S. Usher Evans: Self-Publishing

Forgive me, but I'm all fired up with freedom in my belly.

I know it's not 4th of July anymore, but I'm talking about the freedom to self-publish.

It's still amazing to me how many writers aren't even putting themselves out there. They sit behind their computers and wait for rejection letters from agents. Or they say, "This genre won't sell so I'm not going to query an agent!"

So, I put on my self-pub cheer-leading outfit this morning and said "What the hell are you waiting for? Upload your shit to Smashwords and start making money!"

Apparently I offended some people.

I got into an argument (I thought it was a nice, civil disagreement, but after a nasty gram from the admin, I was told there were complaints) about the idea that "Agents won't take self-published work and self-publishing severely diminishes your chances of getting traditionally published."

My response:

Obvs, I was much nicer.

But I still pulled myself out of the group, since it was clear that this particular town wasn't buying my snake oil.

But here's my full response in hilarious .gif form:

Is it true that some agents won't take self-published work?

Is it true that some big-name publishers won't take self-published work?

Is it true that your entire publication life will be ruined and you'll never work in this town again?

It makes me sad that too many good writers are waiting on the sidelines because they're waiting for that "stamp" of approval from somebody who simply gets a paycheck from a company that says "Agency" or "Publishing."

(To be clear: Agents are some of the most hard-working and incredible people. But they are just... people. Just because you have an agent doesn't mean you'll make any money. Editors too - hard working, good people who do an amazing job. But they are...again...just people - and you can choose to take or leave their opinions)

I see people asking questions like, "Do I need to change my book in order to have an agent like me?" or "Agents don't like prologues, I should turn mine into chapter one."

And I'm over here like:

There's a lot in life I'm not clear about. Don't ask me how to put together a car engine, don't ask me how to perform quality assurance on a missile. Don't ask me about limits in calculus, either - the one concept I never understood.

But Double Life? I feel that shit in my soul.

It is exactly as I intended it to be (albeit with a few typos which I shall fix in the next version I upload).

It's the same level of confidence I feel about myself when I go out on dates. You think I'm too fat, too loud, too goofy, too intense?

Likewise, if an agent isn't getting my vision, or they don't want to take me on because I've self-published - who cares? You ain't for me, son.

I feel like in this business you have to have to know when to take criticism and when to smile and thank someone for their input (that's the consultant way of saying "Yeah, I'm not going to listen to you"). People will always have an opinion about your work, and you have to decide where it's legitimate and where it's just noise. If you're doing things with intention, then you should know what the difference is.

So yeah, I'm still querying agents, but I'm starting to wonder why. After all, the S. Usher Evans Train is full steam ahead towards comic-book conventions, book signings, the whole enchilada. So really, I'm actually wondering what an agent would provide that I'm not already doing for myself.

At the end of the day, even if I am rejected by every single agent, I'm the one laughing all the way to the bank. I'm the one with a series published (in 3 years) and five more on the way. I'm the one who has full control over the design and marketing of my work. I'm the one with the power to sell my book directly to readers, and keep 100% of my profits (minus sales tax). I don't need an agent to set up a library book reading or to buy a booth at a comic-book convention. I can do that - and am doing that - all by myself.

To each their own, I suppose. I guess I've just been drinking the self-published kool-aid for so long that I forgot other people are still sober. And it's just shocking to me to see how many people put their dreams and their happiness in the hands of others, just to be let down. I just want people to understand that they can make their own dreams come true.