New Book, New Decisions: anything can happen!

My new book comes out TODAY and I am super excited. (shameless plug: you can get it here) This publication means more to me than the other two because it marks a major decision in my life. I’ve decided not to do the traditional market…and to be okay with that. It was tough to give up the kid dream of agents and publishing houses, but I started to question if that dream was actually beneficial. I don’t think deciding on publishing independently should be taken lightly. It’s a lot of work and responsibility. However, there are three reasons why I chose this route.

1. I’m tired of playing the game. Publishing houses and agents are overwhelmed with queries. They have to weed through the slosh pile of people who don’t do their research and basically spam them. I can see why. I once had a woman say for a not-so-small fee she could query at least 40 publishing houses. My response was that I could, too, but would it be meaningful? 

I sympathize with them. And I know they can’t figure out if I am one of those spammers, but when I do my research and send out query letters with absolutely no response, there is something wrong. I simply got tired of playing. I got tired of sending things out with not even a standard rejection. I got tired of getting nibbles and then hearing nothing after. I just got tired of fighting. 

2. The writing community is filled with authors who have taken their beatings and then made it big. Stephen King was rejected 40 times before Carrie was published. But, I found myself starting to doubt. I started listening to the critique groups filled with other writers proclaiming their opinions were valid. I started listening to my own criticism that maybe I wasn’t cut out for this. I started to forget why I liked to write in the first place. The reason was simple: without readers, I was left to listen to only the negative.

3. My main reason is I wanted get back to writing and sharing. I wanted to move forward and not remain stagnant. I didn’t want to play politics. I just wanted to write. 

The book industry is changing dramatically, but there is one thing that stays constant: it’s hard to get noticed. I think it is even harder today with so many platforms. Yet, I choose not to see this as a death sentence to my “possible” career—or even giving up on my dream of stardom.

Instead, I look forward to the control. I look forward to the adventure. But, I am moving with my eyes open to reality. I don’t expect the fairy tale ending, but I think I am happy with sharing my stories with others. That’s what this is really about. Where it goes from there is totally open.

So, I hope you all enjoy the novel. I certainly enjoy releasing it to you!