That sentiment seems to be the general consensus. I've heard it repeatedly over the years, about various aspects of my life. But I am acquainted with a woman who wrote a book about her life and the publisher turned her down. It sounded too fantastical and they had recently been burned by someone else whose fantastical life story turned out to be all made up. I also get that kind of reaction a lot: That I am a liar, a teller of tall tales, etc. People frequently think I must be, at the very least, exaggerating. (The truth is, I do a lot of downplaying to try to minimize social problems.)

So it is unlikely that a traditional publisher will ever publish my life's story -- unless I get famous for something else first and publishers begin coming to me. I have found that it really doesn't work to try to 'sell' myself. When I go to them, people just think I'm full of crap and trying too hard. It works far better for me to wait for other people to discover me.

At work, I remain in that same entry level job -- a job that some folks have gotten right out of high school at the age of 18. (I have about 5 or 6 years of college, some of it the equivalent of graduate level work and lots of people hired after me have been promoted.) There are people in the department I work in that know I am bright. And I have submitted suggestions, proposals, etc. It goes nowhere, in spite of sometimes being initially met with enthusiasm. No one seems able to believe that some loser who can't get promoted out of an entry level job could possibly have meaningful solutions to systemic departmental problems (which is generally the scale I think on). And recently when someone did take a proposal of mine seriously, the implementation ended up bearing no real resemblance to what I was trying to accomplish. It ended up repeating the same systemic sins I was trying to redress. I take this as a hint that corporate America and me don't really mix that well. I'm disgusted and if I came into enough money say, this week/month, I think I would promptly quit my job and begin walking across the US. (Edit: The job I have seems to have a high-ish wash-out rate and I have kept it while recovering from being very ill. So I don't feel like a personal failure. I just feel like I have no real future at the company -- at least not one commensurate with my abilities.)

Which is to say "It's not like I haven't tried to go the traditional/conventional route." But it doesn't work for me. Most likely, I will need to go off and do something on my own. Winning over an audience single-handedly will probably be less challenging than winning over The Powers that Be in some existing bureaucracy (whether at a publishing house or at my place of employment).

But thanks for the feedback. I do appreciate it. :)

The powers that be are only interested in self preservation and nothing else. If you can modify your ideas so that it highlights that point then they will be interested in it.

ITs usually not worth the effort though. Start saving up and quit.