Overdue... once again.

I haven't felt like reporting much lately. In fact, I'm actually a bit frustrated. I have this feeling that I'm just doing this whole "get a board game published" thing all wrong. I've submitted Of Power & Glory to a number of publishers and I've gotten quite a few "We don't accept unsolicited games", one "We don't like the theme", one "The game is too long" and another publisher that has had the game for nearly a year and as of a few weeks ago still hasn't played it.

As for the other games, I wanted to get them reviewed before I started presenting them to publishers and there's been more frustration there. The Dice tower no longer reviews games from the Game Crafter unless you pay them more than I can spend. And the gamer's table has had Of Pride & Policy for many months now and it has yet to be reviewed. I'm not sure how to interpret that, but I'm not sure it's good.

I released another game Scarborough Fair that I've gotten some great feedback on. JT of the Game Crafter said it was his favorite game (not designed by himself) on the Game Crafter. High praise! He also said he would make it a staff pick, but that has yet to happen (another point of frustration).

Most of my frustration seems to be coming from me waiting on other people... and I want to say to myself "You can't wait on other people, you have to make things happen yourself!" And while I think that's good advice (thanks me!), I don't know what more I should be doing now. I don't think I want to self publish, but lately I've been wondering if that's not such a bad idea... though it scares me. I would want to get a lot of advice from someone whose been through that (preferably more than once).

Am I not approaching publishers correctly? Am I approaching the wrong publishers (I have been targeting the big guys)? Do I need to aim lower? I've considered Game Solute. Once again something I have to wait on since they cut off game submissions through the end of the year. I know that's only a few days away now, but I've been considering it for while and there's no guarantee they're going to flip the switch back on January 1st.

I keep hearing about people from the game crafter getting their games published and I know this is going to sound like jealousy... probably because that's what it is. But Why can't I have a little good fortune? Don't get me wrong. I am genuinely happy for those who get published. But it does make feel a bit left out. I feel like I have some really good games... nearly everyone who plays them seem to agree. I guess I really don't know how to take the next step. I could really use some advice or even just a bit of encouragement.