publishing and advocates for author ownership.

I’ve got a pet peeve. A real, “nails on a chalkboard” kind of pet peeve. When people call self-publishing “vanity publishing,” I about jump out of my skin. Only in the literary world do we call an artist taking agency… vanity. A musician bypassing a record label? We celebrate. A filmmaker ignoring a production studio? Indie and impressive. A writer choosing not to pitch agents and self-publishing? Suddenly it’s suspect. Let’s talk about it. In this episode, I’m getting a little preachy about:...

People in this episode

Host: Mikaela Mathews

Topics covered

  • self-publishing
  • vanity publishing
  • literary agency
  • author empowerment
  • independent publishing

Keywords

  • self-publishing
  • vanity publishing
  • literary world
  • author agency
  • indie publishing

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