You want someone, anyone, to like your work enough to publish it. You read books on the craft of writing; you go to conferences; you take classes.
You study the industry and here’s what you find.

Publishers are so busy that they don’t accept anything not vetted by an agent.

Swell. All you have to do is get an agent.

Agents are so busy that they won’t look at anything that has a comma or period fall outside of their guidelines. Your manuscript doesn’t even hit their dreaded slush pile. There must be more writers than readers.

Maybe you’ve written the one, the novel that will put you in the rarified company of household name authors. It’s a story to make the reader weep, laugh, love, and hate. It’s all there – a story to read again and again. An agent reads the first five, or fifty, pages and loves it. He or she tells you so.

Then he or she dumps your manuscript into the circular file because you don’t have a platform.

Huh?

You need a platform to sell your work. A publisher no longer markets your work when they accept it. It’s up to you. They say they love stories that move them, but, alas, they must make a living. They’re in it for the money. You understand. 

But then why do you need a publisher … an agent?

The pros and cons go much deeper than this blog can cover. You need to realize this one fact, though. Whether you pursue an agent or go indie, you need a platform, and that effort can take any of several approaches.

I’ll close by reminding you once more of an opportunity to get your good work published. It can be the start of your platform. I have used them myself. Go to LittleCABPress.com and check them out.

You’ll be glad you did. 

What’s your best platform? Leave a comment. If the comment box isn’t visible, click on the header.
Blog is published on Wednesdays.
Thank a veteran.

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