I am Published

Finally I am published.

It is only E-published, not the traditional method of going through an agent to find a Publisher to publish my book and turn it into a bound and wonderful real book that you can purchase at a book store, take home and read to eventually end up on your bookshelf.  But then again it's 2011 and we are in a brave new world of the digital age.  I shop and buy more real books using my computer than I do by visiting book stores and browsing.  I own an Amazon Kindle and try to get Kindle versions of books where ever possible because of the ease of carrying my entire library with me in an easy to carry package.  Many of the books on my Kindle will read the story to me while I drive back and forth from work, therefore increasing my reading or listening time and allowing me to get through and experience many more books during a year.

So if you do not have a method of reading an E-book you should take a minute and get one of the many free E-reader options which are available for your computer or phone.  Even if you don't do that, you can still purchase the book and read it on the website where I published it using their HTML option.   I have made 30% of the book available for a free trial so people can sample and try it to see if they are interested in it before actually deciding to purchase it.  You cannot do that with a traditional book unless you go sit in a book store and just sit down and start reading a book there.

To find my book goto http://smashwords.com/

Smashwords is dedicated to publishing E-works of authors for free.  They may be the ruin of the mess the publishing industry has created for themselves by the incredibly difficult process required to become noticed in the mass of people who want to be published and those who will actually become good authors. 

The link to take you straight to my book is

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/38922

For my friends, family and acquaintances I have created a coupon to download the book for free.

My primary goal is not to have published just one book and sit back and reap the profits and get rich.  That kind of thinking ranks right up there with "I will move to Hollywood and become the next super star of motion pictures and television, because I am such a great actor."  More often than not it is a pipe dream.  It does happen.  I read somewhere that Nicholas Sparks sold his first book for a million dollars right out of the gate as an unknown, but I am no Nicholas Sparks either.  Most of us are not extremely talented writers.  It is a craft which must be learned and you learn by doing.  This is my first book, the first of many more to come.  After I finished it I sent it to twenty two people to read and get back with me as far as editing, advice, likes and dislikes, etc. to help me grow as a writer.  Maybe three people read it and got back with me.  I couldn't give it away, and now I expect to throw it out into the big bad world and have people spend their hard earned money on it, when months ago I couldn't get anybody to read it for free.

No my goal is to have E-published it.  I am making some noise about it to people I know and asking them again to read it for free.  I ask them also to write a review of my book on smashwords.com and to tell their friends and family about my book.  Now I will maintain my blog, which I really enjoy.  Start editing my second book which I have back from my editor.  Continue writing my third book, while holding down a full time position with the company I work for, raising three children and trying to keep my wife from divorcing me because I spend every spare moment I have working on my laptop either editing and swearing, or writing my next novel.  The goal is to build a following from those who have read and enjoyed my book and subsequent books to follow.  So when I reach that million word point, and find my groove as an author that I do have sales and people looking for the next book in the series they are following.  That I might be able to approach an agent at some point in the future and say 'Hey I have this new series that I am ready to come out with, I am established with a following of faithful readers and fans, do you think you could find a publisher who might be interested in my newest series!'  That's the plan.