Da Momma

March has arrived. And it's snowing outside my window. I could lambasted this situation by hurling explicatives at the heavens, but would no nothing to influence the snow itself. I move on.

A recent comment from a fellow authoress bid me to consider venturing out on my own and self-publish my very excellent books. I am giving this some serious thought. Why?

Partly because after nearly three years of querying and receiving rejections for a genre that is a little too "fad" or marginal (I write interracial romance) for most agents; and in part because I get tired of waiting the months it takes for agents and editors to review my work. Why can't they just shove the gargantuan piles of queries aside and read mine first? Too much to ask? Really?

I believe the time has come to grab the creative bull by the horns and Kindle my way to success.

Yes, I know. There is no guarantee that success will fall into my lap--but if I seize it, hold it in my clutches, never let it go--yes, that's it... I...

Oops. Sorry. Don't know what came over me. Ahem!

Yes, self-publishing. It seems like a quick fix and a whole lot of work. Then there is the marketing, the need to get the word out in order to stand out. Internet access, blogs, book signings, media outreach; yep, a whole lot of work.

I could just wait and allow time to be my best friend. An agent does the footwork of getting the book sold to a publisher. The publisher does the leg work of formatting, printing and binding, or formatting and uploading, and some marketing. There's contracts all along the way, which nibbles at the take home revenue, but hey, they have to make a living, too. Right?

With that in mind, the thought of self-publishing look ever more appealing. After all, I believe in my work. I want the public to have access to it, I don't mind working for my success--not one bit!

Perhaps it is best to consider entrepreneurship, self-determination, and grabbing that bull.

And I've wrestled with enough bulls on this publishing quest to know enough to watch out for those horns!