As I was finishing my book, I begin to troll around for publishers and agents. It was something I have done sporadically over the years, happily imagining I would be able to publish and receive adoring fame overnight if I just found the right publishing or agent willing to go out on a limb for me. But as the years rolled on, and as my writing improved, more and more doors opened to get a book published using various means. As I got to the end, I realized after many nights reading agent blogs, seeing inquires mount and mount, and exactly what publishers were looking for. I woke up to the fact that I was not going to find publisher or agent. My novel was too unique.

So, I thought back to those friends, who had written and published a novel. Each did it a different way, and none were wrong.

The first friend had found an agent, published his novel, and generated the most sells. However, as he worked on writing his subsequent novels his agent and publisher took more control over what he wrote. While he made money from his work, he had to be very observant over what his publisher and agent expected of him. This relationship made writing more of a guessing game, because let’s face it, it is impossible to predict what people will read. He never quit his day job, but made some money. Often writing for hire, rather than writing for pleasure.

The second friend found a nice small publisher willing to publish his work. No agent was needed. Yet, he had to sell and market his own work. It was a unique work, written about what he found interesting, and was difficult to pigeon-hole into any genre. He designed the cover even! He gave his novel to friends to read and indie book stores to sell, and tried to create buzz. He made very little money, but people read his books and were impressed that he was a writer.

The third friend wrote a great novel, after many years and sought out an agent and publisher. He got a great offer to publish his book, but it fell after he sought out a better offer from another publisher. The manuscript fell into the cracks, and was not published. For many years it sat around collecting dust, and he decided to self-publish the book. He had total control of the cover, and marketing the book. He made very little money, but people read his book, and it was no longer collecting dust on his desk.

When I thought about which path to take, I was not thinking about just making money, but producing a novel that I would want to read. I wanted to publish the novel so that people would enjoy it. So I self-published the book, stuck the kindle version with the lowest price, and hope that people will discover the book and read it. Check it out for yourself for only 99 cents…(link to my amazing novel)