Greetings all! This one is too good to not share:

In case the writing is not clear for those on smartphones, here is the gist of the message:

“Your book is amazing! I don’t know where to start. One of my favorite parts is when Aril and Pritenn go to the slave yard and Pritenn gets taken by men. When she gets beat up its very sad and cruel but very cool and interesting. I’m sure your book will be published, but just in case it doesn’t I saw a commercial saying ‘if you need a publisher don’t wait call: 1-800-622-1421’. So if your book doesn’t get published you can call that #.”

I absolutely LOVE this! Friend and beta-reader Keri’s fifth grade class is totally looking out for me! The fact that this young reader (well, listener… Keri is reading THE MAGIC STONES OF MIDNIGHT KEEP aloud to the class) took the time to write down the phone number is just beyond great.

Right after I stopped smiling, the student’s comment really made me think about the long process of trying to get published and the inevitable question of self-publishing. I have been actively writing for nearly nine years now and still do not have a publishing credit to my name. The argument could be made that the first five years were required for me to learn *how* to write, but the point remains. Maybe I should self-publish?

I have considered it many times. I’ve researched several different ways to self-publish. I’ve probably learned the most, however, from watching the efforts of other successfully self-published authors. Just as before, I come to the same conclusion now; while it’s not out of the question, it is very unlikely that I will ever self-publish either THE PROVING, its sequels, or the Magic Stones collection. While the reasons are many, the most important one is really more a gut feeling than a fact. Something within me continues to strongly believe that traditional publishing is the right path for my work. While it may not ever happen, it will be a very long time before I stop trying to become a traditionally published author (if I ever stop at all!). This is in no way a critical comment about the self-published; they work far harder than I could probably manage! But I am going with my gut.

More to come soon! In the past week I have received requests for partial manuscripts from two agents, which is very exciting. In the meantime, I am continuing to actively query agents about the Magic Stones books and THE PROVING while still writing new stories.

Thanks for reading!

~Kevin