Selling your Soul: A rough guide to self publishing.
Yes you have done it. Yes you've completed writing, typing, dictating or telepathically implanted your inner being into a story, it's more than that it's a book. Yes a book. You pause because you know any minute now there is going to be a knock at the door or the phone will ring and a literary agent will break down the barriers to fame and fortune for you. Just a small charge of ten percent, but what's that in terms of the hundreds of thousands books you're going to sell? Of course once the book is out there TV and Film Producers will be begging you to do a script for them, more money, more fame and more fortune. Stars from both here and over the pond will suddenly want to be seen out with you just for the chance of a bit part in one of your films, or tv series spin offs.
The pause seems to lasting a little longer than you expected. Just when you should be considering whether you want the magnolia or cream piped leather in your Bentley. You start wondering if there is anything else you could be doing. It's starting to hit home now that no one is going to phone or knock on the door unless you are one of an exceptional few.
I wasn't one of the exceptional few and as a result, I had to start thinking about telling the world about our book. Family is good for this sort of thing and just as long as they know you can read and write they might tell some of their friends and so on. This is good, people now know about this work of art you've created, but how are you going to reach your customers. Many people try to get an agent and leave it with them, but as a friend the equation of writers to quality publishers is huge.
Now I'm not going to lie to you I didn't go to an agent, I was damned if I was handing over a penny until I saw my name in the top ten best sellers list. Even then it would just be so I could get on with my writing and they dealt with fame and fans thing. Dream on. What was really going on in my mind was the fact of being locked into a deal which barely benefitted me. Alot of agents take far more than ten percent and have more get out clauses than a jail break.
Hence this very rough guide to self publishing for those of us without agents.
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