Today is the eighth in a series of posts by San-Diego-based writer Thomas Shess who has decided to keep a journal on his journey to find a publisher for his novel.

WEEK EIGHT

Go Forth. In the eight weeks I've been searching for a publisher and or an agent, a very helpful piece of advice came from San Diego Film Commissioner Cathy Anderson. She said to network as much as possible and "a good way to do that is to attend writers' conferences." Good things always came to her as a result of attending writers' weekends. Florida writer Nanette Wiser first introduced me to Media Bistro by pointing out how many writing classes are offered in all genres. "And, you save dough on hotel tabs and Media Bistro won't lose your luggage." Thanks, Nan.

Ah, Networking. This week via snail mail I received a flyer for the 4th Annual Southern California Writers Conference/Los Angeles, Oct. 7-9). Lo and behold, I worked with one of the agents, who is set to address the confab in Manhattan Beach. In a previous incarnation, I founded (and later sold) a small neighborhood newspaper. That San Diego area agent wrote several articles for me. I'm going to call her and catch up with her career. BTW, the conference has signed ten well-known literary agents to speak and evaluate work, David Hale Smith, Paul S. Levine, Regina Brooks and Sally Van Haitsma from Castiglia Literary Agency and others.

Feedback. Last week, I struck a vein (as opposed to vain) when I repeated a suggestion given to me that older writers might wish to self-publish a first work, especially if they do not wish to go through the effort needed to attract an agent or publisher. A mediabistro reader pointed out age has nothing to do with anything. True. Very true. Talent speaks for itself. My point meant to convey that those who wished to take a short cut to get published that there were many self-publishing doors available.

Progressives Unite. Two weeks ago, after he read "The Zoo" on mediabistro, a Newsweek writer from the West Coast called me. He was asking randomly selected Americans what they thought about high oil prices. Given such a soapbox, I responded with the zeal of an Upton Sinclair groupie. And, he quoted every thought.

First, the Bad News. I guess everyone at the slosh pile is back from vacation. On Friday I sent off two E-mail queries and on Tuesday I received two very familiar looking rejection slips. Hmmm. I'm not quitting my day job. Speaking of the same, I am in charge of rejection or acceptance slips for all architecture and interior design features at San Diego Magazine. One writer attached to his query a coupon for a cup of Starbucks Coffee. I did reject the article however, I sent that person a one-year comp subscription for being creative. And, yes the latte was delicious.

More Feedback. Soon after last week's version of "The Zoo" hit cyberspace, I received a phone call from Erica Doroche from Indiana-based Author House. She noted that I seemed lukewarm to the suggestion of self-publishing. I reminded her that this column is by a rookie novelist and I have much to learn. She asked if I was interested in the inner workings of self-publishing as seen through her firm's eyes. I agreed. She kindly walked me through some interesting reasons why self-publishing is a good thing for many writers, including first time novelists. Author House was founded in 1997 and to date has published 29,000 works. That's only a few short of my growing stack of rejection slips. She suggested I make a call for more information to Robert Walters, a writers rep at Author House. I have a lot of questions for him. How much does it cost? Who retains the rights? Do they copy edit? Do they concept edit? What's the deal?

I'll include what I learned in next week's column.

Grown Man Cries. Coming back on Sunday from dropping off our youngest son Mike at the airport as he headed off to his first year at San Jose State, I asked his mom: "wanna bet on who cries first?' Mr. Mom lost. One look at his empty bedroom did it for me.

* Because it's a jungle out there.