Fact or Fiction: “The only reason to self-publish is because you can’t land a publisher.” Every time I hear that, I’ve gotta smile. The unspoken message, of course, is that the preferred route is to land a publisher. Well, call me crazy, but I disagree.

I have become a huge Apprentice fan. Thursday evenings you’ll find me glued to the television, excited, focused and wondering who will be fired next. I’m willing to bet that many of my readers share that obsession.

I recently spoke with a gentleman who had written and published a book on terrorism’s threat to our water supply. As we discussed avenues for marketing his book, this gentleman remarked that mostly academicians had purchased the book, which he found scary.

After working for 27 years as a writer for California Farmer magazine, a statewide publication that circulated to virtually every farmer in the state, I was fired.
It came as a real blow in a telephone call from a man I didn’t know and had never met. California Farmer magazine was sold to a Midwestern company and that company was literally cleaning house. That included the writing staff, which was me.

If you’re trying to publish a book traditionally, you’re almost always better off using a literary agent than going it on your own. Nonetheless, working with a literary agent is not always as idyllic as it sounds. Here are five things your literary agent probably won’t tell you:

How do we measure our success? - When I set out writing my book, I wrote a mission statement. I had a focus on the kind of book I wanted to write. I had a prayer in my heart for what I hoped my finished book might accomplish.

A few years ago, I was sitting at the side of our community hall, waiting to take my Grade One students on stage. I was hoping to a little boy in my class’s father–he had cancer, but was very much wanted to attend. As I looked out at the audience, I spotted an attractive young mother sitting in the front row.