Understanding

I want to take a brief break from discussing networking to say I now fully understand the emotion behind the decision some authors make to self-publish. You see, yesterday, I received in the mail a professionally bound copy of my master’s thesis novel, Happy Endings, Inc. It is a massive tome—361 pages plus a few pages of front-matter, all printed on 8 1/2 x 11” bond paper.

Yes, I printed this copy on my own printer at home. I carried one copy of it with me on the plane when I went to Greensburg for my final week of residency in June, while the second copy went up in my suitcase. I’ve printed it and put it in a three ring binder before. But there was something about seeing my work in a professionally bound book—with black cover and gold embossed lettering, my title, my name—that gave me a never-before-felt thrill. It also reminded me that I didn’t meet my goal for the month of July, which was to submit the proposal for this book to the agency I would like to be represented by. I did get online yesterday and look at their submission guidelines, so I’m taking an extension on that goal—by the end of this week, I will have my proposal completed and out in the mail to the Steve Laube Agency!