One More Try

​After completing the manuscript for my first historical novel, Murphy’s Troubles, I devoted a year to find either an agent to represent me or a small publisher who accepted unsolicited manuscripts.  I sent out over 400 inquiry letters and in the 12th month of my search I received an offer from a boutique publisher in California.   At that time they had less than a dozen authors and published about 15 books a year.  Rather than traditional royalties they offered a flat payment per book sold.  At the time I was elated.
Over time my relationship with the publisher soured and I cancelled the contract after more than a year.  It was that experience that motivated me to contract with Create Space to self-publish Murphy’s Troubles.  The consulting services I received from Create Space were excellent and they guided me in launching a high quality book.  However, I found the process of learning the publication language and making a myriad of decisions exhausting and a distraction from additional writing.
With my second book, Out of Darkness, I took another path, assisted publishing.  A friend, Christine Keleny owns CK Books and she agreed to publish my second novel.  Christine is the penultimate professional and she guided me through the process with ease and successfully published the book on schedule.  Christine suggested I hire an independent proofreader and I paid $600 for the service.  A writer friend found 77 proofreading errors in the book.  Christine agreed to correct all of the errors and no additional cost.  I won’t be using that proofreader again.
This week I’ve finished the various edits to my third historical novel in the series, Dead Reckoning.  I have self-edited for story, plot, character and line editing.  I am hiring Christine to edit the book and make it ready to publish.
I have a strong internal desire to have my third novel traditionally published.  This week I let Christine know that, at least for the time being, I won’t be using her full assisted publishing services.  I have the vain hope that with two other historical novels published and Dead Reckoning the last in the series that a traditional publisher would give me serious consideration.  It is only conjecture on my part; I have no rationale for my conclusion.
I will give myself a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of a year to pursue a small press willing to accept unsolicited, non-agented manuscripts.  You can google:  publishers who accept unsolicited manuscripts and get a list of 40 publishers – that should be a good start.
Wish me luck.