Kindle

I have added my books to Amazon's Kindle collection.  I'm quite happy with the results.  People are reading the books and liking them.  I've received several emails from my readers asking when the third book will be released.

I am currently editing a couple of stories and I have started writing the third book in the Vampire Burnes Tales...

It's been a while...

I haven't blogged in a while because lots of things have changed in life. I got married, moved to another state, etc. The one thing that hasn't changed is the wait and rejection letters after submitting stories to publishers. They say the average time is three months.... I submitted to three publishers in January. I had replies from two by April. The third one didn't reply until June. So I just keep plugging away....Frustrated...

Another Submission

It's been almost a month since my last submission... So far no word. Maybe thats a good sign. I know I anxiously check my email and snail mail daily.

I'll post when I hear something... keep your fingers crossed.

Another Try....

Well I received another rejection letter... It's so hard to break into this business. I guess it just means I try again. Today I submitted an entirely different story to another publisher. Now I sit back and wait with my fingers crossed.

From my reading over the past year or so it appears that it can take years for a publisher to sign on with a new unknown author. I guess patience is a virtue and as long as you keep trying you have a chance of someone with actually take the time to read what you write and like it. I don't think my writings can be bad when people I don't know have read one of my stories and loved it.

It is disheartening but try and try again....

Publisher Anxiety

This evening I sent my second book to a publisher. The book "Nicholas" is the sequel to "Derek". I spent all weekend re-reading, editing, summarizing and formatting. Today I composed my letter of introduction and tonight I pressed the send button. Now I wait... I cross my fingers, say a little prayer and sit on pins and needles for for 12 - 16 weeks!

I keep thinking if they like it, they may want to pick up Derek. I can hope...

Summarys: It's funny I can write the story but find it very difficult to summarize. I've never been good at it. I'm never sure if I've put too much or too little in the summary.

I want to thank the people that have commented on this little blog... It means a lot to me that you enjoyed my story. Keep your fingers crossed for me....

Trying to get published? I feel your pain...

You've written your book and you feel proud and accomplished. You offer it up to a few of your closest friends and family and ask them for honest, actually brutally honest opinions. You wait for them to finish the story and hold your breath when they say "I finished your book." Deep inside you hope they liked it but you also have that terrible feeling in the pit of your stomach. You think they will say something like "Nice story but not book material." Then they say... "I loved the book!" They tell you everything they liked. They tell you how your story swept them away and that it needs to be published for the world to read.

Then your best friend asks if she can give it to her sister to read. You say okay and the book gets handed off for yet another opinion. Several months later the phone rings and your friends sister is raving about it. She even thinks it should be a movie!

Finally you are feeling confident that you did write a story that people would enjoy reading and that a publisher might be interested in.

You take a deep breath and begin the search for a publisher.

You spend hours searching the web looking at publisher web sites and submission guidelines. Most say they will not accept unsolicited submissions; there are a many that say they only accept submissions by literary agents and finally you find a few that are accepting submissions.

You follow their formatting instructions to the letter... 1" Margins, 1.5 Line spacing for some, double spacing for other, indented paragraphs, no indents. You get the book formatted and printed. You type a query letter, do a summary and send your book off. Some publishers don't allow multiple submissions. Which means you wait months for a reply before you can even submit your work to another publisher.

After a month or two you open your mailbox anxiously every day. You reach in and pull out your mail thinking maybe today you'll hear something.

Then the day comes... you look into your mail box and there is a large package from the publishing house. When you see it, you know they sent your first three chapters and final chapter back. You open the envelope and find a faded looking form letter that states your story doesn't sparkle. (Your manuscript doesn't even look like it was touched) The letter is a copy run off by the thousands. They don't even give you the courtesy of an original signature.

You are now back to block one and the submission anxiety starts again. You prepare your manuscript and send it to yet another publisher.

Finally you get so frustrated you try a POD. I used Lulu.com. Their distribution package includes Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Target, etc.

I published my first book using a Print on Demand Publisher. I haven't sold a large amount of books but I have sold some. I've checked the consumer reviews and they all seem positive. Actually they seem more than positive.

After encouragement from a few friends I sent my book to Coffee Time Romance for them to review. I have to tell you ... I had nightmares. One nightmare was that they hated the book...that they thought it was the worst book ever written.

When the review was posted. I opened it almost afraid to look ...

I was very pleasantly surprised when it received a four out of five rating. I was so excited I couldn't stand it. I sent links to the review to everyone in my life that matters. http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/BookReviews/Derekbookone.html

Recently I did a small book signing and sold all the books I had (fifty) and I'm waiting for information about a library sponsored book signing event in my local area. I'm also trying to find out how to get my book in stores.

I keep plugging away at it with the hopes that a publisher will notice my book and actually take the time to read it.

For those interested in reading a preview of it here is a link to my web page.

http://www.rlarsenbooks.com/