If you can't find a publisher for your book, don't feel bad--it's very hard to get published by a major house unless you're famous. However, don't give up. If you have a message that will inspire, make your readers smile, or teach them a truth that can change their lives, then by all means, self-publish. If you're willing to promote it, you may just find a publisher for it later on.
Two of my books were traditionally published and two were self-published. There are advantages and disadvantages to both so you may just find that self-publishing is the route best suited for your story.
My journey into the book publishing world started in the mid 90s, when I decided to write a memoir about caring for a profoundly handicapped child. I called it, "A Time to Weep; A Time to Laugh." After receiving a round of rejection slips with responses like, "We already did a story like that"; We don't do personal experience stories" and even, "Our editor died," I decided to publish it myself.
I had my manuscript professionally edited and typeset. Sweltering in my garage during a particularly hot summer in Maryland, I attached the pages together with an old comb binding machine and made a hundred copies.
At first I felt embarrassed promoting a book to the news media that had been rejected by publishers...until the day I received my first letter from a reader: "Dear Lisa Saunders, I recently read an article...about your daughter Elizabeth. I just had to buy your book...I've had a hard time with accepting [my daughter's disabilities]...Thank you for writing your book. It helped a lot." Her letter meant the world to me. My story did have a purpose.
Then, unbelievably, a publisher contacted me. The editor said, "I am attracted to your book, not only because it's a good story that fits into our market, but because you have already laid the foundation for a good promotional campaign." I signed my first contract with a publisher. I gave up the right to sell my self-published version (which hurt when I received an order for a hundred copies from a hospital) and spent an entire summer rewriting the manuscript according to the editor's specifications. But moments before the book went to press, the publisher downsized. My editor was let go...and so was my book.
Although I was able to keep the small advance, I felt utterly defeated and shelved the manuscript. I just didn't have it in me to pursue another publisher or to self-publish it again.
I moved on. Besides, memories of my great-grandfather's bed clanging back and forth in his bedroom on railroad-like tracks, my aunt making me use the outhouse, and the terror of riding my ornery pony, blossomed into the children's novel, "Ride a Horse, Not an Elevator." While the Sentinel newspaper in Maryland serialized "Ride a Horse, Not an Elevator," I searched for a publisher. Another set of rejection slips convinced me to try getting an agent instead. Even getting one of those was difficult, but I finally did and signed a one-year contract with her.
But she was unable to sell the story to a publisher within the year so I decided to self-publish again. This time I had a printer bind it to look like a real paperback book (called perfect bound) and I sold it to local school children, horse enthusiasts, and New York and Iowa featured it as part of their state-wide 4-H program called, "Horse Book in a Bucket."
I have since been traditionally published. My first book to find a publisher, "Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife," published by Heritage Books, was a result of me finding three-years of Civil War love letters between my great-great grandparents in my mother's attic. And the next book to find a publisher, "Anything But a Dog! The perfect pet for a girl with congenital CMV (cytomegalovirus)" published by Unlimited Publishing LLC, was my updated story about my disabled daughter Elizabeth, but this time, I wrote it about her life in relation to a homeless, old dog who found his way to her couch.
Although being published by someone else gives you some credibility with certain media, most readers don't care. Unless you are fortunate enough to get published by a major house that will spend a lot of time and money promoting your book (which is unlikely unless you are famous), I think it is better to be self-published because you can do what you want, when you want, and without asking permission.
With all the authors out there willing to share their experiences, there is no need to feel alone on your journey to getting published.
Good luck!
Lisa Saunders, Suffern, New York
Web site: http://www.authorlisasaunders.com
Blog:"How to Get Thin and Famous (or at least published!): http://howtogetthinandfamous.blogspot.com/
Lisa is a full-time writer for the State University of New York at Rockland and a member of its Speakers Bureau. She is the author of the books, "Anything But a Dog! The perfect pet for a girl with congenital CMV (cytomegalovirus)"; "Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife"; "Ride a Horse, Not an Elevator" and free e-book, "How to Get Published."
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