Into the Fire

Some of you probably don't know I made the efforts to go the traditional publishing route (nor do you care) for a few years. What I eventually discovered after discussions with some editors at the Christian writers' conferences I attended was this: My work is too Christian for the general market and too "raw" for the Christian market. The latter assumption is the one I feel is unreasonable. It's an assumption by Christian publishers that has always bothered me. 

I know there are those out there in "trad publishing" who've actually said, "If it's good enough, it'll get published [by trad publishers]." 

That implies that those of us who've chosen the indie way to get our work out there are on a lower level and the only way we'll see our words between two covers is to do it ourselves. There were and still are those novels out there in indie land that qualify for this evaluation. But, surprise, surprise, there are those novels in traditional publishing that qualify for that evaluation as well. 

Bottom line, I do it my way. Neither way is easy. Neither way guarantees "success", but at least in today's publishing network, indie authors have gained some hard-earned respect. That's a good thing. 

Father, you lead the way. May I always follow your directions. I know I fail miserably at times, but my desire is to obey. Thank you is never enough. I'm always desperate for you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.