Best Way to a Traditional Publishing Deal: Query Agents or Self-Publish?

Every couple of weeks a reader asks me why I chose to self-publish. I don't mind the question because (I think) it implies that said reader believes my stories are good enough that I could have gotten a traditional publishing deal (if that's not the implication, please don't tell me, as I prefer my nice delusions). I've written about the reasons I'm glad I self-published before, so I won't go into that today, but I thought I'd chime in on one of the arguments going around the blogosphere.

Is it still worth querying agents, or is self-publishing a better way to a traditional deal?

If you haven't been paying attention to the world of self-publishing lately, you may not be aware of the number of indie authors who are being picked up by publishers. Granted, it's a small number when compared to all the indie authors out there, but it's something that wasn't happening at all before the e-publishing revolution of the last couple of years. Now, nobody in the industry is surprised when indie authors get picked up, some with quite lucrative publishing deals.

Many of these successful indie authors are people who once tried the traditional route to publishing (querying agents or submitting manuscripts to the slush piles of publishers). The agents and publishers weren't interested. Then.

It's a different story when the same author starts selling thousands of ebooks a month in the Kindle store.

If you're an up-and-coming writer, and you're hoping to land a traditional deal, is it still worth it to query or should you start publishing on your own, build a platform, sell books, and wait until you have something to brag about before approaching an agent?

I doubt there's a right or wrong answer here, but here's my take:

If you skip querying and all the associated dithering around, you get to jump right into the realities of the business. It's not an easy business, and there's a lot of on-the-job-training required. You'll have to bust your butt if you want to succeed as an indie, especially now that there's more competition in the e-bookstores.

But if you can make it as an indie (build a platform, sell books, gain a readership), you'll have the confidence and bargaining power to get a traditional deal that doesn't suck.

That, from all I've read and heard, is not something that happens much with new authors signing on with a publishing house for the first time.

To sum things up…

If you decide to forgo the agent hunt, you'll skip:

 Tedious research into finding an agent that represents what you write
Wasting time stalking selected agents on Twitter and following their blogs to see what they want
Wasting time crafting a synopsis
Wasting time writing multiple versions of a query letter
Wasting time emailing and waiting for replies
Wasting time doing things that make you look good for an agent but do zilch for you financially speaking (i.e. entering contests in hopes of winning some pretty writing award)

Instead you'll be:

Publishing your book and potentially making money on Day 1
Learning the business of writing (people who write for a living have long since learned they have to be entrepreneurs, not just artists)
Learning how to market yourself (you'll probably have to do this sooner or later, even if you get a traditional deal)
Building a platform (blog, mailing list, social media presence)
Acquiring fans
Writing the next novel (money's nice, but what's really motivating is when people email you and ask when the next book is coming out), a novel that can come out in months instead of years

If you choose self-publishing first over querying, you'll also find out, much sooner than later, whether your book is "good enough" for the big time. Agents may or may not tell you that. As many traditionally published authors have admitted, agents and publishers aren't really gatekeepers or holier-than-thou entities that determine what's worth reading and what isn't. They're business people, and they base selections on the potential for a pay off. Subpar manuscripts get picked up because they fit into what's popular right now. Excellent manuscripts get passed on because they aren't in a popular niche.

At the end of a year of self-publishing, you will know if your book is "good enough." Assuming you've put enough effort into marketing to sell some copies, you'll know if there's an audience for your work or if you need to put more time into honing your craft.

If you're doing well, you'll have a far greater resume with which to wow an agent. Think about it: If you were an agent or publisher, would you rather take a chance on an unknown or on someone who's already laid the foundations for a successful career as a novelist?

Of course, once you've done all that work, and you've reached a modicum of success (as I've blogged about before, the numbers say you can make a living a lot sooner as an indie), you may realize that you're not all that interested in a traditional deal any more.

Related Posts:

Why I Self-Published AKA Reena Jacobs Does the Math [Guest Post]
How Many People Can *Really* Make a Living Self-Publishing?
Is Self-Publishing Right for You?