Write What You Love, I'll Read It

When I went to publish Queen of Ghouls, I found some incredibly discouraging aspects of the field that really killed a lot of my initial fervor. Like a zombie risen by a poorly conceived and clearly unscientific undead virus, my passion returned after a time, but it definitely hurt me for a while. Speaking specifically, I ran into a problem submitting queries to literary agents. Not really the daunting idea that thousands of people were doing just as I was, but rather the information that so many agents were putting on their profiles.

If I had a dollar for every agent I came across who stated that they are "Looking for books written from diverse or marginalized perspectives", I could retire tomorrow. Now, if you haven't read my book yet, let me give you a rundown as to why this majority of literary agents might not like me:

1. I am white and straight and male.

2. My main character is white and sexuality is not mentioned but he is implied straight, and is male.

3. I did not put an emphasis on sexuality, gender, or race in any of my work.

You might say, that's not a huge deal, just find the agents who don't have that on their profiles! But once you really dig into it and try to put together a list of people to apply to, you'll see just how demoralizing it can be.

I want to say to anyone going through the same battle I did and currently am: I'll read your book. I'll write a review for it and share your story with everyone I can. The traditional fantasy style of writing isn't dead, there are still fans who want to support this work. Just send a link my way and maybe drop me a comment to let me know.

Passion and skill is far more important to me than the promulgation of the diversity quota meme. Write what you love, even if it means you may not get traditional publication, so long as you're passionate about it and can back it up with some solid writing.

Thanks for reading, hope to hear from you!