I’ve spent the past (counts on fingers) too many years working on my first novel. I was in college and found more enjoyment daydreaming and writing it down than listening in lectures. I had never written anything before and have learned a lot in the process.
I love my book and I believe its an okay book. But I know it is not a great book. I know it could be better. It will never be a huge hit and I’m fine with that. After entering the first few chapters in a writing competition, I learned I had beat out about 900 other submissions and even received a full manuscript request from an agent.
Since then, I’ve pitched to a couple dozen agents and re-read/revised. I’ve learned and admitted to myself that this book isn’t something I will find a traditional publishing deal for. I’ve never invested so much time in to something before and I just want to move on from this book to write something else, but I don’t know if I can walk away from it without slapping on a cover and calling it done. So I ask,
should I self-publish my first ever novel so that I can walk away from it and start working on something else?
If the world decides it’s a bad book, will that hurt my chances of getting published/selling my next book?