Another Alternative to Publishing

I would absolutely love to be published.  In fact, I dream and hope that it will happen one day.  And I know you have to take a chance sometime.  But...

It takes so LONG! Usually one to three months to get a query reply - a query is a letter you send to the publisher asking if they'd be interested - and then the next step is sending your manuscript.  To get a reply to that is usually three to six months.  And even if you get approved after that, it usually takes a year for your book to be actually released into the big wide world.

And I'm thinking, "By that time, little ol' Torn Heart won't be my best! I'll have moved on and I won't be proud of selling it or talking about it anymore." I'm pumped up about it now, and so is my family.  So we've decided on self-publishing.  

-- My Pros For Self-Publishing --

1. Speed.  As I said before. 

2.  Control.  We'll have a lot more control over how we want the format of the book, what the cover looks like, etc.  

3.  Advertising.  I'll be the one advertising my book!  Some people would view this as a con, and in a way it is... but I think it will be way more fun to sell my book myself.  Of course, we'll have to buy the copies and work to make up what we spent, but I think we can do it. 

-- My Big Con for Self-Publishing -- 

1.  Less Publicity.  This is what I don't like at all.  Advertising myself may be more fun, but I can't go everywhere.  In fact, I probably won't leave my state, which means...difficulties.  There's a slight chance that my book might be picked up by a publisher-connected person, but that's a very slight one.  Like...very slight.  The author of the Inheritance series (Eragon) spend a whole year traveling around the U.S. promoting his novel.  Yeah, I'm the oldest of five children - that's not going to happen.  And since my barely-57,00-words-novel is not in style like the big, chunky, multiple book series are...*sniffs* (That's a pretty sensitive subject with me - the length of Torn Heart.  I just can't get over wishing it would be longer and trying to figure out how many pages it will be and how thick it will be once it is in book form.)  

That's why I'd like your prayers for this whole operation.  Please pray that I'll stop fretting and start working, and that everything will work out okay.  Also pray that if its God's will, I'll find some connections to help promote my book somewhere.  

Thanks so much! Next time I'll write a little bit about the promoting schemes I've learned for self-publishers.  

Now.  I probably shouldn't just leave you hanging about the poll in my sidebar.  I live...

Yep, that's right! I love where I live, too.  :) I'll probably always stay here.