One thing that I struggle with is promoting my own work. I am at the stage where I am looking for a publisher for Pearced, my second book, and at the same time have started work on a companion book to A Bare Chronicle of Existence - Stories and Letters from Internment in Norway during WW1. It is so, so hard to get work published and writers like myself have to make the decision to either self publish or do what I did with my first book, go with a vanity or hybrid publisher where the author takes on some of the costs of publishing. Looking at my options, I was encouraged when someone close to me sent me a note reminding me that Jane Austen was forced to contribute payment for the publication of more that one of her books! I am certainly encouraged by this, if Jane can do it, then so can I! There seems to be a sense of shame attached to self-publishing or using a hybrid publisher but the stark truth of the matter is that it is nearly impossible to get one of the big 5 publishers to read your work - even if you have an agent! And as for getting an agent, from what I can tell, you almost need an agent to get an agent!
And so, I am starting to accept that to get my work published, I must take the responsibility for some of the cost, this does not bother me, but I must also accept the responsibility for promoting my work. I work very hard on my writing and researching and I am proud and excited by what I have uncovered and what I have written so it is time for me to push this more. I have recently approached some directors and producers who have shown interest in WW1 and offered to send them my work. I am close to accepting an offer from a hybrid publisher to get my next work published. I have put my name on more databases to try and get more speaking work and in turn tell my stories to different audiences and hopefully sell more books! Let's hope that this work will bring me some success and get my work bought, read and enjoyed.
