I’ve been thinking a lot lately about self-publishing or going the traditional publishing route with my book. I’ve queried five agents that I thought might be a good match for my writing, and I’ve gotten a “maybe” from one and a definite “no, thanks” from another. I don’t feel disheartened in any way by rejection from agents because I feel like writing is such a subjective art. Every book isn’t going to appeal to every reader, and that’s okay.

I decided to stop with only five queries because I want to take my time to develop illustrations for my middle grade novel, and I also feel like it’s too much to send a massive amount of queries out into the world. Time to create is so much more important to me right now than time spent jumping through the querying hoops of personalized letters, the just-right synopsis, my “elevator pitch” and comp titles. I mean- I have gotten all those things completed, but I’m ready to move on.

The quote I chose for this week reminds me to just concentrate on writing my book, not to please an agent, not to please a publisher, but just to please myself. And when I say “myself,” I mean my kid-self that would have loved to read these stories. She would have loved to see herself reflected in these pages of friendship and adventure.

As an educator, I know that not all my students read the same things. Some liked science fiction and fantasy, some preferred funny stories or animal books, and others only read graphic novels or nonfiction. But there were several kids that liked the real-life adventures of friendships and family relationships. Those are the kids that I wrote “The Secrets of Shadywoods” for, and I’m excited to share it with them.

Self-published or traditional… it doesn’t really matter. I believe my book will find its readers, whether they number in the tens or thousands. Hey, I am writing for myself here and not necessarily the public, but an author can dream, right?