Ouch. To be honest, agents really do not like my story, and I will not lie and say all these rejections didn’t hurt. I tried very hard to push my story, but in the end, agents said no.
That’s okay.
Self-publishing is my choice, and while feedback on my story has been mixed so far, people define it consistently as: “Folks who enjoy a twist in mythology would enjoy this book, and the characters are very strong”. See the goodreads reviews on the book so far.
I got generic rejections and feedback that really wasn’t very valuable from agents. It soured my want to pursue traditional publishing, but I’ve been sour to that idea for a while, especially with publishing being up in flames as of late.
I’m not the best at marketing, so that is always a concern, but I’ve ran this rodeo before with my Kingdoms of Blood series. While I struggle to find a large audience, the folks who pick the book up seem to really enjoy it when they do. My reviews have been mostly positive, which is awesome!
I’m hoping this story will do alright. I’ve learned how to better use Tiktok, so am promoting my book on there along with my other content. I’m not going to let these rejections bring me down, to be honest. Agents may see me as not valuable or profitable, but I will get there. Self-publishing is on the rise, and I hope I can make people happy with my works.
My book comes out on Halloween because I figured that would be a perfect time for it. It’s a Norse Mythology Urban Fantasy with high action and LGBTQ+ romantic subplots. It’s meant for an adult audience, so there is both descriptive gore and sex scenes (though that is at the end of the book, after relationships are established). There is a lot of magic, and I twist not only Norse Mythology, but vampires & werewolves too.
I’ve learned my lesson on spending money in certain marketing areas (that it’s a waste, rather) and want to see how organically I can get my book out there. Wish me luck, and feel free to pick the book up or spread it around if it sounds interesting!
Check out this trailer I made for it:
Des M. Astor 