January 13, 2016 11:20 AM PST
Fran, things were much different in the publishing world a mere 10-15 years ago. It was almost exclusively a traditional print world. Publishers acted like an exclusive fraternity, rejecting most of the manuscripts and synopsis that came before them from unpublished authors. It was almost impossible for a new author to get his work published, unless you caught that one in a million break.
It was catch 22. You couldn't get published unless you had an agent, and you couldn't get an agent unless you were published. They were judge, jury and God. I suspect the traditional publishing world is still very much like that, even to this day. I remember when I started writing, I filled a whole brief case with rejection slips and frustration.
In particular, I recall receiving one rejected manuscript back in the mail. It had been stuffed in a yellow manilla envelope that was much too small to hold it. It had broken open in the mail, and looked like it had been restuffed and retaped several times on its route by uncaring postal employees. It was treated like garbage and looked like garbage when I got it back. And then, they made me go to the post office to sign for it and retrieve it. It was definately one of the lowest points and humbling moments of my writing life .
Yes, things are better now, and the traditional publishing world is taking a beating. I'm not going to go so far as to say I'm happy about that, but at the same time I'm not going to offer much sympathy for them, either.
Good luck to you on your self publishing endeavors. Excuse any spelling errors, I can't seem to find any spell check on here.
