Self-publishing
It would be a sad world if every book was the product of a corporate process. Marketing, like art, is complicated. Publishers have their objectives, and an interesting read is only one cog in the machine they run. I can only imagine there are a lot of worthy works that never find a publisher with whom their gears will mesh. Certain words are destined to only find their way onto a bookshelf if the writer hauls it every step of the way.
No market, just charm.
Literature needs wildflowers.
They nourish bookworms.
My experience with trying to get published
My first manuscript was completed some time ago. I tried to get it published, got discouraged and put it down for a while. The benefit of a little hindsight has cast the right perspective on this effort. I see the work now as a great vehicle for exploring self-publishing. I’ve begun looking into the process. It is not cheap or easy, at least not for the uninitiated. But, it is a viable path to a bookstore for anyone and there are a lot of resources out there to help.
This page is devoted to documenting my experiences in self-publishing. See the posts below. Half of the intent is to expose myself to the process, learn the trade jargon and better equip myself to manage future manuscripts. The other half is to develop skills that I can use down the road to help other authors get published.
Chapter 1: My first manuscript
Writing Competitions
March 22, 2021
It struck me at one point to look into writing competitions. I figured if I were already writing short stories, it isn’t much more effort to submit one to a contest. It doesn’t really matter if I win anything. If I get a chance to write half as much as I plan this year, I should have a… Read More
Luminare Press
November 19, 2020
A few months ago, I found another avenue to get Three Degrees of Freedom into print. I was bumming around the internet looking at local writers’ resources when I came upon Luminare Press. They had a free e-book titled Six Steps to Successful… Read More
Hybrid Publishing
September 29, 2020
It took a long time to complete my first novel, Three Degrees of Freedom. Probably longer than it should have. Not that I regret it. I loved the process and was doing it concurrently with full time employment, an active social life and… Read More
First Impressions
September 23, 2020
Now that the first excerpt for my manuscript has been posted on this site, it is time to introduce it as a project that will be guided through the publishing process. It is a work of fiction titled Three Degrees of Freedom. It will… Read More
First Released Excerpt from Three Degrees of Freedom
September 22, 2020
The first excerpt from my manuscript for Three Degrees of Freedom is now available in a downloadable .pdf file. I am currently working to get Three Degrees of Freedom published. Most likely this is going to be done through self-publishing… Read More