Seeking publication not for the faint of heart

How badly do you want to  be published?

It is a ruthless game, yet first time authors still get published every day. According to Martin and Flacco, "there were 275,232 new titles and editions published by some 86,000 publishers in 2008, 75 percent of which were nonfiction titles. Another 285,394 print-on-demand titles were produced in 2008, making the total number of new or revised book titles in excess of 550,000."

The passage to publishing is well known to those seeking discovery: Writing the first draft, attending literary conferences, creating the dreaded proposal, attempting to build a "platform" and sending the crackerjack query letter. Each step seems more formidable than the last. Scratch the surface of a " yet to be published" author and you will uncover an assorted bundle of resentment and jealousy for authors whose published books they deem less worthy and a modicum of encouragement from tales of those who were finally published after receiving hundreds of rejections.

In the highly competitive world of getting published, rejection is the chief annihilator of first time authors. If one can learn to deal with rejection that comes from agents as well as publishers, they may feel less victimized. MORE