Should I compromise my 'art' to get an agent??

[BecauseOfIndia]

I've written a little bit before on here about an experience I had with an agent last year who loved my book but hated the ending and wanted me to make it fit some kind of generic formula for a 'book club novel' - i.e. unreliable narrator / dramatic near death tussle / big twist etc. Mine has a very quiet and - I thought - beautiful ending. We agreed we couldn't work together and I saw it, frankly, as a lucky escape.

Just after that happened I was awarded an Arts Council grant to have my manuscript read by an 'industry expert', so I decided to wait for their report before querying any more agents. It took ages to come and when it did, 2 days ago, it made for dismaying reading! She basically says all the same things as the agent - this isn't literary fiction, it's 'high end book club', and readers in this genre expect a certain outcome which they don't get. The ending isn't dramatic enough - there needs to be a big revelation! A twist! She also, rather confusingly, stated that my prose was 'too poetic'.

I've been wrestling for the past couple of days as to where I go with this now. My partner says "It's your novel, don't change a thing." But he doesn't understand that my book as it currently is will never be published, I've realised this now. The publishing industry wants the same formulaic stuff. I am seriously considering 'selling out' and changing the ending, creating some ridiculous dramatic conclusion that will satisfy the formula. Should I? If it gets me an agent and a publishing deal?

The publishing industry is an industry and they want a product they can be confident of selling.
If you wish to publish on your own terms, you could try a small press or self-publish.

Well, I think it depends what you’re looking for in terms of your writing. Do you want a career? If so, you’ve got to find a balance between what you find fulfilling and what the market will pay for. If you’re writing for self fulfilment then you could go down the self publishing route and either hand it round to friends or try and promote it yourself to a wider audience. Or you could even just stick it in a drawer if it’s the writing process itself which you find fulfilling.

So - see this as an opportunity for self reflection and hopefully the goals will become much clearer.

Also - a lot of people don’t have success with their first novel. If you feel as though you don’t want to compromise on this, don’t let it put you off starting another one - you may find your goals and those of the industry are more aligned in a future project. And sometimes people get their first novel published after their later success, once their reputation merits it!

@SimonedeBeauvoirscat

Well, I think it depends what you’re looking for in terms of your writing. Do you want a career? If so, you’ve got to find a balance between what you find fulfilling and what the market will pay for. If you’re writing for self fulfilment then you could go down the self publishing route and either hand it round to friends or try and promote it yourself to a wider audience. Or you could even just stick it in a drawer if it’s the writing process itself which you find fulfilling.

So - see this as an opportunity for self reflection and hopefully the goals will become much clearer.

Thank you @SimonedeBeauvoirscat these are wise words! If you had asked me what I wanted 6 months ago I'd say self fulfilment, but now I realise I really do want a career, hence the willingness to consider compromise....

I have to say that the agent was actually a lot kinder about my novel than the 'expert' who critiqued it, he loved the poetry, it was just the lack of a dramatic conclusion which, in all honestly, it does hint at all the way through but doesn't deliver on. I wouldn't dream of going back to him but I'm realising that if he loved it right until the end, another agent will too.

If it hints at a dramatic ending but then quietly fizzes out, I think you need to consider whether your READER will feel let down. They might buy you once, but will they recommend you?

So if yo u want a career, seperate the books out. This is your book, where she died of old age. You've written it for you and love it. It's your book. Now to do the book for market where she was killed by poisoned pigeon pie meant for the vicar who was actually the child she put up for adoption forty years ago.

And unless he was an arsehole, I'd go back to the publisher. You know his feedback is reliable and he loved it until the end. No room for ego.

Yes, I think so. This is a tough workd we live in. Most of us have to make compromises to survive. There will be opportunities to follow your heart later. But this world demands that we pay our dues. Sorry, don't mean to be mean, but this is how I see it.

Do you want to make money or do you not? It's your choice.

You’ve had two people look at it. Do you believe that they are right and that all agents are going to react the same way? Some books take a long time to find a home, if you are prepared to take a punt on another rejection.

Is there some compromise? If you think your ending is beautiful then it seems like a shame to lose it.

The other option is to keep this book and write a new one that fits what they want.

And when you're more established try again to sell this one then.

You know the 'right' ending for you.

They know what sells.

I suppose if you do want to be published, you are going to have to provide what the experts say the public wants. Once you have a couple of published works and have a loyal readership, that would be the time to introduce your own style more.

Yes, change it! And go back to the original agent.

Go back to the first agent. It sounds like he was kind, astute, loved (most) of your work, and was willing to work with you to get to something commercial.

Being able to make a career in fiction without compromise is a one in a million chance, regardless of how good you are.

If you love it and don't want to change it, put it in a drawer and start number 2.

I'd encourage you to flip your reading of the situation though: you've written a book which you think is literary fiction, but two knowledgeable people have read it as a contemporary thriller. If your goal is to write lit fic I'd suggest maybe you aren't quite hitting that style. So you have to go further and push that envelope harder - in other words, don't focus on your ending being wrong, take it as encouragement that you clearly can write but you're not quite hitting all the literary fiction boxes.

It is frustrating, but publishers rarely want cross-genre books. To get a non-genre book published you need to write something really stand out and special. That could be you, but it isn't this time - so keep going!

@survivoralice Not rude at all! In fact, very true.

@SleepingStandingUp I want to read the one with the vicar and the poisoned pie! I fear mine is all going to resolved by a ghost - that's after a dramatic tussle on the grass between my MC and his girlfriend (who is a reincarnation of the ghost - not sure how that works but an early beta reader actually suggested this!!).

It has occured to me that I could publish under a pseudonym if it ends up being so shamelessly commercial that I wouldn't want people I went to school with to know I wrote it

@MaChienEstUnDick What you have said is almost exactly what the expert said - agents want a clearly defined genre because it's easier to sell, because my book currently cuts across genres it's going to be hard to sell.

You've really made me think and actually articulated it better than the critique. I thought I was writing lit fic but I clearly haven't!

Just make sure the dead person died before the gf was born... But unsure about being reincarnated and them also having a ghost bidy

Body

[quote BecauseOfIndia]@MaChienEstUnDick What you have said is almost exactly what the expert said - agents want a clearly defined genre because it's easier to sell, because my book currently cuts across genres it's going to be hard to sell.

You've really made me think and actually articulated it better than the critique. I thought I was writing lit fic but I clearly haven't![/quote]
I'd add, and I am certainly guilty of this, that there's a real expectation we can sell our first novels when in fact most people couldn't sell their 'first' anything - imagine trying to sell your first cake, or the first pot that you've ever thrown, or your very first picture. (I get that a lot of this is down to the time a novel takes, we naturally would love to see some return on that.) But the return is actually that you did it, you completed it, you got some great feedback and now you have choices. So please don't give up, just because this book didn't find a home.

Even if you change the ending to be more commercial there is a (strong) possibility that an editor at a publisher will then want more edits. Unfortunately at the end of the day they are in the business of selling books to make money and they really do know what will sell so they want books which follow a structure that is proven to sell.

All that really says is that if your goal is to be trad published you will need to do what the people who know, suggest. When I first started writing I knew I wanted the whole agent/trad deal, it took 4 books before I go there and I was absolutely writing a 3 act structure commercial genre book.

I have written a novel - it is currently languishing in a drawer.

I wrote it purely for myself as a way of dealing with a difficult event (it is not a memoir and has a storyline etc). After I had written it, I thought I would send it off to a few agents and I believed there would be a spark of interest but there wasn't. I felt hugely deflated and regretful I'd set myself up for rejection (especially having exposed such a personal project).

The main issue I think, is that it crosses genres and isn't commercial enough. In some ways this was consoling because I don't think my actual writing is bad, it just wouldn't make any money and this is the bottom line in the publishing world.

This book was/is such a personal project that if I'd got a reply back saying you need to change x,y and z, I don't think I could have done it.

So, it is still in the drawer and I feel proud to have written it and may one day self publish it (for charity). Writing my book was such a great aid to improving my mental health and this in itself was reward enough. I don't think I could write for monetary purposes as for me it is a hobby and it is very much about staying true to my art/expression.

I guess it depends on what your ambitions are op.

@LouisaMayAlcott

Even if you change the ending to be more commercial there is a (strong) possibility that an editor at a publisher will then want more edits. Unfortunately at the end of the day they are in the business of selling books to make money and they really do know what will sell so they want books which follow a structure that is proven to sell.

All that really says is that if your goal is to be trad published you will need to do what the people who know, suggest. When I first started writing I knew I wanted the whole agent/trad deal, it took 4 books before I go there and I was absolutely writing a 3 act structure commercial genre book.

Thank you for this, I know what you're saying is true. I think I have decided that I will commercialise it, and if it gets to the stage where I'm embarressed by how commercial it has become I can always write under a pseudonym!

@CalamityTown I totally understand where you are coming from, there are parts of my novel that are hugely personal to me and therefore hugely important to me, those are the parts that I can see being culled - so it's hard to think of that. And yes, we tend to forget how amazing just writing a book is!! But I suppose I can always keep a printed copy of the original just for myself.

If you want to be a professional writer you need to be able to take notes from industry professionals. You also need to understand that your book may be personal to you, but if you want it to be appreciated by an audience, it also has to be entertaining.

Lots of good advice above. It sounds like you're close to deciding to make the changes, and in your shoes I think I'd do the same. I know it's not what you wanted (we chatted about it on the other thread ) but there are so many potential positives. You're not selling out, but adapting to the realities of the market.

To be honest, there are so many more edits beyond your agent. If you really wanted to, you could sign to your agent, sell it (with revisions) and then discuss your own ideas with the publisher. If you manage to get publishers vying for a deal, you can use that as leverage - go with whoever seems to have the same vision as you. But honestly, it’s a tough gig to even get an agent so I really would do what you need to do. And I understand the feeling well, but after years of working with editors I can completely appreciate their wealth of experience now.

Also - gently - agents will reach for constructive criticism if it’s a rejection and you might find a different agent doesn’t agree. Agents don’t like to just say no.