This is not me complaining, I swear

[kriadydragon]

First off, as the title says, this is not me complaining although it certainly may seem like a complaint. It's more a rather brooding observation concerning the arduous process of getting published.

Because in my quest to hopefully get myself an agent I've come to feel that the process is... a little on the skeevy side. Not because of agents or publishing companies! I promise that I am not feeling the least bit bitter toward any of them. I completely understand that this is a hit-or-miss business and I don't envy them having to sift through mountains of queries hoping to find that next big seller. Though I am hopeful that someone will eventually pick my story to consider, I have been nothing but realistic about the process.

But what I find a tad skeevy about it is that you're basically relying on luck. Yes, I know the same could be said about a lot of things - trying to get a job, for example - but when it comes to getting a job at least there's more of a set chance. That is, a job usually requires a certain set of skills and/or a certain level of education, and should you have those skills and education, then your chances of being hired go up.

With finding an agent or getting published (although it does help greatly to write a good query) what it all eventually comes down to is whether or not the agent or publisher is intrigued by your little synopsis, then intrigued by your ten-page or whatever snippet, then pleased by the entire novel. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter your skills or level of education, what matters is one person's opinion of your little synopsis.

And... I don't know, it's becoming a concept that's been making me feel a little uncomfortable. I guess because you always hear stories about the novel that was rejected a hundred times but when finally accepted went on to be a best seller, read books that make you wonder how the heck said book ever got published, read accounts about how it took author A so many years to get published but author B landed a contract right off the bat, except author A is the better writer. It just seems so... random, I guess, like Roulette. I am not saying that I think the process unfair - it is what it is. And what it is is rather depressing since there isn't much you can do other than write the best query you can and cross your fingers that it lands you an agent.

Why don't I just self-publish, you ask? Well, mostly because last time I tried to self-publish it was a dismal failure. But mostly because I really, really want the aid of an agent to help me in putting my stories in a better position in which they're more likely to get read. Self-publishing is my back-up should petitioning an agent or publishing company not pan out.

Feel free to agree or disagree. As I keep pointing out, this is mostly just my opinionated observation. I should also add, as a positive, that at least agents are a heck of a lot more find-able and reachable than they used to be. They want to represent writers. Problem is, there's a loooooooooot of writers looking for representation.

Comments

[black-raven135.livejournal.com]

My BIL has some stuff on Amazon.......
Why not swing past him and ask him what he thinks?
Be pleased to email you and provide his address
I know Jim would not mind.
A friend of mine, also on my flist, has stuff on Amazon
Jim has both E books, kindle and regular.....
My flist has several books.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

I'm still sending out queries to agents so not ready to go the self-publishing route just yet. Plus my brother and I came up with a game plan should I end up self-publishing after all. The only hurtle would be getting my story properly edited, because doing it professionally involves money I don't have but neither do I want to self-publish a story that isn't as cleaned-up as it can get.

[black-raven135.livejournal.com]

He has done that too......
I just thought he might be able to speak of things I am not capable of relating given this dilemma you are in.....
Just a thought

[sholio]

I struggle with this, too. Or perhaps in my case, it's more like it just feels so futile sometimes. You work as hard as you can, but the actual desired result (having a published novel) is entirely due to circumstances beyond your control. Submitting short stories to magazines really hammers this home for me, too -- it's SO hard to sell anything, and you get so many rejections for stories that really aren't bad stories! They just didn't appeal to a particular editor, or didn't catch her attention in the first paragraph, or whatever.

It's like having a job in which you do all your work, and then when payday comes, no mater how hard you've worked during the week, you have to pull a lever on a slot machine to see if you get paid or not. It takes a lot of determination and willpower to keep sticking at it in spite of that.

So, yeah. I can relate.

[imbecamiel.livejournal.com]

Heh. Yeah, there are just so many factors, right down to the momentary mood of whoever happens to be looking at your summary/sample. (I mean, when I think of the number of times that my being in a particular mood has made me dislike or become bored with something that I enjoyed when I tried it at a better time...)

I think a large part of the difficulty is that there's just such a great volume of manuscripts from authors looking to get published that there's not much in the way of double-checks in the rejection process. That is, most of the time that initial gateway to even get a chance comes down to the tastes and mood of one person. So, however much the publishing industry may like to think of itself as the guardian of literary quality, the truth is that the best authors aren't always the ones who get noticed. Not that I see any way of easily improving the system, but it does all get overwhelming and discouraging sometimes.

But then, for me my overall worldview does help considerably with those feelings of futile helplessness - that is, believing that God has a hand in everything, and there's really no such thing as pure random chance even in the midst of human whims. :)

And... although it's frustrating at times, I think that knowing more about how it all works can help alleviate some of the discouragement as well. Because at least you know that getting a rejection is not necessarily a reflection on the quality of your story. (But then, if you're as easily self-doubting as I am, all that uncertainty of "What does it mean?" can be just as hard, if not harder, than just knowing something wasn't good enough. XP)

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

Yes! Exactly! Your progression becomes dependent on someone else and there isn't much you can do about it other than hope. I'm actually quite surprised that I haven't caved to frustration at all, even though this is totally something I expected would frustrate me pretty quickly.

Although, I'm still in the beginning stages. I doubt I'll be as patient about it later down the road.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

Thank you :D I've actually been seriously tempted to self-publish, not because it would be quicker but because there would be more control involved and I am a bit of a control freak.

One thing I would like to know, is your BIL's works selling well? My own self-published book sold for a while then stopped and hasn't sold since.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

This is something I've been praying about constantly, so overall I'm not worried. One way or another my books will be published. My only problem is impatience. It took me years to reach a point in my writing where I was happy enough with my works to publish them, and I've come to dread the thought of getting published taking several more years. Which, yes, I know it's possible that might happen, but I would really rather it didn't (thus why I will try self-publishing once more if trying to get an agent doesn't get me anywhere).

I'm quite surprised about how well I've been handling. I thought for sure I would get all discouraged and depressed just after the first rejection. But I totally get what's involved, so while rejections disappoint me and leave me feeling down for a time, it's a very short time and then it's immediately replaced by motivation. So it hasn't been so bad.

But whether I'll be able to say that months down the road is another matter.

[imbecamiel.livejournal.com]

I'm glad that you have been able to maintain that balance. ^^ I think that ability to maintain persistence, along with eagerness to grow, is really the key to ultimate success - even if the waiting game in the meantime is hard. (Because yeah, it's so easy as a writer to think that once the book is done most of the work is done. But sadly... *g*)