Self Indulgent, heh? Book Reviewers of the World Unite.

So, you write a book. You get the Writers Yearbook and you study it at length. You decide on the kind of agents who will maybe look at your work and you send off your first three chapters. You send letters to 30 agents as you are told it's really hard to get anyone to bite. In a few weeks you receive an answer from one and you jump on it, thinking that this chance will never come again. He sends your work out to three big publishers, then another agency, this time bigger and more powerful contacts you, say they want to represent your work. You're naive. You tell them the truth, that an agent already has the book. So they say, oh well, let us know when you've written your second book. You stick to your guns and your agent works tirelessly to get your book read by the biggest publishers in the business. They all write you lovely letters telling you what they liked about the book. Then they tell you that it's not commercial enough for them. Of course, you're not famous, you're not illiterate in need of ghost writing services, you're not some famous author, actor or musician's child, with a ready made price tag, nor are you a 25 year old sports personality writing their third autobiography. You're not commercially viable. So you disappear. You get tied up in life and forget about your dreams or the story that you wanted to tell. Until one day, you pick up your pen again to start writing another novel five years later. While you're at it, you think, oh well, let's have another go with the first book. But instead of writing to more agents, you send your story direct to publishers. And this time one of them bites. But in biting, they try to bite you back. You go back and forth, endeavouring to negotiate reasonable terms to no avail. Then someone in authority reminds you that the world has changed. Weigh up what a publisher will do for you in relation to what you could possibly do for yourself? ....do you really need to give away your royalties to a publisher? They're not promising you anything. They can't any more, they just want their cut like all the rest, relying on your need for the supposed kudos that a big publishing house will bring to your work....the same kudos that a good review from the right book blogger or reading group will give you if your work is worth it!! It's not self indulgent. It's common sense.

If you would like to review Sugar Cane, please comment below, contact me at sugarcane.book@gmail.com or tweet me @sugarcanebook.