I just made a connection on social media with a fellow author. We had a really nice exchange in which she made it clear she had actually come here to my website and looked around. You have no idea how refreshing that is. But in one of her messages, she suggested I add links to where people could buy my books. And there lies the crux of a quandary for me. I have self-published five books. But it’s been my dream since I was old enough to understand what it meant to be a published author. And I’m old enough that when I first decided this, there was only one way to be published–traditionally. Well, what’s now known as traditionally. Back in my day (read this in your best grumpy old man voice), there was exactly one way to do it. You write a book, you get an agent, the agent sells the book to a publisher, the publisher publishes the book.

So that was my goal when I finished my first novel. I queried and queried and queried. I’ve since learned a lot about that process and realize I was doing almost everything wrong. But I thought it was just because of the crowded publishing market and gave up, opting for what was by then the new way to publish–independently. And it’s been moderately unsuccessful. Actually, it’s been smashingly unsuccessful. I sold books to all my friends and family and a few of their friends, but mostly that’s all.

So I walked away from that series for a while, trying my hand at straight literary fiction. It was going okay, but I wasn’t enjoying the process nearly as much and I really did miss Harry and Dee. Actually, to be completely accurate, I didn’t miss them. They never left. I just wasn’t writing down what they were saying and doing anymore, which was problematic. So, fast forward through a lot of stuff that deserves not to be fast forwarded through–I got married to the love of my life and became a parent all at once–to today. Harry and Dee’s story is no longer just being told in my head. I’m close to retirement from my day job and I really want to try the traditional route again.

The problem is, I’m not sure I can do that. I mean, I know how to query agents. The part I don’t know is whether they’ll even be interested in a series of books that have already been published independently. But I want to find out. So, I unpublished all my books from Amazon and am getting ready to start the querying process soon. Hence the new website and becoming active on social media again. I’m trying to build a following for when that magic day finally comes when an agent finally says yes and sells my work.

If you’re reading this, I hope you’ll follow along as I try to navigate the maze of traditional publishing–a maze I may have made even more circuitous by giving up on it once upon a time. Check back often and see how it’s going.

In the meantime, I love to hear from you. Leave a comment so I know you’re there. Who knows–maybe you’ll learn to love Harry and Dee as much as I do.