That's Not My World

I have to admit that I was jealous. I felt it right away when I heard the news. I heard it multiple times from multiple sources.

Back in April 2010 I was sending out query letters to literary agents. I've written over a dozen novels and it was getting seriously hard to nail down a literary agent. I did receive requests for partials and a few fulls, which they wanted in print, on paper and sent by courier. My wife was the only one working. We had decided to close our retail store that wasn't making us a lot of money at the time, sell off the stock (we found a buyer to take it all in one shot) and then I would stay home and work 12-15 hour days doing what I love.

Writing.

Also, during my writing day I would prepare and query agents.

I joined Twitter (now 2160 followers) and started networking with Facebook (now over 3200 writer friends). It was on Twitter that I heard a well-known blogger had acquired an agent.

I was jealous. I wanted one. I worked harder at it. I sent out even more letters. I prepared my notes, dated and stamped them. I organized the names and made sure everything was as perfect as an accounting team doing Donald Trump's taxes. But, alas, no agent.

Then another Twitter associate went to a writer's conference and came home announcing she had an agent.

More jealousy.

Now here's the twist. I never got an agent. Throughout the summer I followed literary agents on Twitter and was surprised to see how crude they could be. Many, not all, but many were rude, mean and downright disrespectful of writers online. Do I really want one of those things called literary agents? What would they do for me? Get me a deal with the Big 6? Large advances were already a thing of the past. Plus, a minimum of 18 months until publication. That meant in those days I would have to wait until around now to see the release of one book.

Maybe there's another way. After considerable research, my wife (also an author-Kate Cornwell) and I decided to upload our books ourselves. Something happened in February-March of this year and our sales took off. We haven't looked back. Sales have been climbing every month since. We're having a record September. My wife doesn't work outside the house anymore. She quit her job in late April this year.

What would my life be like had I got an agent? I can tell you it wouldn't be like this.

The first writer I referred to above had her debut novel come out in August this year. Sales have been lackluster. All my titles have a higher ranking on Amazon and I can assure you my royalties are higher. The other writer who came back from a conference with an agent has since split from that agent and just uploaded a book on her own.

That's not my world. I'm so happy that the literary agent world didn't want me. By rejecting me they allowed me to pursue my dreams without restraint.

Rejection. That's the best thing they could've done for me. I once wrote a blog post for writetodone.com called "Rejections Letters Are Great".

I wasn't lying.

Jonas Saul