Flying Solo By Choice (aka Why I Stopped Looking for a Literary Agent)

A little more than two years ago, soon after I finished my first draft of Flagrant Foul, I did essentially what most aspiring writers did. I searched around the Internet seeking contact information for literary agents. And I was on my way, armed with e-mail addresses, an e-mail query and some sample chapters.

I get it. You're going to hear a lot of rejection. It comes with the territory. But after some thought, I began to wonder if it was really worth my while to send out inquiry after inquiry to no avail. Most of the inquiries I either never heard any kind of response or received the boilerplate "Sorry. This isn't a match. Good luck with your future endeavors" letter.

So last year, instead of wasting time trying to gain notice among the sea of manuscripts, I went solo, posted Flagrant Foul on Lulu.com, converted that and Dilemma into Kindle books, and started jumping on every social network I could think of.

OK, I have no book sales, electronic or otherwise. I'm struggling to find an identity and key demographic and I'm suffered from an ugly case of writer's block that has kept me from finishing Stories from the Forester: Volume 1.

But it's out there. Had I went the literary agent route, there's a good chance nobody would have ever known that I had written anything.

The choice is yours. We all go our different paths. I'm not sorry I went mine.

You never know, though. Perhaps I'll let a stray inquiry letter loose in the future.

iSoap on NewFiction.com - The Future?

This is the textbook definition of early adoption, especially when Questers are hearing the worst of news.

While trolling around Twitter, I came across this gem from New York Magazine, openly wondering about the demise of publishing as we know it. As many Questers can attest to, the publishing business was already tough to break into. Now, if the pundits are right, the business will be dead and buried before long.

But it probably won't. Like the first rule of chemistry, matter is neither created nor destroyed, just changing form. With the advent of e-books and readers from Amazon, Sony and soon, Plastic Logic, those of us trying to get our writing out there will have just as many places to go as ever. And, as in the case of Amazon Digital Text Platform, with a little bit of tech savvy, we, as writers, can cut out the middleman altogether.

That's not all. While making my regular stop on LinkedIn, I can across a question in one of my groups from a gentleman named Tom Lopilato seeking fiction stories for his venture, NewFiction.com. Out of sheer curiosity, I took a look at the site.

What I saw could very well be the future of publishing. NewFiction is the creator of the iSoap, a publishing hybrid that marries the format of old-school weekly radio shows and the technology behind podcasting. Throw in a e-book PDF text format for good measure, and they really could be onto something.

Needless to say, I've already sent them Flagrant Foul. If ever there was a book to have in this format, this would be it.

Then again, perhaps I should have went with Dilemma...

After All That???

Now that it's the beginning of August, I must take personal stock in how the Quest is going.

Um, not so good...

Sales so far:

Flagrant Foul (from lulu.com): 0
Dilemma (from lulu.com): 0
Dilemma (from Mobipocket/Amazon): 0
Average daily hits on http://www.flagrantfoul.com/ (Main site, not the Quest): 1.17

So, I take this to mean one of three things. Either...

A. I'm not applying myself.
B. My books really are crap.
C. This is a tough, tough racket to break into.

For the time being, I'm going to choose Answer C, and press on. And instead of moping, I'm going to just turn it over to you guys. How has your Quest been going? What's your experience been like so far. I've got a couple of different Quest reports posted already. Come join in! I know I'm not the only one!

Then Again... Maybe Not!

I finally received my proof copy of Dilemma in the mail. From a self-publishing standpoint, it's good, because you have final say on what becomes public...

Then I looked at it...

...and looked at it...

...and looked at it...

Then I begin to wonder...

Is this really worth $14.50?

Realistically, I like the story and all, but the retail mark-up for this short a book is killer!

Not that I blame Lulu, really. Pocket books, of course, aren't really that big a revenue generator for anyone!

And as I've already mentioned, Dilemma was to be just one of two stories in Volume 1 of the Stories of the Forester.

That's not to say that I'll be taking Dilemma off the shelves. Once I approve it, it'll be available everywhere!

All I'm saying is, erm, download the e-book, either through Lulu or as an Amazon Kindle book. It's way cheaper!

Get Back in Line!

As I'm patiently waiting for my proof copy of Dilemma to show up at my doorstep, I am often brought back to the original question of why this book got in front of the ISBN line instead of Flagrant Foul, which is the basis of the Quest. As I've posted previously, I thought it to be a test of what an ISBN could do to increase exposure (Paraphrasing, of course).

But now, maybe that's not the real reason...

While the Quest, along with every other bit of promotion (radio, reviews, etc.), is primarily dedicated to Flagrant Foul, Dilemma remains, in fact, the first story in the Forester rotation. And as such, there is ample justification as to why it is already available on Amazon as a Kindle Book, along with the aforementioned Published by Lulu venture.

Regardless, the Quest will continue, now for both books. The question that remains, of course, will be which one will come out of the gates of popularity first?

Sites to Swear By

Like any aspiring author, I know now that it takes a lot of work beyond writing to make the best decision on how to best make my writing available to as many people as possible. However, when the Quest started back when I originally finished Flagrant Foul, my haste proved to be my ultimate undoing.

Since then, I've come across some very valuable resources for my fellow Questers out there.

The Publishing Game - A friend of mine, noted poet and author Anthony "Da Boogieman" Rucker (whose current book, The Relationship Cookbook, is now on sale!), told me about this series by Fern Reiss. Not only are the books packed with infomation (I own Find and Agent and Publish a Book. Still working on getting Creating a Bestseller), the Web site, plus the Writing and Publishing group on Facebook are updated regularly with the latest news and updates.

LinkedIn - In a former life, this site saved my bacon on more than one occasion. But there's more to the premier business networking site than just connecting to as many people as you can. The Answers section is what's been most helpful to me during the Quest. Don't be afraid to ask!

Preditors and Editors - If you think that the publisher or the agent you're working with is shady? Here's at least one place to find out! Over the years, I've found it to be the most honest source of information about the book market.

The Bowker Stamp of Approval

Shortly after my previous post, I received a message from a representative from R.R. Bowker, which is, of course, the the agency that distributes ISBNs in the U.S. In short, he provided some very useful information, including a link (Click here) of all the Bowker-authorized companies. Lulu is definitely one of them.

This, of course, tells me a couple of things. First, and most importantly, regardless of the option (in this case being selecting the Published By Lulu service), I made the right choice by sticking with Lulu. Secondly, folks are actually reading this thing!

So, thanks to Bowker for the information, and I hope to hear even more in the future!

30 Seconds...

Yep. You get the idea...

Someone Else's Quest

Since I've started my Quest, I thought I'd share the story of another writer who's documented their own Quest. Shannon Yarbrough, the author of The Other Side of What and, most recently, Stealing Wishes, created the POD Diary for Stealing Wishes. For anyone who plans to go on their own Quest, it's certainly worth a read.

Incidentally, Shannon also runs the Lulu Book Review, which features reviews of self-published books, including, I'm happy to say, Flagrant Foul. Plus, there's plenty of news about self-publishing as well. All in all, it's a great resource!

The Turning of the Promotional Wheel

I realize that the Quest can never get off the ground if nobody on the planet knows about me or the book. And it's great advice for anyone looking to get their project off the ground. So, with that, here's some things I've come up with.

Social Networking - I have dropped my info in the following places:

LinkedIn
MySpace
Plaxo/
Gather
Facebook

You get the idea. Be everywhere, not to mention my Twitter page.

I'm confident to reach the end of my Quest soon. Give it a ahot yourselves and see what you come up with!

The Quest Begins!

As I've explained already, I am working on trying to sell enough copies of my book, Flagrant Foul, to cover the costs of buying the Published by You distribution package from Lulu, at a retail price of $99.95.

So, I humbly ask of you, my visitor, a couple of things...

1. Donations are not needed. I have a product to sell, and you can find it at the http://www.flagrantfoul.com or the Flagrant Foul book page.
2. If you want to read an electronic version of the book, I'd be more than happy to give it to you. Drop me a line and I'll send you a PDF! All I ask is you tell me what you think!

Those are my requests. Let the games begin!