Every Author's Path Is Their Own

I wish my January post was cheerier, but I have some stuff I need to purge. Therefore, this is long. What can I say? I’m a wordy blogger.

Social media is TOXIC. (Raise your hand if you agree.)

I’m not going to reiterate about what’s been going on with Romance Writers of America or comment on the authors involved or the shit-storm that followed. What I will say is that I’m glad I never had the money to join RWA (I always wanted to because wasn’t it what all romance authors did?), never had the money to enter their RITA competition (and I had really wanted to enter Tsunami Crimes for years), and never had the money to join a chapter (because I’d found a local one). Yup, I am glad!

On to another topic…

Recently, in our own FB group for IWSG, I saw a post about the daunting statistics of signing with an agent, and the comments took off to say things like “trad querying is a waste of time” and how you realize what a “bullshit racket it is and self-publish.”

Comments like this bother me, but I never respond because social media drama gives me anxiety. (I’m even nervous about this blog post.)

(Let me add that, no, this blog post is not just about that one FB post. It unravels into something bigger because these things have been on my mind for a long time.)

I am querying. I will always query. I’ve chosen the path to traditionally publish long ago. I don’t think it’s a waste of time or a bullshit racket. Yes, it’s hard and the statistics are depressing, but I chose it for myself. And I do want a literary agent. I fully believe I’ll find the right agent for me when it’s the right time, so I’m not going to give up. By the way, I have been published by small publishers without needing an agent.

Every author’s path is their own. (Read that again.)

One may choose to self-publish. Another may choose to query. And yet another may try out both. All paths are valid. You’re not stupid for picking one over another.

We’re not all self-published authors in IWSG.

There are traditionally published authors here. (And hybrid authors, and let’s not forget writers aiming for publication. Even writers who don’t ever want to publish.)

IWSG is for every kind of writer/author.

And it’s the same with the publishing world. There’s room for us all.

Now that I’ve said all of that, I will state that I understand indie authors get frustrated because of the bad rap they get from self-pubbed books that haven’t been edited or are just plain bad. “So, then all self-pubbed books must be horrible, right?” That’s an awful stigma to fight against, but I’ve seen countless indie authors shatter that assumption. Indie authors are coming out in force. They are dominating in many ways. And that’s fucking awesome! (No, I did not want to bleep that out.)

I totally get the “I just want to get my book out there” mentality to self-publishing. That’s why it’s so great. Writers have that choice. Many authors who have self-pubbed tried querying and realized it wasn’t for them, or they knew right off the bat trad publishing wasn’t the way they wanted to go because they wanted full control and all royalties.

I’m aware that indie authors get flak by many, and it’s horrible. It needs to stop. It’s harder to get into bookstores if you’re self-pubbed, to get reviews, to get sales. (All of that is true for authors of small publishers, too.)

I am in awe of every indie author because I, personally, could never do it. I am friends with countless indie authors (many in this awesome group), and I admire them so much.

Indie authors are NOT less than authors who trad pub or who have agents.

Let’s flip the coin now…

I’ve seen indie authors say nasty things on social media (to their indie friends) about traditionally published authors or those who want to get an agent.

(If you’re an indie author, you may not notice this, but it happens.)

I’ve read comments saying trad authors are stupid to give up their royalties and full control. I’ve also seen them knock down writers who want agents, basically laughing at them like, “Does she hope to become the next J.K. Rowling?”

Who cares if she hopes for that? Hope fuels us!

And, no, a writer is not insane for hoping to one day sign with a big publishing house. And writers are not traitors for signing with big publishing houses (or agents). I’ll admit right here that I dream of both.

I am published by small trad publishers. I chose this path because I don’t have to pay for edits, cover design, or formatting. I wouldn’t have a single book published if I had to. THAT’S THE TRUTH!

The differences between self-publishing and trad publishing with small publishers stop there. I am in the same boat as indie authors. I have to do all the marketing myself. I  struggle with sales and reviews. And I will honestly say that it annoys me when I see social media comments stating it’s only hard for indie authors. No, it’s not. Or that certain things that happen only impact indie authors. No, it doesn't. They forget, or don’t realize, that small trad pubbed authors feel it, too. The book stuffers and scammers are in the indie author world, but that also hurts authors published by small publishers and, whether you believe it or not, big houses.

How we publish doesn’t matter! The only thing that matters is that we get there!

I’m in the belief that we’re in this together, no matter the path we choose, but there’s clearly a lot of division (maybe not here but on other social media platforms), and it makes me sad.

Let’s NOT bash the paths to publication that aren’t our own.

Let’s NOT bash authors who aren’t in our publishing communities/circles.

Instead, let’s remember that EVERY AUTHOR’S PATH IS THEIR OWN, and that we are, indeed, IN THIS THING TOGETHER!

I love you all!

Let’s do even better in 2020!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!