Over the past several months, I've been working on finding a publisher for my novel, Mercury Falls. Although the reception from agents has been positive, this is a particularly bad time for a new author to be trying to get published. The always-risk-averse publishing industry has gotten even more so in the current economy, and not having had the foresight to populate Mercury Falls with pubescent vampires, I'm facing an uphill battle. One agent to whom I sent the manuscript described Mercury Falls as "very funny" and said I was an "excellent writer," and then went on to say that the book was "too tongue in cheek for the current market." This agent, by the way, is also the author of a line of books about vampires. No joke.
Rather than wait for a turnaround in the publishing industry that may never happen, I've decided to capitalize on the industry's failure to take advantage of new markets and technology. With Amazon.com accounting for 40% of all book sales, and with the explosive growth of the popularity of the Kindle -- not to mention inexpensive on-demand publishing options -- I think there is an opportunity for a high-quality, aggressively priced independently published book to give serious competition to the mass-produced crap being churned out by publishing houses that are now mostly captives of massive media conglomerates.
As a result, I'm taking the publishing of Mercury Falls into my own hands. Having gone over the completed manuscript dozens of times and gotten detailed feedback from several "beta readers," I am convinced that Mercury Falls is better paced, better plotted, and funnier than 90% of the "professionally published" books on my bookshelf. And no, that shelf is not packed with books by Christopher Paolini.
Sitting next to my keyboard is a proof copy of Mercury Falls, which I ordered from Amazon's self-publishing company, CreateSpace, and I don't mind telling you that -- other than a few illegible scribbles in red ink in the margins -- it looks AWESOME. My plan is to make the book available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle format on October 1st.
Don't misunderstand me: this isn't going to be easy. To be noticed among the Christopher Paolinis and Stephanie Meyerses, I'm going to need a lot of grassroots support. Particularly helpful will be Amazon reviews from readers like you who enjoy the book (assuming, of course, that you DO enjoy it). But you don't have to wait for the book to be available on Amazon to help out. Here are some things you can do RIGHT NOW, in the convenience of your own home!
And, of course, you can befriend me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter.
Thanks in advance for your help and support!