Last month I wrote about my personal revision Odyssey as I embarked upon the sixth draft of my novel. (Yes, I’m a glutton for punishment!) Well, today I finished that sixth draft. The process took about a month (losing some time due to work commitments), but in the end, I reduced the novel’s length by another 3,000 words. After a long journey, I have reached Ithaca. But now what? Here is where my ongoing debate about whether to seek an agent and pursue the traditional publishing route or venture into the bold new world of indie publishing takes center stage.
One of the bloggers I follow, author Dean Wesley Smith, is so skeptical about the survival of traditional publishing that he suggests authors go the indie route for the next two years. By then, we may know whether his predictions were right. Author J.A. Konrath argues that traditional publishing is a dead man walking. But others still value agents, publishing houses, and everything they have to offer.
I’m still searching for the right answer, and I’m always open to advice.
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| Ithaca at last – but where do I go from here? |
Anonymous
September 29, 2011 - 2:58 am ·Joe, Try finding an agent first. If that doesn't pan out, then go for indie publishing. You have nothing to lose by trying,
Joseph Finley
September 29, 2011 - 5:02 am ·Thanks for the advice! That's always been Plan A, but writers like Smith and Konrath make me second guess it.
Richard Campbell
September 30, 2011 - 10:38 am ·On the Viking front, there was a recent article asserting the claim that the Viking invasion of England may have been up to 50-50 men and women:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/sciencefair/post/2011/07/invasion-of-the-viking-women-unearthed/1
I'm not sure what this might say about other raiding parties, but interesting nonetheless.
And don't forget the bridges on the Seine!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Paris_%28885%E2%80%93886%29