Hi all, long time no visit. Looking for a bit of advice...
I've created (and printed) a children's picture book, with my friend doing the illustrations. Very happy with the final result (it was originally a present for my god daughter but always intended to try to get it published), and I recently ran off about 10 printed copies which have come out very well. Over the past six months or so I've submitted digital PDFs of the book to around 30 different relevant agents via their usual submission process, but have received back only standard 'form' rejection emails. My friend thinks I should try to get into situations where I can put one of the printed books physically into the face of agents as they may not even be opening the files, but I'm unsure of this approach, not sure where to start, and beginning to wonder if I should just bite the bullet and self-publish as a print-on-demand book.
So that's where I'm currently at. I could self-publish pretty quickly (I printed via ingram spark so I think it would just be a matter of purchasing an ISBN and then setting it all in motion from there, and I thought about maybe mailing out some of the copies I already have to relevant reviewers, as well as marketing via social media etc.), and I do favour this approach in a way because it gives me more control than just endlessly firing it off into the ether and hoping someone will bite. I'm also aware that it's not neccessarily 'conventional' to be sending a fully finished picture book to agents, so that may be creating a barrier from that angle. There are a few things I'm unsure of though :
*If I self-publish, will this prevent me from seeking an agent/publisher for the book at a later date?
*Is POD a good route - has anyone had any success/ experience of this?
*Are there in fact any good ways to get agents to see your work other than the standard submission process I've already been following? I'm based in London, so there are likely to be many nearby.
Many thanks in advance for any advice you may have. I'm keen to do something with the book as I do believe in it, and it seems a shame to just leave it sitting there when its 'ready to go', I'm just feeling like its a bit of a crossroads and not sure which way to go. Cheers!