Those Books that I Put in Drawer but Want to Take Back Out

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Darlene

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A few years back, before I started getting accepted by traditional publishers and was completely ignorant about the writing world, I had two science fiction books that were done via Virtual Bookworm as PODs. They were the first two books in a series I was writing, but doing things POD-wise was expensive back then and I soon discovered that my brilliant stories weren't getting the exposure I had hoped for and trying to get it on my own was exhausting and costing me time and money that I didn't have.

I eventually cancelled my contract with them, and put my unsold, much loved, books in a drawer. I was sort of just....heart-broken. Not long afterwards, I had a book, set in Appalachia [the land I know well] accepted by a small traditional publisher and my readers wanted more of the same type, so I wrote two more books along the same lines, but my heart was still with the sci-fi books in the drawer. People loved my Southern Fiction and my poetry won awards and publishing contracts, but I still loved the books in the drawers. They were the ones that I had poured my whole self into and they had barely seen the light of day. They were the ones with the extremly complex characters, brilliantly illustrated plot lines and intricate subplots and nobody was even seeing them.

So, here I am, fifteen years later, a published author who never stopped loving those first two books and I want to resurrect them, breathe life back into them and get them back on the market. How do I go about it?

Should I resubmit those books to traditional publishers? Would a traditional publisher even consider books that have already been done POD's, even if it was years ago?

I sincerely appreciate any feedback I can get on this. Thanks.
 
Because you had them up on PODs, it's considered "previously published," even if no one were to have bought the book. Agents and publishers will be wary and probably less likely to pick it up, but it's not a definitive no. If you're already traditionally published, you could bring them to your agent/publisher and ask what they think of them, even if they're different genres. Also, if you already have a large following from your other books, you can try to self-pub them again, this time using your mass audience to market them to.
 
Hm, I posted, I got kicked out, and no post showing? I actually think Chrome has a problem these days, I might install Opera at this rate. Anyway, what I actually said was, given the amount of time that's passed you might consider editing those first novels, and then submit them to your current publisher/agent and see what they think. You have nothing to loose. ;)
 
Thanks Alistair and Nicole. I guess I could just approach my publisher. I don't know why I hadn't thought of that. Maybe because they doesn't usually publish Sci-fi, but who knows? Perhaps they will make an exception. I currently do not have an agent. I may revisit the whole agent thing.
 
Because you had them up on PODs, it's considered "previously published," even if no one were to have bought the book. Agents and publishers will be wary and probably less likely to pick it up, but it's not a definitive no. If you're already traditionally published, you could bring them to your agent/publisher and ask what they think of them, even if they're different genres. Also, if you already have a large following from your other books, you can try to self-pub them again, this time using your mass audience to market them to.

Sometimes i think you'd be a great agent. :)
 
Haha thanks (I think). I don't know how good I'd be at World Emperor though. Michael would have to help :p

I imagine Michael as an idealist. So, if you let him take the lead, he'd be able to cure world hunger and poverty. Then I guess he could get factious groups to speak to one another and agree on peace terms.

As a highly informed person you'd be able to make sound and practical decisions.

The world's problems solved by a couple of newlyweds!
 
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