That’s it! I’m self-publishing!

I’ve never been good at waiting. After all, how do you move forward if you’re stuck in one place? My debut novel, a historical fiction entitled Yours Faithfully, Florence Burke, has been caught in “publishing purgatory” for seven months now, and I’m frustrated with the snail’s pace that Literary Agents and publisher’s move. 

There has been interest in my book; in fact it has been sitting on the desk (probably on the bottom of a huge stack of other manuscripts) at a literary agent in London and New York and at a small publisher in Boston. But I can’t get an answer from them! A simple “yes” or “no” is all I am asking for so I can plan my next move. I prefer straight up rejections (and I’ve gotten plenty of those).

Luckily, self-publishing is an alternative to traditional publishing, and it’s a much faster and easier way to get your book into print. There has been a boom in this industry over the past five years and now over 45 percent of all books are self-published. If an author feels ready to go to print like I do (my novel has been professionally edited, I have built a website and had a designer create the cover) then why wait? It certainly worked out well for these originally self-published authors: Lisa Genova, who wrote Still Alice, Gillian Flynn, who wrote Gone Girl, John Grisham, who wrote A Time to Kill and even E.L. James, who wrote Fifty Shades of Grey. In these cases, a traditional publisher acquired them after noting their successful sales and high level of interested readers.

Self-publishing means DIY but it also means having total control over the rights, layout and design of the book. This is important to me because, after all, it’s not every day you discover 150-year-old Civil War letters in your attic (written by your Irish great, great grandfather no less!) I spent years tracing my Irish roots, traveling to Ireland to gain insight, researching historical events, meeting with Irish historians (one of whom is kind enough to provide the Foreword to this book) so I could bring the characters to life. All of these little details, plus my strong desire to utilize original documents are important to me and by self-publishing I am certain that these will be included.

     So what’s my book about? It is a story of an Irish family’s struggle to make it in America at a time when immigrants weren’t welcomed or supported. With few resources available to them, families had to make difficult sacrifices in order to survive. My great, great grandfather was one of those extraordinary people. His life was a gamble; he joined the Civil War in exchange for land hoping he could lift his family out of poverty. His wife Ellen was left at home in Massachusetts to care for her three young children and manage a new farm—all the while supporting her embattled husband. Yours Faithfully, Florence Burke is a story of love, faith, bravery; and the indestructible bond of family.

I wrote this novel to honor my great, great grandfather, and I hope I did him justice.

I am proud to announce that Yours Faithfully, Florence Burke will be released on May 10, 2016.

If you’d like to purchase a copy you can go to Amazon and Barnes and Noble.com. My books will also be available soon at select stores. Please watch for announcements of book signings and a book launch!

Want to help spread the word? Please share this blog and add my novel to your book club list. Thanks to all who have supported me throughout this three-year journey. I appreciate each and every one of you!
To read more details about the book go to my website or check out my author page on FaceBook.