In 2005 I finished writing The Sureshot and started emailing and sending out copies to publishers. It didn’t take long for some to express interest in publishing my story. I was thrilled. The idea of being a published author was enticing. I was proud of my work and thought it had a real chance at being received well in a commercial market. I’ll never forget signing with a publisher and feeling like I had arrived. I immediately continued work on a sequel figuring that my writing career had just begun. Not quite.

At first everything seemed fine. I was in contact with an editor, a cover artist and others who helped make my book materialize. In 2006 it was available and I received a few copies to give out or sell myself. It was then I began to wake from the dream.

The cover artist couldn’t put together what I hoped. The binding was below average and was coming apart even though the books were brand new. When it came to editing there were dozens of errors still present. I was a bit disappointed. Still, I had book available for purchase and people excited to read it. I still felt successful. But that faded too.

Years later, the publisher declared bankruptcy and is being sued by many people. I have the rights back to my work and I have the motivation to write again. Turns out, more than a decade later, that technology has made it possible to publish directly. So far I’m thrilled with kindle direct publishing. It cost me nothing to publish, my work was available immediately, and I control all aspects of the product. Sure, I’d prefer to have a big publisher partner with me help me be the author I want to be, but until then I’ll continue writing and publishing for myself and for those interested in reading. Cheers!