Self-Publishing Consideration

I am currently querying my sapphic sci-fi novel, THE PANGAEA PRISONER, with two manuscript requests out on it. My hope for traditional publishing is not quite dead, with those two FMRs in consideration, plus the remaining thirty unanswered queries.

But I'm not thinking optimistically at this point that this book will beat back the overwhelming odds of failure. If this project does not work out, it will count towards four books having died in the query trenches with a whopping 275 rejections across all projects. That will equate to a 4% request rate overall.

These numbers are not a catastrophic failure and the feedback I keep receiving is that I'm so close.

On a previous FMR rejection, the literary agent actually suggested self-publishing due to the variety of genres that I write in and the prolific nature of my work, in that I have finished multiple books each year since 2024. Truth be told, I've never been interested in self-publishing due to the amount of work that it entails, and my desire for validation that traditional publishing would provide. However, this suggestion gave me pause and I'm considering self-publishing for the first time.

A path forward comes to mind for self-publishing that would involve eight books in two years: four-book Skydiving Romance Series; three-book International Rom-Coms; THE PANGAEA PRISONER.

The schedule would roughly look like the below.

June 1, 2027: Double release, first two skydiving rom-coms

Sep 1, 2027: International rom-com, Book 1

Dec 1, 2027: International rom-com, Book 2

March 1, 2028: Skydiving rom-com, Book 3

June 1, 2028: Skydiving rom-com, Book 4

Sep 1, 2028: International rom-com, Book 3

Dec 1, 2028: THE PANGAEA PRISONER

The question on whether or not to give up my traditional publishing goals in favor of a new route is not something I have a definitive answer on. What I do know is that I trust the quality of my books, both on their own, but especially with an editor's assistance. I would be proud to release these books (some completed, some still in progress) as my debut series. What I also know is that without a marketing and exposure plan, quality cover design, and editorial/formatting assistance, the sales are going to fail. Make no mistake, self-publishing would be a financial risk.

It is a risk to be patient and it is a risk to act. But I have decisions to make and by the end of 2026, I'll know for sure which horse I'm going to back. Stay tuned!