With the introduction of e-readers & iPads, the book industry has taken a so-called hit and is not seeing the profits of the past. Some may have speculated this from the recent bankruptcy of Borders. But what they don't realize or factor in, is the increase in e-book purchases. Take a look at this USA Today article about the publishing industry and how its changing

http://books.usatoday.com/bookbuzz/post/2011/08/publishing-industry-doing-better-fueled-by-e-book-sales/414415/1

1. Write the first draft of your book
2. Make the necessary edit to finalize (This may take longer than it takes to write the first draft
3. Go through many of the blogs, books, writer's digest, and other avenues to find the specific literary agents that represent your kind of book
4. Write a Query Letter, which is a basic synopsis of the story
5. Send out the Query Letter and Sample Chapters based on the submission criteria that each agent has stated on their website
6. This usually takes 6-8 weeks to receive a reply
7. Don't be surprised to get quite a few rejection letters (common)
8. Keep being persistent, and if you don't receive an agents offer to represent than move forward with Self-Publishing your book
9. Never give up!

This will be my first post in my blog. I'm hoping to describe my journey as I develop and publish my novel. I hope you will stay tuned to more updates to come!