Publishing

Is it really all that difficult to get a book published?

I've been searching the internet and almost everyone tells me that the hardest part is to find a literary agent because publishing houses will most probably not open your manuscript if it didn't come from a literary agent.

So looking for a literary agent in itself is tough. Of course it is, if you're not in the circle of writers or know of any writers, chances are you won't know an agent. As I scroll through my list of friends on Facebook, I realise that I don't know anyone who's written a book or if anyone is a literary agent. There are a number of bloggers, one even makes some side income from it. But has she published a book?

I can understand the literary agent's situation too. Thousands of people can write and write they will. Whether it's good enough to become a bestseller is entirely up to the publicists or the people who pick up the book and actually read it. So how do they find the time to sift through the piles of manuscripts that arrive at their door and decide, "Okay, this one looks promising..."

Crossing all fingers and toes!