To Each Their Own / Happenings In The Outhouse 05-Dec-2025

There are times when people (usually authors) say or do things that make me shake my head.

Over a month ago, I came across a social media post by a local author.  This author stated that they had been chipping away at their next book (this author only has one book self-published) while starting school full-time to finish their bachelor's degree, volunteering at their church, being a parent to four younger children, and running a campground.  This author also wrote a weekly column for an area newspaper.  Quite busy, I get it.  Been there, got the T-shirt.

Then, this is the part that made me shake my head: this author had a conversation with one of their professors and, based on said conversation, decided to try the traditional route for publishing rather than self-publishing on the next book.

Pause . . . 

No, I did not comment.  Nor did I select an appropriate reaction to their post.  I just . . . moved on, all the while shaking my head in bewilderment.

To each their own.  If it works, I wish them the best of luck.

Deep down, I know this person will spend years regretting their choice.

Path Of Least Resistance / Happenings In The Outhouse 26-Sept-2025

When I first started down the self-publishing path, there was a lot of trial and error.  More so than I care to admit, and much of that is between me, myself, and I.

Wait, let's back up.  To the beginning . . .

Yes, that far back.  When I first got an inkling, an inner spark, that I wanted to be a writer.  That urge to see my books on bookshelves, and in bookstores around the world.  Okay, maybe that's going back a bit too far, since that was 2nd grade and I was around seven.  Let's push the clocks ahead to my first few college years at Bemidji State University.  That was when I first started to get serious about being a writer.  I had a goal of writing one page a day.  That's it.  Then it was a bigger goal to finish the darn thing.  And I did.  It was a 1000-page behemoth of a novel in the horror genre (way too long, I know, but what did I know back then?).  Then I studied the market and sent query letters out to literary agents.

Want to know what I did next while I waited for agents to get around to reading my queries?  I started the next novel.  It ended up being another 1000-page behemoth, but the writing and finishing was easier this time around.  Why?  Because I had already done it.

With 38 individual works that I have self-published at this point, I have learned a lot and have set things up to make each story easier than the previous.  Since there is a standard template, that's where I start each new story.  I don't have to reinvent the wheel.  It's already done.  The path of least resistance.

And when it comes time to publish each new work, I already have the files set up and I have a checklist of what needs to be done.  Easy peasy.

As time goes on for the next quarter and beyond, I will slowly be adding things to do.  Easy things that have the path of least resistance.  I love learning new things, but I'm taking it one at a time, not overwhelming.  If it was, I'd probably procrastinate.

Rule Four: Put Story Out On The Market / Happenings In The Outhouse 16-May-2025

At the most basic levels, there are two paths to publication: traditional and self-publishing.

Traditional means to go through an agent or magazine publisher.

Self-publishing means to do it yourself.

For decades, I tried the traditional route by submitting to agents and contests and magazines.  When, I discovered self-publishing in 2011.  I researched the heck out of it until I decided to give it a go in April 2012.

And I have not looked back, except I still submit to contests and magazine publications.

The bottom line on this: get your story out there.  If it gets rejected, don't take it personally.  Put it out there again.  If you have completely exhausted all of the contests and magazines, then try the self-publish route.  But for crying out loud, no one is going to discover it if it's sitting either in a drawer or in a file folder on your hard drive.

Get the story out there.  Now!

Greener pastures revisited / Happenings In The Outhouse 14-Feb-2025

Last week, I touched on this subject of always looking elsewhere, never sticking with one thing, even though it's working.  Keep in mind, it may not be working as fast as you wish, but there is truly nothing long term for those seeking quick riches.

Many years ago, I sought out literary agents through query letters, for possible representation to publish my novels.  I repeated the process over and over again.

Then, I heard about self-publishing and was curious about it.  I researched it--I read about vanity presses and didn't want to go down that route--and then decided to dip my toes into the self-publishing waters in April 2012.  It was a small nonfiction book, but at the same time I was still writing and submitting with minimal success.

Once I dipped my toe in and researched more on it, I tried one last push for an agent, even connecting with them on social media . . . but in the end I self-published my books and have never looked back.

Will this work for everyone?

Everyone's path to success is different.  But when something doesn't work right away, don't dismiss it right away.

Some things take longer than others.

Patience . . .

Happenings In The Outhouse 20-Jun-2014 / No agents need apply

It isn't a secret for anyone reading this blog that I'm publishing my next novel soon.  Very soon.  I've had a few people ask me if I'm going to submit this to any agents or publishers.

No way!

I already spent decades of my life going down that rabbit hole.  And for absolutely nothing to show for it except loads of experience, rejection letters that are probably as tall as the Empire State Building (okay, not really, but it's quite a stack), and a handful of false hopes that, of course, went no where.

Why would I waste months and months of my time when I can start earning money from it right away?

Hence, that's the reason I have a sign on my door that says:

 

NO AGENTS

NEED APPLY

 

While I was going through Killzone I ran into a problem.  Most of the book was in present tense.  Yet, the prologue and epilogue were several years ahead of the time spent in the bulk of the book.  I then thought of the only solution: change the tense from present to past.

 

It worked.  So far.  I'm hoping by the middle of July to have this book ready to go.

Happenings In The Outhouse 21-Mar-2014 / What took me so damn long?

I was listening to a podcast recently and the interviewer asked the author to describe how they started down the trail to become a writer--in other words, where did the spark come from to become what they became?

I then thought about my own life and how I'd answer that question . . . and I almost cried.  Even though the spark for writing occurred back near the second grade, and I even started writing a trilogy in the seventh grade on an old black typewriter--similar to the one used in the Stephen King movie Misery--I didn't become serious until I was in college.

In other words, roughly twenty years ago.  Wow, what took me so damn long to get up to this point!  And I'm just now starting out in my writing career!

Well, that's not quite true.  I started indie publishing roughly two years ago, and the knowledge I've accumulated about the publishing industry over the past nearly two decades is astounding and still continues to grow.  I have to say this right here and now: I wasted many of those years chasing the gatekeepers--AKA literary agents--and finding few results.  I can't go back in time and re-do it.

All I can do is start where I am right now . . . and keep moving.

And that's what I'm doing.

Now, many of those years was also spent working two part-time jobs in the law enforcement field.  And, when I wasn't working or taking care of my family, sometimes I did sleep.  But there's rarely a day that went by I didn't think about writing.

It's what I do.

It's what I am.

Don't forget the basics

Two weeks ago was our local writers group meeting.  There were three of us, and we had a blast.

One member of the group is just finishing up writing the first draft of her first novel--a fantasy/science fiction novel with a steampunk twist.  She has over 100K words so far and I told her I'd love to be a beta reader for it.

As our conversation rolled on, she asked me basic questions about publishing and agents.  These were things I've been dealing with for a while and honestly thought they were common knowledge.  I was wrong.  I've just been studying it for so long, to me it's common knowledge.  It's now up to me to help teach others.

No matter what endeavour you find youself in, keep in mind not to forget the basics.  Back in college, I studied Tae Kwon Do.  Eventually, I earned my 2nd Dan (that's 2nd degree black belt in layman's terms) and it always amazed me, no matter how complex the techniques or forms or combinations I had to do, you can always break them down into basic forms.

Bemidji Tae Kwon Do Master Spencer Brandt (who later became the late Grandmaster Spencer Brandt) always taught us: perfect practice makes perfect.  If you're going to practice something, don't do a sloppy job.  Do it right.  And continuously do it correctly so that it becames natural.

For writing, it's to know the basics.  To teach the pros and cons about finding an agent, querying them, and/or even taking the self-publishing route.

Part 6 of 6 Publishing Hurdles: PUBLICATION!

Last but certainly not least is publishing your work.  This is the very last hurdle (although that could be up for argument, I'm keeping this simple).  Publishing nowadays takes on two forms: self-publishing or traditional.  There is a third form, which is a blending of the two.  That's called a hybrid author: one who has their foot in both the traditional and self-publishing camp.

In the traditional route, by going to a publisher, there are usually two routes: direct or through a literary agent.  Agents are the gatekeepers and typically know what editor likes what.  If you're lucky enough to be able to talk to an editor, you may be able to bypass the agent avenue.  Then again, agents can help navigate contracts and selling various rights, like audio or foreign.

Self-publishing is an entirely new beast--and one I'm in.  This means putting it up on the Amazon Kindle site and Kobo, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, etc.

I'm not going to go into depth on either one here, but I have written about it plenty and there are several resources out there, many of them for free.

Publishing is a hurdle that stops many a writer from realizing their dream--if you've exhausted every traditional route and still feel your work is good, by all means, try self-publishing.

What can it hurt?

Happenings In The Outhouse 08-Mar-2013 / Could I be one of the 8%

Literary agent Wendy Lawton wrote an interesting blog post a few days ago, giving statistical analysis of how writers find agents.  42% of her clients she met at a writers conference.  What about the good ol' query?

8%

WHAT?!?

Yes, my friends, 8% of her clients she found through querying.  That statistic hit me hard, and I am thankful for Wendy to have posted it.  Keep in mind, this is just her statistics, as she pointed out to me in her reply to my comment.  Other agents may have higher stastistics on the query, although as I scan my brain to recall how many of the authors I've either met or listen to or read have landed an agent, the vast majority say they met them at a conference.

Last week, I said that I was giving myself 90 days (or at least until June 1st) to find an agent or else I'm going to self-publish.  With this analysis, I've made a decision: I will query the ones I have listed as potential agents, and if those don't pan out I will self-publish Beholder's Eye.  Which means, it may be far less than the 90 days.

I'm making slow progress on my alternative military history novel, mainly due to other projects getting in the way that I need to complete: a short story that I am tweaking before submitting it to the Writers Of The Future contest, compiling the final list of agents, brainstorming my next moves, and even adding more to my "Through The Outhouse Window Video Blog."  I also had a brief medical episode very early Thursday morning which wiped me out for the entire day (I'm feeling better, but as of Friday morning now I'm still a bit light-headed).

Happenings In The Outhouse 01-Mar-2013 / Loving Google's Street View

I am currently on the 21st chapter of my alternative military fiction novel, with 23,714 words written.  The last few chapters have been fun because I've looked at the characters more closely and how to up the tension.  I also had the characters running around Washington D.C., a town I have never been to.

Thank God for Google Maps Street View.

Oddly enough--well, okay may not--some of the areas I wanted to go didn't have a street view, so I had to improvise the best I could.

I'm still querying away, looking for agents.  I also found myself listening to an old podcast from the Creative Penn, where Joanna interviewed Dean Wesley Smith..  It was interesting because most of his advice was centered on NOT getting an agent.  Then, I gave myself a deadline: if I have not found an interested agent by June 1st, I will self-publish Beholder's Eye.

The fuse is lit.

I also shared a short story this week in our tri-weekly writers' group.  They liked it.  It's a sci-fi story that needs a little tweaking, and then I plan on submitting it to the Writers of the Future contest.

Happenings In The Outhouse 25-Jan-2013 / Am I really an outliner, or still a discovery writer?

As I wind down on this month and my list of short stories (nope I probably won't get all 10 completed, which I am okay with), I'm also preparing to write my new novella titled Guest of Honor.  I'm going to treat this as a NaNoWriMo project, which means for the month of February I have to write a minimum of 1,786 words a day for the 28-day month--that comes to 50,008 words for all of you math geeks out there.

A strange thing happened when I started preparing a little for it.  When I wanted to write down the characters' names and a little about the story, I felt this inner tug in my brain to quit.  Not quit writing.  Quit outlining.

I'm not an outliner and I really didn't consider it outlining, but in a basis sense that's what I was doing.  So I quit outlining.  Let's see how it works.  I have five completed novels, none of which I outlined.  I have dozens of short stories (10 of which I've selected to be worked on this month) and not a one was outlined.

So why start now?

Oh, don't worry.  I won't.  I'll write it like I always do . . . and it'll turn out great.

One last note.  Remember (I believe it was last week but don't quote me on it) I talked about researching for a new book, based on the recent Iraq War?  Well, since I don't have the time to interview any vets, and even if I found some I probably wouldn't know what to say to them anyway except to let them talk, I found a few books.  I won't post them here, but feel free to go to my Goodreads site to see which ones they are.

Happenings In The Outhouse 18-Jan-2013 / Slight change of tactics

As you can see, I've been making progress towards finishing the 10 short stories for the month of January.  However, as the month is a little over half over, I've come to the realization that I probably won't finish all ten before the month ends.

I've contemplated what I should do: finish the 10 short stories sometime in February or stop at the end of January and start the story Guest of Honor on February 1st.

I'm going with the latter.

Although I'd love to get the short stories done, I also want to make the commitment to start and finish the new story--a novella, I'm sure (that's between 17,500 and 40K words).  Aside from a few new short stories I wrote last year, this will be the first story I've written in 7-8 years.  What have I been doing in all that time, you may ask?  Editing my five completd novels, which is a long and demanding process, but one that I love to tackle.

One, of course, is done and queries to literary agents are being sent out.

Happenings In The Outhouse 04-Jan-2013 / Short stories galore!

This month has been completely dedicated to short stories--well, that and searching for a literary agent, of course.

On the left side of my posts, I started a status of my progress towards finishing these 10 short stories: one of my major goals of the month.  One is complete, the one I have posted on this site titled "Salute."  Please read and provide any feedback, if you wish.  Also, the first five chapters of Beholder's Eye is there as well, so please feel free to read and provide feedback as well.  If you don't care to post any, you can always e-mail me at marksrpeterson@gmail.com

Here's a funny video I found the other day - from the fine people at Geek and Sundry.  Enjoy!

Happenings In The Outhouse 21-Dec-2012 / End of the world?

The end of the world came . . .

And went.

We're still here.

Thank you, Mayans!

I'll keep this brief today.  My literary agent search is still commencing, although with the holiday season much of the publishing industry is on hiatus so it may have to be put on hold until after the new year.

But still I press on.

Despite the supposed end of the world.

What else am I working on?  Right now I have a list of about a dozen short stories I'm editing and expanding.  One I even had published in a regional publication several years ago and have changed it up quite a bit.  Once that is done . . . who knows.  I have other projects in the wings, all waiting patiently for me.

Have I seen The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey yet?  Nope.  Due to circumstances beyond my control, this may have to wait a few more days, but rest assured I will see it in the theaters.  It is my absolute dream to see a blockbuster movie like this on the opening night--one day, by God, I will!

A Literary Agent Database: AgentQuery.com

Looking for a literary agent?

One online resource you may want to check out is Agent Query.

This resource has drop-downs that allow you to search for specific topics under both nonfiction and fiction.  You may also search for various industry blogs under Agent Query's Blog Roll.  Here you can find agent and editor blogs, as well as categeries like "Digital Publishing" and "On Writing."

Be sure to check out Agent Query.com along with your other resources to look for your next literary agent.

Happenings In The Outhouse 14-Dec-2012 / The agent search revisited

My literary agent search is an interesting one.  With social media nowadays, how I've done agent searches several years ago is far different.  My research has even increased as I've come to the realization this time around that I need to spend some time finding out what agents want, whether or not they're open for submissions, and overall what their "platform" looks like.

One day, after I've signed with an agent and Beholder's Eye is published, I'll share the history of "how I found an agent."  Now, I'll just tell you that it's an interesting world and far more connected with the use of social media.

Before I go, I must share a literary agent database I stumbled upon while listening to a podcast.  It's called Agent Query.  It seems to be another resource one can use for finding an agent.

What else have I been up to?  Brainstorming and writing.

Not only do I have my ambitious 2013 goals set, I'm using my strategic strengths to plan for the immediate future.  First up are 10 short stories, all of which have been written and edited, but now they need a thorough polish and then . . . well, let's cross that bridge when we come to it.  I may decide to self-publish them or tack them into another self-publishing project I'm working on.

After that I have at least three more short stories I need to write, two science fiction short stories I need to edit, and then work on a novella--at least I think it's a novella.  It's called "Guest of Honor," something inspired by my recent viewing of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
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Before I forget, I said before that I was possibly going to do NaNoWriMo in the early part of 2013.  I still might do that, as November is typically a busy month for me.  I will keep you posted.

Happenings In The Outhouse 07-Dec-2012 / Goal setting

My 2013 goals have been written.  It's quite an impressive list too.  I've written some bold goals before but somehow I have a feeling that 2013 will be different.

In my research, experts say goals should be broken down into seven categories.  This is something different for me.  They are (in no particular order):

Career

Financial

Spiritual

Intellectual

Physical

Social

Family

How are your goals coming along?

My literary agent search for Beholder's Eye is going well.  I've narrowed the list down and am engaging them via social media to find ones to query.  It's a far different world than what I've done even a few years ago.

Different . . . yet better.

Through The Outhouse Window Video Blog - Episode #7

Let's talk about agents.  Literary agents, that is.

In this 7th episode of the video blog called Through The Outhouse Window, I discuss just that, as well as my quest to researching my own agent.

Enjoy!

Happenings In The Outhouse 30-Nov-2012 / Ye Olde Agent Search

Agents.

Agents.

And more agents.

That's what my life has been like since completing Beholder's Eye.  I'm having fun too.

My approach this time around is different than any other time I've done the "ol' agent search."  How?  Let me share a little--I don't want to give too much away at this point, because much of it is still experimental on my part.

First of all, let's get this out right away.  Being a literary agent is not a 9-5 job.  I follow quite a number of agents on Facebook and Twitter, and many are tweeting about their work late into the evening.  It irks me when I hear other people grumble about their job, and that they can't wait for five o'clock to roll around because "they're outta here!"  Being an agent (or even a book editor, for that matter) is probably one of the most difficult jobs in the world.  They get bombarded with queries and sample manuscript chapters, forever searching for that one gem they can polish up to try sell to a publisher.

That involves a lot of reading.

And they love it.

My "ol' agent search" involved pouring through the latest Guide to Literary Agents and Writer's Digest, and writing down any agents that was interested in the genre I was trying to publish.  I would give an extra star if they were looking for new/unpublished authors as well as a quick turnaround time and electronic submissions--believe it or not, even as of a few years ago, most agents wanted queries mailed to them with an SASE.

Nowadays, times have changed.  With social media through Facebook and Twitter (for two examples), one can find out what books they're recommending or looking for or even news about the publishing industry in general.

I'll keep everyone updated in my quest . . .

Happenings In The Outhouse 23-Nov-2012/ Working through Thanksgiving

For those living in the United States, yesterday was the Thanksgiving holiday.  Did that mean I didn't get any writing done?  Perish the thought--in fact, this week, I'm currently putting three short stories that I wrote before, roughly a year ago, from my notebook to the computer.

Yes, I wrote them long-hand.  Handwritten, even.  It's still a viable form of writing, if one does not have a computer or iPad or other electronic device to write on--or you find writing on a tablet tedious, like yours truly.

I'm also doing the literary agent search.  I've narrowed the list down some, and I'll start tackling it within the next few weeks.  I still want to research the ones I've identified, search for them on Facebook or Twitter or even on their own blogs, to see if they'd be a good fit.

This week I also got a stroke of luck.  Michael Hyatt, former CEO of Thomas Nelson and successful author, blogger, and podcaster, answered one of my questions on this week's podcast, which was an open-question session.  I asked him about whether or not his latest book Platform had any chapters regarding fiction writing and I also asked him on whether or not fiction writers needed for an online presence.  It was interesting to hear his answer, which can be shortened up with a simple: "Yes."