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Excellent post and my sentiments exactly. I, too, have had my fill trying to please agents. I want readers and I write because I love it. I like the control of Indie publishing and for better or worse, I'm my own product. Lots of luck to you in your ventures. Community is a powerful thing and I, for one, am dedicating myself to reading good Indie instead of lining less honest pockets.

A writer has always been his/her own product, for better or worse. Technology has finally caught up with this truism.

I've long been anti-mainstream (in all different avenues). I don't like authority, I don't like big corporations, you get the idea.

So at heart, I tend to agree with what your saying. And yet, I'll admit to having been pretty well brainwashed about the "right" way to go about this whole publishing business.

Thankfully, things are changing, and quickly. Some changes for the better, some not.

It's funny. "Indie" in almost every other medium is usually thought of as a good thing. I think writing might be one of the only places it's not.

But again, that's finally changing.

Woot! Great post, Aaron. You are doing a fine job of building an excellent fanbase, and I'm sure you'll pour the same energies into putting together quality books. The tables *have* turned in favor of the author, and the future looks bright for those wililng to step into it.

Grisham's story has always inspired me. He hand-sold his books out of the trunk of his car, peddling them at libraries all over the South. Wynwood only did a 5,000 book first printing of A Time To Kill, still one of the great popular books of the late twentieth century. His is the kind of story of perseverance we all need to keep our asses in the chair every day.

Like you, it would take a very good offer, and a hell of a lot of assurances, for me to fork over rights nowadays...

Well said.

I think this also sort of gets into branding. You have no idea how much internal discussion went on in my head before releasing A Mouth for Picket Fences. As you well know, it wasn't 100% horror, yet that was the audience I was catering to. I feared that I'd no longer be considered an "aspiring writer" but a "wanna-be poet." And let's face it, if writing stories is now a poor man's game, writing poetry is somewhere down there with eating in the gutters. Still, I forged ahead and put it out there. Same with self publishing...I stopped caring what the stigma might be and am in the process of doing that, too.

In the end, yes, it IS about doing what you can for yourself. It takes a special sort of madness to submit work to The Kenyon Review AND Necrotic Tissue in the same week (raises hand) but if I want to cover all the bases, it IS about what I can do for myself in terms of getting my work out there with the hopes of doing this writing thing for a living one day.

Damn, sorry so long...

Anthony - One must ask who would want "indie" to be a negative label for writers. I think we know the answer.

Daniel - I'm sure I've heard the Grisham story before, but it's always nice to read. In large part, the "lack of assurances" is what forces my hand. Why not go it alone, then?

Barry - And we love you for that special sort of madness.

Ah, doubt. I keep trying to shake that beast off my back, but his fingernails are so sharp. :D

I can't deny, I'd snoopy dance if I snagged an agent and a book deal with a major publisher and I'm going to keep trying until my fingers crumble to dust but...I am happy to spend forever in the small press. I just need to make sure they are the 'right' small presses. I don't think I've fallen for too many monsters yet.

And the folk (although they number only one) at Strange Publications are awesome.

Cate - The world would spin off its axis if you stopped trying. It's the trying which makes us better. I'll keep trying to land a story in F & SF, Clarkesworld, and all those other impossible venues because it makes me better as a writer.

Excellent post, Aaron. It's something I've been thinking about lately, and it's good to see another writer's thoughts on the subject. You've layed it all out quite nicely.

Really great post, Aaron. I think the only important thing for a writer is knowing for whom they want to write--that's what maturity is to me. You've got it, and it's so honest even those who don't agree must at least respect it.

I, of course, agree wholeheartedly.

This is a great post Aaron, and that is all I have to say!

Have a great night!
Happy publishing!

Kara

Thanks, Laurita. Power to the people.

Katey - I'm writing for a kid in Cleveland who hasn't discovered me yet. Hey kid! Wake up! But seriously, thanks.

You have a great night, too, Kara.

In Cleveland--ugh, probably one of my cousins. I'll give em a kick next time I'm up on Erie :D

It's nice to find others of like mind.

I, too, will soon be stepping out to self publish. I was like a lot of writers. I couldn't shake the old formula of novel, agent, publisher, book deal.

But now that I've finally decided to take the plunge, the term "indie" writer suits me just fine.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the matter. It helps me feel that I'm making the right decision.

Most of the best writers have doubt at some point. ;-)

You've brought up some excellent points, Aaron. Thanks for expressing them.

I hear you. Will be subbing agents in the not too distant future and will see how that goes. I can't see myself not submitting to small press though. Could it be possible that there could be a happy medium out there somewhere? :)

If my small loyal band of fans could be 50% naked Asian men, that would be great ; )

Thanks, Katey!

Gabe - I keep telling myself the only wrong decision is no decision.

Tyhitia - I don't claim to have the answers, just a point of view. Thanks for reading.

Danielle - Best of luck with the agent hunt. I might have turned out differently had I started with short fiction and not queried that first novel...such is life.

Natalie - You got it.

Well said. Read through that "house always wins" article too. Yikes.

Yikes, indeed. Why do some dudes gamble on the street? Because the house always wins...