Verity's Book

About The Journey

LuckyPlum
Dante_Greywolf
nightwraith17
LKellam
Illeandir
GadSul
dream-is-reality
Stars_Alight
jsclingman

^^ The above people are those who have read all of The Journey, or who have started and shown significant interest in continuing it to the end. I have tagged all of you because I would like to share a thought of mine here.

This consideration has been in the back of my mind for a month now, but I have not reached any kind of decision about it. That is why I need feedback from you all to help me figure out what to do. :)

I always planned to get my books published by the traditional method. After I finished The Journey, I researched further into that process, and discovered that most publishing houses do not accept unsolicited manuscripts - that is, manuscripts that are not represented to them by a literary agent. So my goal was to secure a literary agent.

However, there are several things that are making that exceptionally difficult.

First, The Journey is about 55,500 words in length, which means it falls over 4,000 words short of the preferred minimum for published novels. According to fairly reliable resources, publishers like novels to be 60k-80k words long. I have good reason to worry that the size of my novel is a significant block to prospective agents.

Second, a lot of publishers don't like to take works that have been previously published online in websites like Wattpad, unless the work has undergone significant revision since then. If I had known this when I discovered Wattpad, I probably would never have put The Journey on, but the damage, if there is any, is done now.  *shrugs* I've certainly done revision since I posted The Journey on here, but I don't think it contributes to a "significant" amount.

Now, those things may seem like fairly small obstacles, but when you take into account the fact that most agents get hundreds of queries in a day, you realize that they're going to take only what really captures their interest. And the fact that my book is undersized + was previously published elsewhere is not going to turn on their interest in the least.

Now, I am not giving up just because of these hindrances, but they are notable hindrances. So I have been considering, considering, mind you, an alternative.

Suppose I tried self-publishing?

I can think of pros on this plan. 1: I've collected a moderate fanbase during my time here on Wattpad, among whom are people who would buy the book. And would probably, if I asked you nicely, leave glowing reviews about it on Amazon. XD

2: I could do things just the way I wanted them. The book is all mine! I have power! Mwahaha... Okay, being serious though, I would retain all ownership and reserve the right to do anything I liked with my book. Furthermore, stuff like advertising, promoting, etc., I could fit into my schedule, without having to comply to Publisher's demands in that regard.

Cons: Obviously my book would reach nowhere near as wide an audience(though it could hopefully work up over time!). And all advertising would be on my wee little shoulders.

_

But, as I have stated and reiterated, I have only been thinking about this a short time. I have not even come close to reaching a decision.

I want to hear every one of your thoughts on this. What is your opinion? And if you know of any publishing houses/agents/whatever that you think would like my book, shoot 'em out!