How I Got My Book Out There

To say that it has been a journey would be trite.  It would be better to use different word.  Perhaps the word “odyssey” would do.  Whatever we call it, it’s over.  I have reached the finish line.  My book It Was a Magical Place is ready for distribution and will soon be for sale.  At the risk of sounding like Karen Kingsbury, (more on her and who she is in a minute) this is a story that has been on my heart for a long time.

            This book has actually been several years in the works.  When I was not working in my day job or at my part-time seasonal job, I used some of that time to write this book.  I had almost finished it when I took my wife to a writing conference hosted by Karen Kingsbury, a #1 New York Times bestselling author and my wife’s favorite.  Karen taught us what she knew about becoming a bestselling author.  I adjusted my book based on what Karen taught us at the conference and on tips from the special friends my wife and I met there and whom I am still communicating with almost every day.

            I had the opportunity to submit my novel to Karen Kingsbury so she could decide to forward it to her publisher for possible publishing.  Over a year later, I never heard back from Karen Kingsbury’s team.  I may have to forgive Karen since she is apparently extremely busy with multiple projects which include making a movie based on one of her other books, arranging the release of a TV series based on some of her earlier books, and writing another book.

            I hope Karen does not take it personally if I realized I needed to move on and look for other ways to get my book out there.  Why not ask a publisher to publish my book? Most publishers will only consider literary agents.  But it is hard to even hire a literary agent.  I put in plenty of time submitting to literary agents with no success.

            Then I turned to a publisher guaranteed not to turn me down: me.  I went through the same steps that a traditional publisher would.  When my cover was designed and the interior of my book was perfectly formatted, I submitted the book to a distributor.  Now It Was a Magical Place is slated to be on the market soon.

            I am fortunate and blessed to have found this avenue to get my book out there.  I have no idea how many copies I will sell, but even if I just sell a handful of copies, I will have shared my story with others and that to me is priceless.