I may be assuming a lot when I write this, but I doubt I’m the only writer who figured once they finally got around to finishing that first novel, all they would need to do is call up a few publishers, let them know the newest best seller was finally done, and whittle out the details of tweaking, setting a publishing date, scheduling book signings, etc., etc. Okay I’m joking about the presumptions of the newest bestseller from a no-namer. But seriously, I did not think the road to publishing would be such a long, difficult process. As a writer you think, “If they read it and love it, I’ll just have to be told where to sign. If they don’t love it, I’ll fix it until they do love it.” Then you write those blessed words – The End – and finally take a serious look into the publishing process (because up to this point you weren’t really sure if you would finish); and you find yourself confronted with an obstacle that never crossed your mind: your manuscript is the last thing a publisher wants to see! That’s one of the first rules in publishing. Publishers don’t read manuscripts. And they’re not taking your calls. Publishers are contacted by agents, not first time writers. And agents aren’t lining up to read your manuscript either. Not yet anyway. Stay tuned to find out what I discovered about the publishing process and, more importantly, what those discoveries revealed to me about myself as a writer.