An Author is an Author by Any Other Name

So you've finished your manuscript. You immediately run to the bookstore to buy the latest copy of Writer's Market. After spending a ton of money and time on stamps and writing e-mails and letters; all you have to show for it are a dozen rejection form letters (when you had originally sent out a hundred queries) and a heavy heart.

Somehow, you know your book is decent enough to be read by the masses. You don't feel like killing yourself to obtain an agent, but you don't seem to have the luck or timing to get your foot in the door. It's then that you hear about a literary miracle--self-publishing.

Whether you decide to pay hundreds of dollars for the service, or you find a company with lenient publishing guidelines; within months, you are thrilled just to be holding the finished product in your hands. It might even be listed all over the internet. When you've humbly signed all the copies your friends and family purchased, the reality begins to set in--"How do I sell this book?".

You feel your book is just as good as any other 'Barbara Kingsolver's' out there, but their publicists are no where to be found when you need them. Never mind your book's cover isn't as well-designed, and though you have a stellar plot, your grammar and editing leaves much to be desired. In any case, it's time to set out on the path of promotion.

National advertising is way out of your price league, so going local is the next best (and only) thing. You write up press releases announcing your new book, and send them out to your area newspapers; only to receive no answer at all or those such as, "Sorry, we get too many of these to publish" or, "We can't endorse your book"--all ultimately ending up with the phrase, "You'll have to buy an ad if you want to be in our paper" (at a hefty price, I might add).