What did I expect?

 No reply

I am not disappointed

Long before I sent my request to an agent in London, I knew I had little, if any chance to succeed; the odds are over 25,000-1 against success, so I am not disappointed I got rejected; I was expecting it.

The Literary Agent

Well, it is over.

Three months ago, I sent an email to an agent in London, she said if I didn't get a reply in three months to take it for granted, I had failed to get a writing contract.

I would have been extremely surprised if I had earned the contract; everything is against me. I have no formal education qualifications, no money for publicity, and I live in the UK.

The request was always a "hail Mary," a last ditch all-or-nothing attempt for me to gain some little respect as a writer.

Why I chose self-publishing

No Reply 

No Possibility otherwise

For several years, friends asked why did I choose self-publishing over traditional publishing?

Several factors came to play, before I saw the odds of getting an agent interested in my writing were less than the odds of an ice cube staying cold on a griddle.

One of the most significant discussions I had told e several friends had books ruined by bad covers. I can see their point, I had one of my covers ruined by a group of "experts" on Fiverr this year.

The cover shown here is an amended version which I did using Amazon KDP software, in less than 15 minutes. The cover they did did not sow the title, or my name.

I accept, my range of cover images is limited to my photo stock online, that is no problem for me; I usually write my stories to fit the cover. There is an exception, I bought the cover of The Homecoming.

That choice will haunt me forever.

Another factor is as a self-published author, I could choose what to write.

The Question that beats the Scam

 How did you find me?

                                                                                                     No Reply

This year, I was approached by several people "claiming" to be a bestseller in the USA.

I am not stupid, or vain, enough to consider the contact anything but a scam.

However, I go along with the ruse for a short while, then expose them to the truth with one question, how did you come across my profile?

At this stage, they start backtracking, and trying to fumble for an excuse, all the time realising there is no hope to succeed.

One lady kept referring to her partner in the scam as "Tricia's agent," never saying my agent, or mentioning the agent by name.