Friday, October 21, 2011

Why I went Indie

The big question on most of your minds is:  Why the heck did I go Indie instead of the traditional route?

Well, I guess I can give you all the long and short of it.  The short:  I was tired of waiting and struggling, and now the long:

After college I decided that I wanted to take a jab at writing a novel and getting published.  I took a stab at an adult thriller, failed miserably, and then started on a love story about a college aged girl in the south.  This story would be My Paper Heart.

I loved my story, my beta readers loved it, but it didn't seem like a winner with agents.  Sure I got a lot of requests, but ultimatley it was turned down because of the character's age.  After entering a contest and failing miserably, I decided to start working on How to Date an Alien.

 The whole process for HTDA was much better.  My writing was better, my editing great, and my critique partners seemed to love it.  So I sent it out into the world.  Agents had contacted me and I had queried them.  With 4 fulls out, I thought 'This is it, I'm going to get an agent.'  But all those fulls ended in rejections and not even bad ones.  Infact I didn't get a single bad rejection just alot of, 'I love the story, but it's not right for my client list.'

I was totally bummed.  After spending alot of my free time querying, I decided to work on something new and bring it to my RWA meeting and that is where I met GP Ching.

She read the first chapter of a Sci-fi novel that I was working on and said, "You need to come join the Darkside."  At the time I wasn't sure, I still thought that I wanted an agent and to go for the big deal, so I talked to my husband and friends about it.

My husband point blank said, "You have been waiting years to get your book out there, why not submit to an Indie publisher?"

I thought about it.  Years of waiting and other books had been published.  Even if I did get an agent that didn't gurantee that I would even get published.  It was time to get my book out into the world and stop waiting, so I submitted to Darkside and I've never looked back.

Have you submitted to an Indie publisher or ever thought about going Indie?  Do you have any questions regarding Indie publishing?

4 comments:

  1. I'm sure you made the best decision. I've struggled with the pros and cons of both. I'm not even sure I want to attempt traditional routes. Times have changed drastically.

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  2. I'm sure you're on the right path! I've talked about my journey too, if you're interested. But most importantly: I'm participating in an Internet Book Fair (maybe you saw my post with the Indelibles?) Send me your cover/blurb/links (even if it's not out yet) and I'll include you in my 10/25 post!

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  3. The whole agent/big publisher thing is like winning the lottery. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone anymore, at least not how it's working or not working presently.

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  4. You have to do what's right for you, and it sounds like you did. Frankly I'm just excited I'll have the opportunity to read How to Date an Alien! :)

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