In early December I submitted a manuscript to a publisher. Just yesterday, I received an email stating that the publisher was not currently interested in my manuscript. I have to admit this was expected as, even though I’ve been writing for a long time, I’m new at attempting to get published. I’m sure I still have lots to learn about the best way to go about getting published and even about writing itself.

Emotionally, I’m actually better than I was expecting. Granted, I was sad for a few hours, but I wasn’t devastated like I expected I would be upon getting turned down by a publisher. Ironically, it makes me happy. I’m happy to realize that I can withstand the rejection of being turned down, and it hasn’t made me run away screaming.

The one thing it did do, however, was make me question my path forward. So much of the romance industry is turning to self-publishing, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. However, I don’t want to make the rash decision of, “Hey, this publisher turned me down, clearly they’re being crazy, so my book is destined to be self-published!” That type of behavior is reactive, not proactive. It is quite possible that this book, and the others in the same series (I’m currently writing book two), will wind up self-published. However, I don’t want to make that decision based out of fear or disappointment.

I don’t believe there is a right answer between traditional versus self-publishing. I think it depends on what works best for each author. Each has pros and cons, and I think the decision of which to pursue should be weighed carefully (or you do both!).

My path forward is basically to continue to do what I’m doing. I’ll continue to write as often as possible and keep editing and polishing my books. I’ll take more classes and find more beta readers. I’ll keep pushing, because that’s what needs to be done. No one said being an author would be easy (the opposite, in fact), so I do what I have to.

On my wall I have the following sign:

I won’t quit.