As an author, I've had plenty of opportunities to deal with rejection. Sometimes, the rejections are nice--"we loved your humor and your attitude, but the story wasn't quite right for our line." Some stink--"work on your writing." The bottom line, though, is that they're rejecting your baby--they're saying that what you put your heart and soul into for all those months or years just isn't good enough for them. Then you go and read some of the things they are buying and you want to heave.

As a publisher, I get to see rejection from the other side. I'm pretty much a one-man shop here. I read submissions, edit accepted manuscripts, format for electronic and paper editions, and hire out the cover design (to Karen, my lovely bride). This means that I've got to both love the books I buy (because I'm going to be reading them again and again as they go through the editing process). It also means that I really can't afford to take flyers on books that are outside my genre limits. For such a small publisher, I do cover a wide range of genres (mystery, romance, science fiction, fantasy), which I can do because I've been reading intensively in all of these genres for decades. For me to take on another genre--one I don't read--would be a stretch. How would I know if it's good by the standards of the genre? Even if I found a good one, how would I sell it? Why would anyone coming to BooksForABuck.com for their next book look at something outside my genre guidelines. So, guess what--even when I read submissions I love, I still reject them.

This doesn't mean I don't cringe when I read some of the stuff published by big houses for big advances. It does mean I understand a bit more.

Did you see about the sexy new Amazon Kindle DX? It's big-screen and can handle PDF, which the traditional Kindle can't. For me, I think the original would work better because I want something I can carry easily. Still, pretty cool.

As predicted, I've given up on Fire Starter. Now I'm reading VANISHED by Joseph Finder. I've enjoyed all of Finder's books I've read so far and so far, Vanished looks like a good one. (I'm also working on submissions--I'm caught up to my 3 month guideline and trying to get ahead).

I'm going to make HOT PROPERTY by Karen Leabo the www.BooksForABuck.com book of the day. A professional shopper gets framed as a jewel thief and the sexy cop who's after her is still recovering from his marriage to a woman who couldn't stop spending. Can someone who looks as guilty as she really be innocent? If she is, there's something seriously wrong in Dallas. Sexy and fun--only $1. (Available in HTML, Adobe Acrobat PDF, eReader and Microsoft Reader formats). Here's the link: http://www.booksforabuck.com/rompages/rom_2004/hot_property.html

Here's the cover (cover design by Karen Leabo):

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