The times have changed dramatically from when I first had a thought about writing and publishing back in the 1980's. I remember spending forever writing what was to become my first finished novel, and then forever again to revise and re-revise over the course of a year to get it to the point where I felt it presentable enough to send out into the world of publishing.
Since I did not keep a record back
then, I can only guess that I remember sending it to at least 3 dozen
agents, and perhaps a handful of smaller publishers. I did not expect a
quick answer. I knew that it could be weeks and even several month's
before I'd hear anything yay or nay. I waited the appropriate amount of
time before sending any follow ups. In the end, I received one hand
written reply from an agent who told me my story was good, but it just
wasn't what she was looking for. Besides a handful of form rejections,
there was a whole lot of nothing. All that work which I'd hoped would be
a benefit to myself of course, but also to a publisher with whom I
would work with, was more or less ignored.
This is why I find it hard to feel sorry when I hear about
the "big houses" losing profits, and having to chase down successful
Indie authors for book deals. I'm sure Amanda Hocking and others have
good reason to accept offers from the very people that looked down on
them and would not even reply to queries two years ago, but.......
I am still planning to get a professional edit done, and self publish my book when complete. I
know if I can manage to promote enough and get the word out, it will be
a big success. What would I do if a large publisher approached me after
I've sold a large number of books and wanted to represent me? I might
want to ignore them so they know how it feels. In reality, I guess it
depends on how much money I've made, and whether I'd want to share the
profits of my work in exchange for the bigger 'reach' that a big
publisher could offer, and if I could put the 1980's out of mind once
and for all.
.