Follow your dream, become an independent author

I subsidy published my novel, “Tennessee Transplantation”, in December 2012, that was written  years prior.  After writing the novel, I submitted it to two agents to obtain marketing assistance.

Both  liked my writing and characters, however they wanted me to move the characters to an urban setting and add sex and violence to the story.  It wouldn't have even resembled my theme, if I had bowed to their change.

The few family and friends that I allowed to read it , enjoyed it.  My sister commented she didn't remember me taking the vacation depicted in the novel.  She mentioned that one description brought her tears, she felt it was so well written. I tucked my novel away.

In subsidy publication, the author edits galleys , so must be careful editing their work. Because you have re-read it so many times, you may not recognize an error.

Sometimes ‘spell-check' substitutes a similar- sounding word , rather than the word  intended.  I had technical editing experience, and edited books for two friends yet still made a glaring mistake. You are allowed a certain number of errors that will be corrected, included in the cost of publishing.

Any over that amount, you will pay for a lump number.  For example, if you find 40 errors and the lump number is 50, you pay for 50.  If you go over 50, you are charged for another 50. If you hyphenate a word in the manuscript, in the final, depending on the size type in the galley,  it may not need the hyphen. This counts as a error against the number of corrections.

Romance and Children's books seem easier to market.  Since my novel did not fall into either category, I can not address that genre.  Mine was mainstream.

In planning , an outline to organize your thoughts is critical. Name main characters, their descriptions list the points you want to cover.

Next, I do an index to help me lay out the manuscript flow. Sometimes I write chapters in sequence. Occasionally I write a whole chapter and later decide where to put it.

Think about your characters' behavior, things of importance to them.  It's your baby, you create them, but be consistent in their behavior.

My reason to subsidy publish was because I hadn't found a market, refused to change to suit the agents, had great support from acquaintances, and a timely Christian Publisher's ad popping up on my laptop.

Besides the agents, I sent out submissions to publishers. Years prior, I  subsidy published a poetry book. The novel cost less, but I received fewer finished products.

Follow your dream, become an independent author. The fact that I did, boosted my confidence.

I am enjoying this journey.