A "Real" Author

Happy Veterans Day to all of the veterans out there! Thank you for your service!! 

Thank you so very much to all of you who have purchased The Allegheny Chronicles: The Warrior Returns, which just released on Friday.  I appreciate you. If you enjoyed it, please remember to rate or review it on Amazon and tell all of your friends about it. 

Now, to today's thoughts....

I've been trying to figure readers out these days, wondering why they tend shy away from independent authors. Oh, to be an author's in today's age with all of the platforms and opportunities available to publish and promote your work! It's exciting. It's promising because all voices can be heard. It's amazing because you can find some real talent among the most average of people.

But yet, the majority of the time, the only authors you are familiar with are authors who belong to the big traditional publishers. There seems to be a block among readers when it comes to independent or self-published authors. I've read comments online from those who read suggesting that those indie or self-published authors are second or third rate just because the author's "can't make it" by getting an agent or a big time traditional publisher. Others reject indie or self-published authors because they say their books are riddled with errors, junk plots, and so on and so forth. 

It's amazing how much emphasis some folks place on that. They are truly missing out on so much.

Two years ago, when I decided to become a self-published author, I looked around for a publisher. Back in the 1990s, it was so much more of a process to go through. You had to send query letters Sure, I got rejection from those I sent off to under the "It's not what we're looking for" excuse, although one did reach out to me to tell me that because I was an unknown author, the risk was too great for the publisher and I needed to build my social media followings, market my books, and then to submit again once I've built that up. This company's claim was that they launch a new author every week.

The only reason why I'd want a traditional publisher is for their marketing, their reach, and their editors to do the several hundred readings that I already do, and perhaps already know the answers to my random questions about writing and publishing that I waste time looking up. But the biggest reason would be to lock myself into my own little world for days on end, writing, with the excuse that I have a deadline I have to meet. "Sorry, hon, you get to do dinner today, I've got to have five chapters to the publisher by Friday." (I wouldn't tell anyone I'd already written the whole book in just that first week.)

So how difficult, you may ask, is it to get a book deal? Well, they say for most big publishers you need to have an agent who knows people. But, here's the deal with finding a literary agent -- You have to basically vet and search for one that is right for you (just like publishers). There are sites for that... Like this one. Nothing in life is free. Of course, then you could get agents who are much like publishers and only care about manuscripts that reflect the current ‘narrative’ being pushed around. I saw a post on X from months ago that had a TikTok video of an agent speaking out about a very prominent author and that if you mentioned this particular author, you’d automatically be passed over by agents and publishers. The post said, "So, it doesn't matter at all about the quality of your art. It only matters if you fully fit in with the current political opinions of the niche set."

It’s not fair, but it’s true. And it’s tiresome when you just have a story to tell and no agenda to push. 

Think I’m joking? Take the publishers of your favorite fictional books you buy and read. Go to their websites. Look up their editors. Look up what they are accepting. Freedom of expression, diversity, and inclusion does not mean what Webster's Dictionary defined them as. In the world of pronoun religion, there aren't many publishers out there who accept novels like mine because of the "culture" they want to develop, the narratives they wish to push, and so on and so forth. Look up literary agents. See what they're about and what they like to work with. You’ll see. 

So that is why I am an independent self-published author.  It's not because my books aren't good enough, my plots suck, my writing is horrible and full of mistakes and typos, or that I just fill pages full of drivel. It's not that I can't face rejection or do the hard work. It's just that I have not yet been able to break through the wall of marketing, through the algorithms, and through whatever ceiling it is to be found by other readers. So in the next few months, or maybe the next year, as I learn marketing and the tricks to the trade, you can expect my books to get through that ceiling and become visible. If I need to grow my social media presence, I will learn to grow it. Where there is a will, there is a way and I will maintain full control over my own work. It's a longer, more patient process, but I will get it done because my "Whys" in why I want to be a successful author are four fold -- loud, noisy, messy, stressful, and constantly on the go -- but they are my family and I want the best for them. If my calling in life is write, then I am embracing that and writing. Plus I'm always learning. 

If you wish to help me bust through it, I do appreciate the help. Share, like, rate, review my books. And read. Never stop reading. If you genuinely enjoy someone’s work, tell them. Because otherwise, everything is just invisible. 

I now have thirteen books available for purchase at www.amazon.com/author/embrooks. They are also available at barnesandnoble.com, Apple Books, Kobo, Lulu, and many others. If you don't see my books on your favorite book device, let me know! You can also learn more about my books at www.TheAuthorEmBrooks.com.

There is always an adventure in an Em Brooks book -- Let's start today!!!