Dear Bernard,
I know you’re a busy man, and you have answered many a question about getting published for the first time, but I am pulling my hair out with the prospect (even though I am a long way off as of yet). I am still writing my first draft, and the story is coming together nicely. I have a lot of character development to do but the bones are slowly being put in the right place.
My question is about the steps of self-publication, and whether you think it is worth it? Lots of people these days are going through Amazon and Kindle, and are creating some good sales, but I wanted to hear from someone who struggled for a long time to get their book off of the ground, and finally had success through an agent. Would you have done things differently now? If so, what steps would you recommend when self-marketing? If not why not? And could you recommend a good publisher to potentially contact in the future?
It was my father who introduced me to The Winter King and I have been hooked by your writing ever since. The Last Kingdom series has been an ever favourite, to the point where I am about to start them over as I love the little details that you put into your work.
Thank you for your time and I look forward to your response.
Kind regards
Peter