I finished my manuscript back in June of this year for "Diary: Alone on Earth." It is still currently in blog format HERE. After much encouragement from followers of that blog and friends offline, I decided to see about getting it published. My first inclination was to go the self-publishing route. That was due to two things; one to maintain my rights to the book and, two, much higher royalties by going this route. I may still go that way eventually. However, I have discovered that book stores do not put self-published books on their shelves. In short, self-published books do not sell well except to family and friends. In my own biased opinion, I think this book has much greater potential than this.

So, I looked at going the traditional route with commercial publishers. I have discovered that it is next to impossible to get someone at a traditional publisher to look at your manuscript without going through a literary agent. So, I decided to go through an online agency that "specifically deals with first time authors." Long story short, they were a scam. I was shocked at how quickly they accepted my manuscript. So, I did a Google search on them and found out how they had scammed many first time authors out of money. In fact, I have discovered (via Google) the majority of so-called literary agents and "traditional publishers" online accepting manuscript submissions from first time authors are scams. That was a disheartening discovery, I freely admit. The next entry I do on this subject, I will delve more deeply into these scam artists who try to steal money from people who are dealing with them in good faith. It's a hard cold fact, but there are some very deceitful people out there who are nothing but the scum of the earth.

Two of the best rules I have discovered, in seeking a literary agent or publisher, is that if an agent charges you a reading fee, he or she is unscrupulous. If a publisher asks you for money to publish, they are not a traditional publisher despite what they may claim on their site. "Money flows from the publisher to the writer." That is one rule I will remember as I go forward. I'm somewhat at an impasse right now. Not sure what direction to go. But, I have faith in my unpublished book. I believe it is a good book (that needs editing, of course). I will not give up until I do succeed in getting it published. Stay tuned.