Since my last post I've published a collection of stories and a novel - a satisfying experience even if it has not been in any way a lucrative one. A second novel is in the late stages of preparation for publishing in (probably) early 2023.
Not surprisingly, I now have views on a number of things, many of them, such as the questionable value of Amazon Ads, not directly related to this blog. What is relevant here is my developing position on writing itself and by extension the act of publishing. This blog has recorded my changing thoughts on publishing from naive if heartfelt early thoughts through to the decision to self-publish. Along the way I've expressed views on for whom I'm writing and why I write and it is my thoughts on these that are in flux.
My starting point is that I now think of myself as a writer rather than as a hobbyist. That has consequences. In the past, when asked for whom I write, my answer has been myself first and then like-minded people. In one sense that remains true and must, I think, be the foundation of any serious creative endeavour, but it is not the end of the matter. My instincts remain to veer towards the literary and the weird, but that doesn't mean that I should not consider commerciality too.
My thoughts on this evolved when I was challenged by a friend as to whether I could write something quickly that was pure genre, even if I adopted a nom-de-plume for it. I initially rejected the thought, but something lodged in my mind and germinated. I'm now plotting three detective novels with the same protagonist and general setting. I'm not restricting my imagination in the generation of ideas, but I am paying attention to how classic noir/pulp writers approached their craft.
At this point I am not researching the market to see what is in demand and writing towards that demand. I am not blind to the nature of commercial fiction, but I am trying to maintain early focus on detail, structure, and voice - a lot of this type of fiction seems to me to be as much about the aesthetic as the mystery, and why I write has a lot to do with aesthetics and the act of creation.
The importance of myself as my own first reader remains, and in a sense I could craft something I really like then put it away and move on to something else, but in the end that strikes me as high-minded but pointless. For these purposes, I make a distinction between writing and being a writer - the latter implies (for me) the desirability of having readers, and hopefully sufficient readers to recoup the costs of creation of the work.
As a consequence of that, it is also in my mind to make the effort to seek a 'traditional' publication route for this series of books, and that means, in time, making a renewed attempt to find an agent and publisher.
It isn't as easy as that, of course. I sometimes see the notion floated that one can choose between 'indie' and 'traditional' routes, when in fact the two are very different in that the former is wide open and the latter is locked down and policed by gatekeepers. Even though I remain sceptical about the industry in general, it remains attractive. In part, I acknowledge, that is because 'traditional' publishing offers a sense of validation, but that is only part of it: in larger part it is because that route outsources at least some of what indie publishing entails and has greater reach in the market due to the economics of the enterprise.
Will I be any more successful attempting the traditional route this time than in the past? I don't know. On the plus side, there are people in the industry now who have at least a vague awareness of my existence, and that might help.
Of course, this is all somewhat premature as I have yet to write the novels: it's a declaration of intent though.
No comments:
Post a Comment