Writing Destiny

There was a time that I thought I had this whole business figured out.  I'd been writing for years but it wasn't until I had my first novel almost finished that I started researching the publishing industry.  This was before Kindle and the proliferation of ebooks.  At that time, I thought that, if I could self publish, I could have complete control over my work, write what I wanted and keep all the profit.  I still didn't understand marketing but arrogantly thought it was something I could learn.  More on that later.

I thought, the best way to learn about the business side of writing, is to talk to other writers and so I joined every Myspace group that dealt with my genres.  As a horror and fantasy (sometimes sci-fi) writer, I was blissfully ignorant about the clicky nature of mid-level talent that infested those murky waters of early social media and so I was myself, which is to say, good-natured, open-minded and thinking the best of people until they gave me reason not to.  I've since changed.

My first question was to a horror writers group and it was, "Is self publishing a viable option for a new writer?"  Anyone who has been around for any amount of time in this industry already knows what the reaction I got was.  Digust!  Disdain!  Dislike!  I got DISSED on all levels.  These elitists, most of which were not published or, if they supposedly were I'd never heard of them, tried to belittle and discourage me from even being a writer because those were the days of the Vanity Publishing fad.  If you don't know what a Vanity Publisher is, Google it, I'm sure there's still tons of negativity out there about them.  Every writer I talked to discouraged me from self publication and convinced me that this was the mark of an amateur who likely had no talent, future nor a valid reason to live.  

So, I did more research.  I got Writer's Market and read every website on the net about how to get published.  I started listening to podcasts about writing and I got some great info there, but I also felt a hint of that same snobbishness about self publishing.  But I decided that if I wanted success as a writer I would have to buy into that cult of non-personality.  I would learn the rules for my genres and just try to market online and hope something good came of it.  And that's what I did.  And I kept doing it until all the spark went out of my creative fire and I stopped writing so I could go back to art, which I had neglected far too long.

Then one day I was on Facebook (Myspace was now long dead), and I saw where Michael A. Stackpole had posted a link to his blog and the topic was on self publishing.

First let me say something about Michael Stackpole.  I learned more about the real world of publishing and life as a writer from Michael's "The Secrets" podcast than anywhere else.  I learned about plotting and how to use conflict.  I learned about created realistic characters and world building.  He's a great writer with a lot of accomplishments and some great stories.  I recommend "The Dark Glory War" to start if you want military fantasy of the highest caliber.  Unfortunately, I can't find that podcast anymore.

So, respecting Michael as I do, and knowing his background, I assumed this would be something about Vanity presses and things not to do; the stuff I'd heard before.  I was so surprised to find out that it was just the opposite.  Michael was talking about the new viability of this avenue.  How he'd moved his own focus to self publishing and that what we always called "traditional publishers" were now being called "legacy publishers".  Any time you call something legacy, it means its dying.  The first time I ever heard of Amanda Hocking was in that blog and he linked other articles about writers who had been dropped by their publishers for lack of sales who were now marketing their dead books as ebooks on Amazon and making a living, hell, making a KILLING!

That was the day that I realized that my original vision for self publication was right on point, just a half a decade too early.  Stories I wanted to tell that crossed genres (a big publishing no no) were given new life in my mind and that old fire in my heart was sparked anew.

So I wanted to do a historical horror fantasy novel set in a fictional county in Ireland in the 16th century?  Hell yeah, I could do that!

I wanted to write YA military sci-fi in the style of anime?  I could do it!

I wanted to rip apart my urban fantasy novel, the only one I'd finished to date, and retell it?  It's my party and I can vivisect it if I want to!

I wanted to create a nom de plume and write erotica while writing YA under my real name?  Done deal.

The industry has changed.  I feel free.  If I fail, it's now on my terms.  If I succeed, that too is on my terms and there is no limit to what I can do.

A writer should be able to write his own destiny.  Will you write yours?

Listening to: Deftones- Change (In the House of Flies)