A guestbook entry. ;)

**update. I am forevermore amazed at how many hits two or three of my posts get. This is one of them. Go read my other posts!!!!! They're just as, if not more so, interesting. BTW with the way publishing is going it won't be long now before it will all come down to the quality of the book and not the quantity you get out there. FINALLY!!!!! ****

Yes. I actually have a guestbook on both of my sites. Every now and then, as my books pick up steam (relative steam that is. Remember I've no powerhouse publisher to pimp my books and making the short-list of major awards doesn't seem to cut it as far publicity goes) I get an entry that isn't porn related. Meaning that apparently my sites get enough attention for bottom-feeder porn sites to perk up an ear. Anyway here's one particular entry I found interesting. I actually think I've posted it here before but I'll post it again to hopefully help someone new to the publishing industry/racket. ;)

Guestbook entry:

I thought I was the only one who liked to write stories about Christian Vampires and Werewolves. I recently purchased Never Ceese and Forever Richard and I'm wondering how much they'll turn out like what I write.

I became vegetarian at age ten. I also like to include animals in my stories. Sue, if you don't mind telling me who your agent is, if you have one, I would love to get my work published as well. I have not been able to find any publisher or agent who wants my kind of writing. I also write fantasy and science fiction. All unpublished. Maybe you'll help pave the way for more bizzare story lines.

Thanks.Indeed I think I can help. First off I don't write about Christian vampires and werewolves because in the publishing world the label Christian is being abused by an affiliation set up to only serve a very closed market of readers that denominationally exclude. Perhaps you think abuse is a strong word to use but Christian is a broad label and to the best of my knowledge it was never meant to represent one exclusive group.

So it would be advantageous for you not to use the broader label Christian to describe your work as this will throw you into this niche market whose work does not appeal to general market readers, Christians included.

No. I don't have an agent. Never could get one to look. Not even after my debut novel was short-listed for a Bram Stoker Award and not even now with Forever Richard being up for a 2010 British Fantasy Society Award. I know. Right? And oh my gosh, you should see some of the responses I get when I query for one even today. LOL Sorry. I've decided to stop setting myself up for that kind of abuse. Hey, there's that word again.

Also don't fall into the trap of dumping your money into writers' conferences or joining groups that simply label themselves Christian as that would be the group I talked about before and they don't accept Sci-Fi or Fantasy and specifically no horror MS's because they claim their core market readers don't want to read it. It's easy to get confused though because they do put out books that suggest they do. They don't and you will be wasting your time.

My stories bizarre? Why thank-you muchly. ;D

You can read through my blog to get more help on just how to get published but the thing to keep in mind is that you WILL NOT be able to making a living writing and for the first few years you will LOSE money and a LOT of it. Sorry if that's depressing but I'll not mislead anyone.