Online Publishing vs. TraditionalPublishing - A Personal Experience

Talk about a let down ... All that time wasted ...

However, I wasn't ready to give up. I wrote another letter to the smaller agent, asking him if he might still beinterested in representing "Araroon." He immediately wrote back and asked for the manuscript. A few days later I received a very nice phone call followed by a contract in the mail. I was on my way again.

In the meantime, I wrote a lengthy critical letter to the New York agency and told them I felt I had been treated shamefully. How dare they lose my work and then reject it while obviously never having even read it? Of course I knew I'd never receive a response, but it made me feel better to vent my anger.

The agent I'd signed with proceeded to help me with some editing details, then began submitting "Araroon" to the top publishing houses. More weeks went by that turned into months. You could only submit to one publisher at a time and each was given at least three months to respond -- a very slow process.

Rejections began coming in with no useful notes attached. Budgets were tight, they'd used up their allotment for science fiction for the year, etc. Some even said "Araroon" was wonderful but there was always an excuse for not taking on the project. My agent went from being upbeat to abrupt. I knew he was losing interest in me because I wasn't a "quick sale."

Then my agent had a heart attack. I was informed he was greatly cutting back his client load, releasing all clients who didn't already have books in print. Once again I was agentless, and my book was still an orphan. Nearly two years had now passed since I began my attempts at publication and I was back to square one. I was ready to quit, shoving "Araroon" into the back of my closet.

Which is when I received a letter from the legal department of the New York publishing agent -- the one who'd lost my manuscript so long ago in their filing system. They were apologizing profusely and asking to see "Araroon" again. Happy days were here again! I was being given another chance!

"Araroon" went out express mail, at their expense, and less than a week later a contract came via special delivery. They wanted to represent me! Once again I felt like a legitimate author.

This part of the story, however, does nothave a happy ending. "Araroon" was supposedly submitted to various publishers, but a year later had still not sold and the contract was terminated. I later learned that this agency probably never really tried to sell my book but only offered the contract to keep me from pursuing legal action due to their negligence with my manuscript the first time around.

"Araroon" went back into the closet for another year, which is when I began to notice that serious, already published authors were making books available through internet websites. On a whim, I investigated some of those sites, and couldn't believe that for a fairly small sum of money I could not only see"Araroon" available as an eBook, but have it published as a paperback that would be available through bookstores throughout the world. The deal sounded too good to be true.

However, I made a phone call to www.1stbooks.com and received a packet of material outlining the costs and services available. For a few hundred dollars my book would be put up forsale online, and a few hundred more would make it available as a POD (publish on demand) paperback or hardback that could be purchased through brick and mortar stores as well. The internet publisher also offered publicity services, for an additional fee of course, sending out press releases, and arranging interviews and book signings. And best of all, a contract with the online publisher was not mutually exclusive. If, in the future, a regular publisher expressed an interest in "Araroon," I could be published in the traditional manner as well.