A little more than two years ago, soon after I finished my first draft of Flagrant Foul, I did essentially what most aspiring writers did. I searched around the Internet seeking contact information for literary agents. And I was on my way, armed with e-mail addresses, an e-mail query and some sample chapters.
I get it. You’re going to hear a lot of rejection. It comes with the territory. But after some thought, I began to wonder if it was really worth my while to send out inquiry after inquiry to no avail. Most of the inquiries I either never heard any kind of response or received the boilerplate “Sorry. This isn’t a match. Good luck with your future endeavors” letter.
So last year, instead of wasting time trying to gain notice among the sea of manuscripts, I went solo, posted Flagrant Foul on Lulu.com, converted that and Dilemma into Kindle books, and started jumping on every social network I could think of.
OK, I have no book sales, electronic or otherwise. I’m struggling to find an identity and key demographic and I’m suffered from an ugly case of writer’s block that has kept me from finishing Stories from the Forester: Volume 1.
But it’s out there. Had I went the literary agent route, there’s a good chance nobody would have ever known that I had written anything.
The choice is yours. We all go our different paths. I’m not sorry I went mine.
You never know, though. Perhaps I’ll let a stray inquiry letter loose in the future.
What’s also important is that you haven’t given up. Even after no sales, you still show a sense of enthusiasm. Keep up the good work and your time will come!
As always, Shannon, thanks for the encouragement! I hope that you’ve been successful with your writing!