Shameless Self-Promotion or the Big Publishing Companies Won't Talk to Me Yet

I just self-published my novel on-line at a site called www.lulu.com. It's just like amazon.com. You search by title (Sins of the Fathers), author (Richmond), or both and they'll print and send you a copy. You could also check it out via this link: http://www.lulu.com/content/374940. You can look at a preview of the first chapter and check out the front and back covers, read reviews, etc.

For a long time I tried to get published the old fashion way, i.e. writing query letters to agents and publishers. The big publishers don't take unsolicited manuscripts or even query letters in most cases and neither do the agencies that sell to them. So, I tried the smaller publishing houses and agencies. While I had some success here (people actually asked to read my manuscript) I was turned down because the smaller houses don't publish my type of work for the most part. If you write horror, thriller, supernatural novels, you're going to have a hard time breaking in unless you know someone. I don't know anyone.

So, I self published. My plan is to sell a couple hundred books on my own steam and then attempt to get an agent again. It's my hope that once I've created some buzz about my work and myself that I'll have a better shot at getting the attention of the large publishing houses and/or the agents with whom they work. That model has worked for some "Ghetto Fiction" writers and I'm hoping it will work for me as well.

(I heard this great story on NRP a while back about a young unknown author who couldn't get the big publishers to pay attention to her, so she printed her novel and started selling it around the neighborhood out of the trunk of her car. Word got around and she got published.)

If you dig on my book, please spread the word and make some noise. That's my best shot. Thanks for your support if you give it.