With self publishing the eternally tempting easy road traditional or e-publishing's difficulties seem more and more pointless. They are not. Self-publishing is expensive, time consuming and more often than not you only get pennies in return.

So we jump through the hoops. This publisher wants submissions one way, that one an entirely different way. This pub accepts simultaneous submissions, that one won't even open your email if they don't have exclusive say for months. Wait 30 days for a reply, only 14 days here, up to 60 from us, etc, etc, etc and even when you do get a reply they want changes, always different changes, and throw more hoops your way.

In my current quest to bring A Girl Named Flower to you all I've been told to give up on Brooke's Hollow, that the book "isn't marketable to our readers" (understandable from that pub), and I've even been totally ghosted. Yep, they wanted changes, we discussed it for a couple days, I made changes, they said it wasn't enough, I asked for examples, they promised them within a week and never replied again. It's been almost 2 months and I consider them to have dropped me.

It's a rough process. One full of waiting, bitter rejections and self doubt. It is certainly the furthest thing from fun a writer can experience but it's worth it. Not just to bring a professionally published book to market or to get better sales. It's worth it because the struggle makes you a better author (all those changes are practice), it builds contacts and a professional reputation (how you handle applications and rejections) and it develops character. Being told that you're not good enough, that this book you've worked so hard on isn't worthy and to soldier on because you believe in it.

It's a long, hard road but, then, it is down those roads that the best stories are found.