A few years back I contracted the writing bug. I don't know why really. I had just finished a multi-year reading binge, and I guess I got the urge to give it a try myself. As I wrote each novel, I would send out queries to established New York agents. At first, I came up empty, but then a prominent agent agreed to represent one of my manuscripts. After we went through various drafts she sent it to all the big publishing houses. I was all set for fame and fortune, but unfortunately there were no takers. I received plenty of compliments from a variety of editors, but the verdict was that the book just didn't offer sufficient sales potential. So I kept on writing and sending out queries and I landed two more agents in quick succession for other manuscripts. Still no luck though. So one day as I was reflecting on the rapid decline of the traditional publishing industry, I decided to go the "indie" route, which I guess is a euphemism for self-pubbing. But in the age of the Internet and kindle, it's really not vanity publishing anymore--because it's free. All you need to do is write a book, edit it as best you can, make a cover and figure out how to format the manuscript to fit the requirements of the various on line book sellers, namely Smashwords, Kindle and Nook Book. At first I only planned to upload one or two of my books. But once I got into it, I just couldn't seem to stop and uploaded all my novels--all twelve of them--for sale. I was especially gratified that I made my own covers and that I somehow figured out Smashwords' devilish formatting requirements. Now you can buy my novels for 99 cents apiece from pretty much any domestic online book seller, and they appear on a few international sites as well.
My novels range from legal thrillers, such as A Pittsburgh Affair, A Pittsburgh Caper and What's Wrong With Donny Speck?, to coming of age stories, such as Gracie and the Preacher and The Boy Who Loved Bach, to apocalyptic fantasy, The Eden Factor, to literary novels, such as The Accidental Lover and The Falling Ascent of Adrian Loft. I guess the smart thing from a commercial standpoint is for a writer to confine himself or herself to one genre. But it seems to me that if a story and a group of characters come into your head somehow, you might as well write their story as honestly as you can. And their stories will differ as people differ. Anyway, you can learn more about my books and read all sorts of reviews, good and bad, at my blog: http://tlpeters.blogspot.com. And if you would like to read my short story, A Sweeter Kind of Rhythm, for free, go to this link: http://www.redochrelit.com/tompeters.html. Finally, very soon, probably in the next several weeks, I have a novel coming out from a new and fast growing e publisher, Untreed Reads Publishing, www.untreedreads.com. So you see, I’m not totally “indie.” The novel is called An Imperfect Miracle, and tells the story of a young boy who on his way to school one morning sees what he thinks is a miracle and soon finds himself at the center of a raging controversy. I just finished reviewing the proofreading edits on the digital galley and communicating to the publisher my input for the book cover. It’s actually kind of exciting. In fact, the whole thing has been kind of exciting, even the rejections and the disappointments.
Thank you, Tiffany, for letting me post on your great blog!
T.L. Peters
Thank you T.L. I appreciate your kind compliment! A Cozy Reader's Corner will be posting a review of The Accidental Lover in the near future! Make sure to come back and read it! Below are the purchase links for T.L's novel.
Purchase Links:
Amazon
Barnes & Nobles
Smashwords
Thanks again, Tiffany. You really do have an interesting and informative blog. T.L.(Tom) Peters
ReplyDeleteOh I can't wait to read Accidental Lover now, I think if you have a story to tell, then tell it. Kind of the nice thing about all the ebooks, is it is easier than ever to self-publish.
ReplyDeleteT.L.Peters is an ex-lawyer who enjoys playing Bluegrass Fiddle and giving his dog long walks in the woods. In between he writes novels. If you search my name in Amazon's kindle store or in Barnes & Noble's nookbook store, you will notice that my book covers come in three types. The deep harbor blue is for my legal thrillers, such as the best selling A Pittsburgh Affair and Helpless in Paradise, the bright flowery cover is for my coming-of-age adventure stories, like Gracie and the Preacher and The Boy Who Loved Bach, and the arid desert landscape is for my more literary works, such as The Accidental Lover and Say Nuthin' Bad. So try one and enjoy. They're only 99 cents apiece.
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