Going agentless

After much research, I've finally accepted what people have been telling me for two months: there are even fewer agents specializing in erotic gay f&sf, than there are representing mainstream fantasy and science fiction.

The publishers I'm considering have such ironclad contracts there's little leeway for debut writers. So I'm probably going to pitch directly to them on my own, when the WIP is done and polished.

For my long-range writing plans, I'd love to find an agent, but I need to prove myself first. All the ones I'd really like have a big fat "Not open to new submissions unless you're an NYC-published writer."

Thanks, folks. I don't feel quite so alone now. I'm happy that the erotica publishers are still so open to submissions off the street, because sf&f seems to be a mostly-shut door right now to non-agented writers.

Thanks, everyone. You've helped keep me from either a blue funk or a nervous breakdown. 2K from the end of 'Moro's Price', I just found out that I'm back on fulltime at one of my contract employers. Hello, $weet money, goodbye long hours of writing time each day. So I've had some
existential angst this week.

I really have two problems:

I need to find an agent who is okay with repping graphic m/m fantasy and space opera, and has contacts within both e-pub and print pub field, AND has an interest in mainstream fantasy. Lots of agents rep both fantasy and romance, but m/m is a much smaller subset. And how do you find them? I've asked around, but the only ones who stand out are either taking new clients only on referral -- or are too new to the business for my comfort.

I think I need an agent because I have long-term goals for my writing, which an agent could help me achieve. My m/m space opera is set in the same universe, different time, as many of my more-mainstream planned books (including three that I've already written). I hadn't intended the m/m space opera being part of this universe, but it works too well, and answers some questions I'd had about larger story arcs. (This is what happens when a writer has a 25-year worldbuilding experiment with an immense history and lots of characters.) I'd taken out much of the m/m and m/f sex in the mainstream works, but if I can find one amenable publisher for the batch, I'll gleefully put it back in. It's a very sexy culture.

I'm trunking the three big fantasy novels for the moment. I want to work on the space opera and its sequels, since they feel like they'll be more marketable. But I'd like to do it with those bigger goals in mind, even if I never reach them. And just randomly subbing to every e-publisher doesn't sound good.

(Puts on shameless trolling hat.) So, does anyone know any agents I might try? I promise not to name-drop, and I'll approach them with a great query.

Maybe my future isn't with DAW, Del Rey, Tor, etc. and the top-25 fantasy agents I've already queried for the epic fantasy. At the moment, Carina still looks like my best bet for a direct approach, since they both take m/m and they seem to have ambitious goals. I've also considered Storm Constantine's Immanion Press, because she founded it to sidestep issues she'd had with the big fantasy publishers, in her own work.

Thanks for letting me whinge.

DrZoidberg, I'm aware of the niche limitations in erotica, which is another reason why I'm also considering publishers outside the erotica markets.

DrZoidberg, I'm aware of the niche limitations in erotica, which is another reason why I'm also considering independent publishers outside the erotica markets.

We'll see how everything plays out over the summer. I still have to finish, polish, and beta-read the WIP before I can query on it.

Today, I had an interesting email conversation with an already-published erotica writer friend. She called into question some of the assumptions implicit in the idea 'erotica/romance readers don't like surprises, and don't reward challenging plots'. She and I both came into writing erotica from science fiction and fantasy. The sf&f tropes we regarded as old hat were often considered shiny and new in the erotica genre, as little as three years ago. But we don't think romance and erotica readers are naive or stupid, and we believe that writing to such assumptions is just an excuse for poor writing.

Her point was that in order for the genre to grow, it can't remain as structured and predictable as it has been. The fringe areas of erotica: paranormal, fantasy, space opera, etc. offer a really good laboratory to see what publishers like Carina and Loose Id can get away with.

Case in point: Julia Knight's TEN RUBY TRICK is as finely plotted a fantasy caper as anything I've seen from the big six publishers -- and it's way hotter than they'd allow. This book could have had a splashy big marketing presence from DAW or Tor, but it's Carina's baby, and it looks like Carina is doing well by it. (thanks, Angela!)

As the readership itself matures and takes chances, so will the writers and publishers. This is probably a very good time to be rocking the boat.

I came away from our conversation less depressed and more hopeful.