If you can't get a publisher to accept your book, then it just isn't worth publishing. A well known author made this comment (not word for word) at a writer's conference I attended recently. This comment left me thinking about my options.
Then another author said that the wave of the future is self publishing. He cannot understand how traditional publishing companies are not better preparing themselves for this new trend.
All week I was absorbing and listening to the advice of many. Many people from traditional publishing houses, from vanity press publishing houses and from self published authors. By day three of the conference, my head felt like exploding.
I had started the conference with questions. Do I need/want an agent? Do I try to pitch my novel with a traditional publishing house? What do I need to do next with my second and third novels? How do I go from here? While the publishing company I signed up with for The Goblet did a great job of editing, the book cover and the book trailer, I have not had much contact with them lately. It seems like I have fallen through the cracks because my book has not taken off in sales. I have been left alone with the marketing of The Goblet.
I did get valuable advice from several workshops at the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writer's Workshop. I did learn several items on improving my writing skills. I also did learn several valuable options on marketing which I am now trying to implement. But I have been left on my own for all of the marketing.
After listening to all the advice and culling through it, I am fairly determined that I will self publish my next book. The top piece of advice that I came away with on self publishing is to not skimp on the editing. Get a good editor. Also, Amazon's self publishing company does offer the best value and the best resources for self publishing. All I need to do right now, is go back through my second novel, use the tools I have learned and then look for a good editor. Then onwards, tally ho!
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