RE: So... You Want To Get Published
So glad you imagined I asked.
Although I think the main mistake is already in the first paragraph... Don't write a book and afterwards start thinking about where to put it. At least, in my experience so far, writing something with a specific target audience, publishing house, size, in mind, really helps in 'selling' your book to a publisher.
But the rest. Yeah. Unfortunately I already knew this. Unfortunately not enough people know this. Unfortunately people congratulate you on publishing your first book at a real publishing house, not knowing this. Not realising that you have been through several hells, as you so aptly describe.
Fortunately you've written it splendidly, and from now on I will no longer have to take people who don't know this serious. I'll just refer them to you.
There's some argument on both sides, I think. Some say, "Write for the market", others say "write for yourself". I figure most first-timers are in the latter camp, so that's why I targeted it as such. Still, yeah, when I got my first book published, a lot of people were excited for me not knowing that release day was after 2.5 years of getting it published.
And thanks for the referrals. ;)
And these lines hurt a ,lot!!
I never thought of going to a known publisher house so I haven't researched before, but this is (slightly) worse than the worst case I imagined.