It feels like the manuscript of my inaugural novel is gathering dust. Waiting for a decision from those in the traditional publishing world is difficult. Silence usually indicates one of two things: they haven't gotten to it yet or they've already rejected the project and, by policy, chosen not to notify authors.
An agent can typically get a fledgling author in a publisher's front door, but it's an extremely competitive marketplace, In the Christian fiction niche, I've found no agent wanting to take a chance on me.
However, two publishers expressed interest in my story when I contacted them. One of the editors declined the project. The other one still hasn't looked at my proposal sent in June.
So, why wait? Why not publish this work independently? I've done it before with nonfiction titles.
For an unknown author with a small following and no experience writing and marketing fiction, it's a challenging dilemma. Traditional industry experts have more marketing experience and a connection to genre readers that could serve this project well. Furthermore, a traditionally published book brings credibility to an author. But there's no guarantee of success.
With only a handful of active leads, I've decided to allow the traditional industry two more months while I prepare to publish contingently under my own publishing company, Open Road Press. I've already approached a respected editor of Christian fiction and an excellent cover designer in anticipation of pivoting.
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