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?

It sounds a little like Claire Fuller’s books, which are literary to me, but with what feels like mild intrigue, simmering vs all out fast paced. Is there something about your novel that sets up an expectation in the reader that it’s psych suspense? If so then I can see why it would be potentially unsatisfying to not have that expectation fulfilled (reader wise).

Hmmm I’m not sure. I mean if your goal is to be published then you want to do as the agent suggests really.

But it sounds like you might just have a misunderstanding here, like you have written a novel that fits with the current holiday paperback trend but you’ve tried to write it in a more literary way. But the thing is a lot of people who are the market for these crime/mystery paperbacks don’t want to read poetic literary prose and thoughtful endings - they want something entertaining to read on holiday/on the train. And a lot of people who are the market for thoughtful literary novels are more likely to look at that type of work, not crime/mystery paperbacks. Maybe something to think about - it’s definitely an art but if you want to make it a business you have to think a bit more critically. Who am I writing for? What does the market for that generally look like? If what you’re writing is very different to the style then there’s a good chance people won’t buy it, so agents won’t want it.

I'm writing my fifth novel. The first four all had significant changes - either following suggestions from my agent or from my publisher. There was one change in particular I wasn't wild about, but tbh I have my own draft of that novel on my computer and the fact that it's out there in an edited version doesn't bother me at all. It wouldn't have been out there at all. Do I ever actually read the "original version". Nope. But I wrote it, it's there, and that's all that matters to me.