I want to be a published author. Like most people who write, my dream is to one day see my book on the shelves at Barnes and Noble or one the Hot 100 list on Amazon. Like most, that will likely never happen. That's the tough reality that all of us face going into this adventure. Ultimately, I will never stop writing, even if I never get published because I write for the sake of writing, NOT for the sake of being published. If you're writing solely to get published, you're writing for the wrong reasons.
I'm more than halfway done with editing my first novel worth printing. It's a long, arduous process that has been a drain on me mentally. I'm pushing over 110,000 words right now, so my biggest concern is that it's getting too long. This isn't Harry Potter. 800 pages is too much. The next task is getting published. That requires either an agent, or a publisher. How does one get an agent? They must be published. How does one get published? They need an agent. I'm sure you can see the problem.
The in between is what are called indie publisher, new agents looking to get clients, and self-publishing. Self pub is most likely out for me. It seems self-indulgent and likely a waste of time as there are literally hundreds of thousands of self published CRAP on Amazon. So, that leaves the other two. Here's the issue: Each publisher and agent has DIFFERENT submission requirements, which means if I query 20, I may very well have to use 20 different letters, synopses, and chunks of pages. And the scariest part? Most actually think they can tell whether my book is good or not in 5-10 pages. Of a 400 page book. Scary.
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