So the conversation I had with Cyndi that brought about the Not So Sekrit Project got me thinking about the market. As an unpublished author, I follow the market–to a point. But mostly I just write the stories that demand to be told. I don’t have any particular publisher in mind. I figure that’s something to think about after the story is written since the market does, after all, change with a fairly rapid pace, and I write pretty slowly. If it takes me a year to finish a book, it doesn’t make sense to me to aim for a particular publisher since they may want something else when it’s ready to be queried. Short of narrowing down my genre and picking out other authors who have a similar style, I haven’t worried at all about the nitty gritty details of the market.
Is this naive?
I certainly see the necessity of following these things as a published author. You are, after all, only as good as your last book and all that. But I think there’s a certain freedom that goes along with NOT being published. At that point you can still write for the complete and utter joy of it. For yourself. And the only person you have to please is you (though, in my case, that means I’m a tough crowd). I am still free to develop my stories and my worlds as I want. I find that attractive. Not attractive enough to never attempt publication, mind you–I’d still rather have the limitations and get to write either for a living or as one of two jobs.
But anyway, I’m curious. Aspiring writers out there, when you write, do you write for yourself or do you write with a particular publisher or line in mind?
2 thoughts on “Considering The Market?”
I have always and hope to always write for myself first, which is not to say I would not change something to make my writing more marketable (depending entirely on what that something is and what it would entail…)
I don’t think it’s naive but then, I’m in the same unpubbed boat as you. Though, I figure if you’re not writing for yourself, you’re missing out on most of the ‘fun’ in this gig.
Maybe if I was closer to being ready to shop something around, I’d pay more attention, but I’m nowhere near ready to send anything out. I’ve totally changed directions and am deep into worldbuilding–the kind of broad scale stuff that could impact where my career goes eventually. I’m definitely in this for the long haul.