Choices

As my book undergoes a last round of edits, to be completed by year's end, I face an interesting choice: to query or not to query. What I mean, specifically, is whether to maket my book the traditional route, sending queries in hope of obtaining the services of an agent, or to go the way of self-publication, which, thanks to the Kindle, iPad, Nook and pending competitors--thanks to the Internet in general--is potentially a far more lucrative than it was, say, ten years ago.

What do I aim to accomplish by putting my book out there? Do I want fame and money, and if not fame and money, do I seek the approval of industry professionals such as agents and editors? 

I'm not looking for professional acceptance. My goal is to share with others a book I've worked long and hard to finish. I am confident that my book will find an audience, and it doesn't matter one bit to me whether this audience exists virtually, through the Internet, or within the confines of a brick and mortar store. Well, then, if I'm not interested in money, why not put it out there for free? Why not just post it on this blog for all to consume? The thousands of hours I spent on this book weren't free. Writing itself embraces a lifetime of experiences. Though I have no aspirations of becoming a full-time writer, meaning I won't quit my day job to spend days in my office chairs dressed only in boxers, my efforts are worth something. Something, even if this something only amounts to a few dollars.  

I'm definitely leaning toward self-publishing. Why? The control factor. It's not some agent's book, not some publisher's book or some editors book. It's mine. No one knows the characters like I do. No one knows the story like I do. No one knows the nuances like I do. And I'll be damned if I can be buggered with "what the market wants." I want to find my own audience, granted, but I want an audience who like my book for what it is, not what it could be if it were more mainstream. I'm not a writer who targets markets, and I will find my audience, however limited that audience may be. I will not sell out for false dreams of grandeur. 

Moreover, I'm very impatient. I won't play some two-year waiting game while an agent tries to sell my work. Further, the state of the horror genre these days looks mighty bleak. The well-established writers--King, Koontz, Keene, Lee, Simmons--still sell, but there's been a significant decrease in the number of new writers breaking into the genre. Or maybe there's been a decrease in the number of writers trying to break into the genre. Whatever the case, it appears that both agents and publishers have lost interest in unproven horror authors.

That they've lost interest doesn't hurt my feelings. Traditional publishing is what it is: a business. And I have other options, notably self-publishing. What about the stigma of self-publishing? Well, for one, I think self-publishing has gotten more credible over the last few years. Regardless, my book is my property, and I'm not willing to bargain with anyone--not with grand poobah of literary agents, not even with the ghosts of Poe and Lovecraft--on my book's merits. I've put a lot of work into my book, studied the language, explored other genres, consumed books and films in my genre by the hudreds. My characters have a depth seldom seen in genre fiction. I made them that way. I work hard at developing characters. I also work hard at dialogue, and the plot of my story itself is very intricate, taking years of rewrites to get it in its present form. Trust me, I don't need confirmation. 

Most likely, I will self-publish my book without sending a single hello to a literary agent. Am I concerned this may hurt my chances with traditional publishers in the future? Nope. I realize I'm making a choice, not only for this book, but for other books I will write in the future. So far, no regrets.