There’s no such thing as a “typical” indie author. We’re all over the map, from writers debuting their first work in this brave new world to authors who have done several laps around the track and have witnessed American publishing as it evolves into a whole new animal.

I’m in that second bunch. I did my apprenticeship as a pseudonymous writer of young adult fiction in the 1980s (yes: including Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys). In the early 1990s (before the Internet), I got lucky with a mystery series (now in its 25th book) for Berkley Prime Crime, and stayed lucky, adding three more long-running series to that string. Sales were strong enough to earn the tag “New York Times Bestselling Author” for my book covers.

Which is why my agent and I were jolted in 2012 when my standalone historical/biographical novel, A Wilder Rose, was rejected—by 32 publishers. I had been so sure that an editor would jump on the true story of the mother-daughter collaboration that produced the ever-popular Little House books. I had lived with the book in my head for over a decade, and I believed in the story—believed in it passionately. Never mind that publishing was still in the tank after the 2008 economic meltdown. The rejections made me angry. They hurt. Like hell.

I stopped cursing and published A Wilder Rose as print-on-demand hardcover and trade paper editions via Lightning Source (but under my own single-author imprint), and on Amazon and Barnes and Noble in ebook and print. After the book sold 20,000 copies, another publisher picked up the reprint rights. To date, A Wilder Rose has sold over 60,000 copies and is currently under film option.