I've heard from many that self publishing is for people who weren't good enough to get book deals...and I know that is 150% BS. Many of us never even tried to get book deals with the corporate publishing houses in the first place, and those who couldn't are often talented writers who just could not catch a break.
So why are you going the completely indie route?
For me, it has to do with 1) my genre is not supported by any publishers and 2) the more I think about it, the more I want 100% control over my art.
I'm writing hardcore horror, and no publishing house really takes any new hardcore horror. They want "suspense" and other stuff, but no extreme violence. If you want to make splatterpunk, you have to be an indie. And I'm working on a novel that is splatterpunk but with real character development and as much heart as it has carnage...basically, literary splatterpunk. No way in hell (no pun intended) would a corporate publisher take it, and I don't know of any small press that would either.
Honestly, why all the "horror is welcome, but no extreme violence" stuff? That's like asking for a romance novel, but without any mushy stuff.
And I don't want to have my work end up getting edited into something I did not write for the glory of almighty dollar. Nor do I want to write something that's in demand, but that I don't like, to get my name out there in the hopes of being able to sell the stories I want to tell some day.
And yes, THERE ARE GREAT AUTHORS PUBLISHED IN THE BIG FIVE WHO DO NOT COMPROMISE THEIR ARTISTIC CREATIVITY. Don't get me wrong! I'm just saying that the big houses, for me, seem to want a kind of fiction that doesn't push boundaries in the ways that I enjoy doing with my writing.
In short, I want to make my art my way, and don't feel comfortable changing my art to fit any publishing house's criteria. Corporate publishing is like the music industry in that they care less about art as the artist sees or hears it then they do catering to the biggest market they can find to maximize profits. I would rather be the literary equivalent of punk rock or gothic rock than be the literary equivalent of Kesha.
So why do you pursue self publishing as opposed to the "traditional" corporate model?
EDIT: In case it needs to be said, this is a disclaimer:
I am NOT KNOCKING "TRADITIONALLY" PUBLISHED AUTHORS OR INDIVIDUALS WORKING IN THE FIELD! If you are or seek to be a "traditionally" published author, GREAT! Hell, if the deal was right and it was with a piece of work I was comfortable with, I would take the right kind of deal from a "traditional" publishing house if I was lucky enough to get one.
My only beef is with the corporate structure that goes into the big six. I am kinda idealistically against art being subject to the profit line. That's it.
So why are you going the completely indie route?
For me, it has to do with 1) my genre is not supported by any publishers and 2) the more I think about it, the more I want 100% control over my art.
I'm writing hardcore horror, and no publishing house really takes any new hardcore horror. They want "suspense" and other stuff, but no extreme violence. If you want to make splatterpunk, you have to be an indie. And I'm working on a novel that is splatterpunk but with real character development and as much heart as it has carnage...basically, literary splatterpunk. No way in hell (no pun intended) would a corporate publisher take it, and I don't know of any small press that would either.
Honestly, why all the "horror is welcome, but no extreme violence" stuff? That's like asking for a romance novel, but without any mushy stuff.
And I don't want to have my work end up getting edited into something I did not write for the glory of almighty dollar. Nor do I want to write something that's in demand, but that I don't like, to get my name out there in the hopes of being able to sell the stories I want to tell some day.
And yes, THERE ARE GREAT AUTHORS PUBLISHED IN THE BIG FIVE WHO DO NOT COMPROMISE THEIR ARTISTIC CREATIVITY. Don't get me wrong! I'm just saying that the big houses, for me, seem to want a kind of fiction that doesn't push boundaries in the ways that I enjoy doing with my writing.
In short, I want to make my art my way, and don't feel comfortable changing my art to fit any publishing house's criteria. Corporate publishing is like the music industry in that they care less about art as the artist sees or hears it then they do catering to the biggest market they can find to maximize profits. I would rather be the literary equivalent of punk rock or gothic rock than be the literary equivalent of Kesha.
So why do you pursue self publishing as opposed to the "traditional" corporate model?
EDIT: In case it needs to be said, this is a disclaimer:
I am NOT KNOCKING "TRADITIONALLY" PUBLISHED AUTHORS OR INDIVIDUALS WORKING IN THE FIELD! If you are or seek to be a "traditionally" published author, GREAT! Hell, if the deal was right and it was with a piece of work I was comfortable with, I would take the right kind of deal from a "traditional" publishing house if I was lucky enough to get one.
My only beef is with the corporate structure that goes into the big six. I am kinda idealistically against art being subject to the profit line. That's it.
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