Exactly one year ago tomorrow, after months of futility and frustration with traditional publishing, I signed on with iUniverse to publish The Best Laid Plans. It was not the course I’d hoped to pursue. Like most first-time novelists, I had hoped to find an agent and a mainstream publisher. Alas, like thousands of other rookie writers, good and bad, I was unable to persuade anyone in traditional publishing even to read my manuscript, let alone publish it. So on December 26th, 2006, I took my first steps down the independent publishing route and signed on with iUniverse.
One year later, my novel is widely available online. One year later, TBLP has won the Editor’s Choice and the Publisher’s Choice honours. One year later, my podcast audience is still growing, and by the comments, still loving the story. One year later, I’ve had a successful Toronto launch and my first book signing. One year later, TBLP has aired on Radioropa, a leading European satellite radio network. One year later, every reader review, and the more formal published reviews have been so positive that most days, I tend to walk a few feet off the ground. One year later, more people have bought TBLP than I could ever have dreamed. One year later, the calls for a sequel have pushed me into outline mode for the next Angus/Daniel novel, which, yes, I hope will be published by a mainstream publisher.
But one year later, I couldn’t be happier. Happy New Year…
