I’m going to blog my heart out for a while. I’m not angry, but I am tired of all the bullshit I have to wade through, day in and day out. I need to give my brain a douche. Flush the clutter from between my ears. So, with that said: The state of publishing today, or, what’s wrong with this picture?

　

Today’s economy influences the decision making process, from publishers to agents. Quite a few are making bad decisions, from my perspective, and then they bitch about the consequences of those bad decisions. True enough said for agents as well as publishers, but to me as the outside observer, the whole symbiotic relationship between agent and publisher looks like one big, unsatisfying cluster fuck. Because of this confusion, writers like me are getting a lot of bad advice, along with the good. And it has nothing to do with the state of today’s economy. I can safely say that things have been building to a head for the last two decades.

　

As writers, we look at a hundred different sources of information, we’re supposed to put it all into perspective, and we almost never get it right. That’s not our fault. For the past two decades agents and publishers alike have been speaking to us with forked tongues. A good example of that would be: Publishing uses the mid-list to nurture unknowns into bestsellers, when us writers know the mid-list died twenty years ago, and publishing has yet to bury the corpse. I have the feeling that publishing will keep parading that sorry old cadaver around until the last shred of skin flakes off. Or, how about this little nugget: Write what you are most passionate about; then we’re told to know what is currently hot, and write something similar. The latter being the bad advice, but half of everybody jumps on that slow mule to nowhere and whips away. The latest I saw on an agent’s blog: Epic fantasy has grown cold, don’t bother with it, unless it is exceptional. Yet, publishers keep pumping it out, one series after the other. I would safely say that almost all fantasy today is (using the term as an umbrella) epic. Book One of the Whatever Saga, followed by several more sequels. I don’t see any stand-alone urban, high, modern, or whatever fantasy novels. A story that starts and ends with that one book. Do you? Can anybody name me one recently published stand-alone fantasy novel? Oh well, science fiction has their space operas.

　

Here is a classic "what the fuck?" I’ll share. I went to Publisher’s Marketplace, Association of Authors’ Representatives, and AgentQuery, giving each of their search engines only one parameter. Fantasy. Find me agents that represent Fantasy. I got a big list of possible agents back from each site. I weeded out the questionable agents, weeded out those who are more interested in selling me their books and shit than take my query seriously, and was left with an impressive list of about 70 names. I then went to their Web sites and very carefully read their Areas of Interest. Just over 50% didn’t want Fantasy. No Fantasy! You think they could update their listings. Now I’ll add another "what the fuck?" to my first "what the fuck?" I dug a little deeper. Out of the twenty-five names I had left, I took a look at their clients lists. Half seemed to only represent women writers. One male writer represented for every twenty to thirty female writers seemed to be the norm. I’m a man, hence the beard in my photo, so I’m interested in things like that. But, don’t take my word on it, look for yourself. And, between you and me, I don’t think I would stand a snowball’s chance in Hell with those agents, even if my every word dripped gold.

　

The business of publishing is all about the Benjamins. Publishers, agents, money rules their world. Everything they do has dollar signs attached. Don’t let them tell you differently, because they would be lying to your face. As writers, the gatekeepers to the publishers we want to publish with, are the agents. If they don’t think they can sell your project right here and right now, the answer with a choice few is a maybe, and 99.8% it’s a no. It all has to do with what’s hot. Right now it is everything vampires. I’d love to shove everything vampires up their overpaid asses and twist. Why? These vampires fight crime. They not only save the world, they have kind and compassionate souls. They fall in love, and angst just flows from the pages. WWBD? (What Would Buffy Do?) Kill them all and let God sort them out. Why do I feel this way? Simply because there are some fantastic books out there, literary masterpieces, which will never see the light of day. One or two of the bravest agents out there today, blogging their hearts out, even admit that what I just said is true. They will pass on a literary masterpiece, a potential Pulitzer Prize winner, if they think they can’t sell it, right now, today. That right there, that attitude, is so wrong, words cannot express how I feel.

　

As a writer I’m not sure what to think, or what I should do. My options are limited. I perfect a query and send it off to my agent list. Once at the agent’s office, I might have to get past the unpaid intern first, before the agent even reads my query. If the intern doesn’t like my query, I get a rejection slip, or I’m ignored. If the agent actually reads my query, but they can’t sell my book right then and there, today, I get a rejection slip. If I write what fills my soul with passion, but it’s not part of what agents consider a hot-market book, I get a rejection slip. After the agents, I can send my stuff out to various small publishers. There are only ten to twelve small publishers recognized by the industry as legitimate publishers, so again the overall market is small, there might be a little money made, very little money made, but that’s about it. Writers then turn to self-publishing their novels. That’s all they have left. Agents and publishers alike say that’s the worst thing a writer can do; self-publish their novels. But, you know what, I think that’s the best thing we could do. The agents didn’t want them, the publishers (the very few who might know of their existence) didn’t want them, so what’s the problem?

　

There is no problem. Readers expect a few flaws in self-published books, and they can tell when a writer has taken great pains to produce an exceptional read. They forgive us our faults. We make some money, not much, but a little, and I don’t see anything but good in self-publishing. We can and do correct our mistakes, and republish our novels, giving our readers only the best of us. We learn and grow from their feedback.

　

And, you know what? If a writer happens to sell a book through an agent to a big publishing firm, the last thing they’re going to care about is a few self-published novels. In fact, if you happen to pull in some good sale numbers, those same publishers will then buy that book, opening all the doors that have been slammed in your face in years past.

　

And, just in case you ever wondered about it, sequels serve a purpose. If you happen to buy book three of the Whatever Saga and like it, chances are real good you’ll buy books one and two of the Whatever Saga. Money. It’s all about the Benjamins. See you next week.