Rejection & Release

Here's the timeline of my writing Lords of Kobol: Sep. 2009 - started, June 2010 - finished, July 2010 through Oct. 2010 - edited and re-edited, Nov. 2010 through Mar. 2011 - re-read and re-wrote, Mar. 2011 - sent it off to a publisher.

Now.  Which publisher?  Going by Amazon and other retailers, there seem to have been only three BSG "expanded universe" novels: Unity, The Cylons' Secret: Battlestar Galactica 2 and Sagittarius Is Bleeding: Battlestar Galactica 3.  These were all published by Tor Books, with the latest one being published in 2007.  Here's my thinking: only three EU novels?  Given how little I had heard about them or seen them in stores, I have to wonder if they sold that well.  This stuff is all Obstacle One.

Obstacle Two would be the fact that the show itself ended in Spring 2009, its spinoff show was canceled in its first season in Winter 2010 and I'm sending in the first part of a proposed trilogy (not even about the most popular characters) in Spring 2011?  Business-wise, it doesn't make much sense.

Obstacle Three is a long shot, but possible.  Fans of Star Wars may know that, on occasion, George Lucas will say a certain portion of time or a certain character or event is off limits to EU authors and plots because he wants to explore them himself later on.  Again, long shot, but it's possible that Ronald D. Moore, David Eick, et al, said the same thing about the ancient days on Kobol.  Also, it's possible that my ... decision regarding the nature of the Lords conflicts with some super-secret edict about them.

Obstacle Four is a simple matter of self-deprecation.  I'm a no-name, first-time author who dares think I can unravel and map out centuries of complex events that fans have pondered on their own for years.  Well, yeah.  I dared.  (Believe me, I have a damned low self-esteem, but even I think I pulled it off.)

Point being, I didn't really think I had a shot.  Suspicions were confirmed in early July when the rejection letter came in the mail.  "We are sorry to say that it is not right for us at this time," it stated in its decidedly form-like manner.

Man, this is a lot of text.  How about a picture?

Aww.  Cute lil' Hitler Kitten.

So, yeah.  Rejected.

After that, I toyed with the idea of getting an agent to press my case and get the thing in print.  I did some research, made a few pointless calls ... I dropped it.

I came to the conclusion that it would be easier and probably even better if I released Lords of Kobol on my own.  Now, I can't charge for it, lest I enrage the hordes of lawyers sitting beneath Universal Studios, gnawing on the marrow of their previous victims.  That's fine, though.  I give away these books and, maybe, when I publish stuff that is truly my own, the fans I've gathered will be willing to plop down a couple of bucks.  Maybe.

Long story short (too late), I'm publishing Lords of Kobol myself.  Tomorrow, you'll be able to download it here.