Patrick Bhaldwraithe:
Professionalism is about becoming part of the establishment and is end oreinted, book sales.
You need to understand that publishing is a business. Publishers are concerned about making money. If they don't make money, they don't stay in business. To make money, they need to sell books. To sell books, they need to publish books that they think are going to sell. Therefore, they are always on the lookout for books that they think are going to sell.
Now, whilst I agree that some of the bigger publishers are mainly concerned with easy categorisation of books, there are plenty of smaller publishers out there that are more prepared to take a risk with their lists. Indeed, in the UK some of the most exciting books and some of the biggest prize winning books have come from the smaller publishers.
If you're looking to have a book published, then like it or not, you are becoming part of that business. To have a professional attitude in this context means that you appreciate where all of the other players are coming from and what that means for you and your manuscript and that you understand how the industry works.
Just because you are producing anti-conformity books doesn't automatically mean that a publisher isn't going to be interested in them. If you do sell a book to a publisher, don't assume that they're going to demand that you change the very essence of your book because they don't like your message (if they don't like your message, they won't buy it in the first place).
Bearing all this in mind, you also need to understand that in looking for an agent, you're looking for someone who can sell your book to a publisher because that's how they make their money (by taking a percentage of the sale). Therefore, you need an agent who thinks they can sell your book.
If none of that sits right with you, then stop looking for an agent and stop thinking about commercial publication. There are other avenues available to you, notably self-publishing where you can retain total control over your manuscript but at the risk of making very little money from it.
Patrick Bhaldwraithe:
I write a lot of stories about non-conformity and I am sure they are difficult to sell. They do not always have happy endings or big jokes, but I am working on it.
Write the story that you want to write, the way you want to write it. Don't try to second-guess what the industry is going to think of it. It's more important to have a well-polished manuscript that hangs together, than a jumbled clutter of crowd-pleasing effects that doesn't work.
I seriously object to your suggestions that because we're interested in actually making money from our work, we're in some way compromising our ideals or selling out our message and that there's something wrong with wanting to entertain.
My YA novel incorporates comments on the surveillance society, genetic engineering, celebrity, the nature of evil, man's inhumanity to man and notions of attractiveness amongst teenagers*. When I finish it, I want to sell it. If an agent or publisher doesn't want it but I've done the best job I can with it, then it'll go in a drawer whilst I work on my next novel (set on a South London council estate and involving harpies). And if that doesn't sell, then I'll work on my next one. And the next one. Until I write something that sells. None of that involves compromising the message I want to get across to my readership and if I can entertain some people whilst I'm doing it, then so much the better.
MM
* All that and demons too!
