Ah-h-h...What To Do?

Spoke with a friend who is in an envious position. Her novel is near to publication and she's considering her choices. A couple agents have expressed already interest in acquiring her work (multiple novels actually.) A mid-press publisher is awaiting her possible submission...and she's even working toward the possibility of self-publishing by acquiring a book cover design of her choice.

My how the book publishing industry has changed in recent years. When I first stepped into these swirling waters many years ago, the acceptable practice for someone seeking their primary book publication was to first acquire an agent. That was because most major publishing houses had notorious rejection records for what was then called 'over the transom' submissions.

Back then, agents held immense power and never lacked for new clients so they could be selective when taking on new ones. It was a catch-22 situation - you couldn't get accepted without an agent and agents were difficult to acquire.

The advent of digital publishing has turned the publishing industry upside-down and 'those that were' are now scrambling to maintain their toe-hold in the industry. With the blooming of self-publishing, the walls have come tumbling down even more.

My friend expressed anxiety about getting published because of her age but with authors more in control of their project's future, even that hindrance has dissipated. If you've got the energy to do the required, there's no need to prove your eligibility to become an income-producing machine for others anymore.

The really important factor to success is a well-crafted work and passion for your book. In this new world of publishing, there's no telling how far those two factors will take you.

By the way - if you're looking for a quick read, my collection of short stories, The Stirred Pot, just came back into print (courtesy of CreateSpace, of course.) http://www.amazon.com/Stirred-Pot-Collection-Short-Stories/dp/1517070104/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1445097126&sr=1-1&keywords=gay+ingram