WASHINGTON -- Humor and feature writer Charlie Clark's work has appeared in the Congressional Quarterly, the Washington Post, and the National Journal, but when he tried to get his novel published he fared no better than most first-time authors.

After being "unilaterally rejected," Clark was frustrated but undaunted and chose an alternative publishing route.

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Clark has just released Finish High School At Home, a novel about a baby-boomer's high school experience, with online publisher iUniverse.com.

Like Clark, many authors find self-publishing offers an alternative to shelving the manuscript.

"I couldn't just abandon the book -- I'd worked on it for years," said Clark, who believes his novel has fallen victim to publishing's blockbuster economic model. "I have enough confidence to believe that 20 or 30 years ago, my manuscript would have been bought by a New York (publishing) house."

What convinced Clark to publish the book himself were the good rejections he received.

"I think it's important to have someone other than you and your mother like the book. If I hadn't had people who know good writing egging me on I might not have released it," he said.

One of those positive rejections came from Jonathan Galassi at Farrar, Straus & Giroux, who called the dialogue "sparkling." Another came from Alan Peacock, formerly with Henry Holt, who said he was sure somebody would publish the book.

But no one did. Then Clark read an article in the Washington Post about Barnes & Noble investing in iUniverse.com.

"I had never considered self-publishing the book but I thought this was worth looking into. They put their name on the books and they do reject some of the manuscripts," Clark said.

At a total cost to Clark of $99, the trade paperback novel went on sale last week at all major online bookstores. It also is being excerpted at the-Idler.com.

Still, Clark, 47, does not have ambitions of bestsellerdom.

"My goal is to see the book read by and understood by a few thousand people. Obviously when you are young you dream of an advance, hardcover sale, foreign rights, movie sales, TV sales, but in my maturity I am being more realistic," he said.

IUniverse.com is planning to help Clark with marketing the book.

"Anytime we find an author doing something really interesting and marketing their book in a serious way, we love to do whatever we can to assist them," said Amy Rabinovitz, director of marketing at iUniverse.com.

Clark said he is pleased iUniverse.com is going to help if it means more people will read his book. What he wants now is what most first-time authors want: some validation that his creative endeavor was worth the effort.