Publishing, Slop, and the Death of the Introverted Author

Earlier this year, I became a debut author by publishing a novel under my real-life name. Where I'm from, agents aren't really a thing, AI slop hasn't infected the publishing scene (yet) and Amazon doesn't have a presence. But does that mean it's all sunshine and rainbows?

I wish.

Publishing is Punishing

There was a time when you could write a novel, pray your agent nets you a sweet deal, or maybe even send the manuscript to publishers yourself. Being rejected is hard, but I don't think it's much different from job hunting—the odds of getting a favorable response from publishers and employers feel pretty much the same, anyway.

But like every other form of art (games, movies, digital art), writing is getting shafted, too. It's not enough for you to be good at your craft. You have to be *popular*.

In order to succeed commercially, artists are increasingly being forced to be influencers. In the case of writing, it's especially sad, because a lot of people (myself included) turn to writing because of how anonymous it is. Back then, you didn't need a social media presence. That's what publishers are for—they are the ones who looked at the rocks that are our manuscripts, identified the gems, and sold them.

But now, that's too risky. Without six-digit followers, how are publishers going to know if your story will sell? Without Booktok's approval, how are they going to recoup their investment?

One of the appeals of going tradpub was that the author only needed to care about their writing. Marketing has always been the responsibility of the publisher. These days, it doesn't feel like it.

I Got Lucky

Fortunately, the publishing scene here hasn't really devolved into the Booktok-obsessed state that plagues the West. Perks of being in a third-world country, I guess. You're always a decade or more behind the "advanced nations."

The state of writing here is also pretty weird. Resources are divided between languages. And if you're writing in English, you're competing against all the popular authors overseas, too. But hey! Because there are so few local writers in the first place, agents aren't really a thing, so you could go up to a publisher directly as I did and get accepted.

So while I'm grateful I got my foot through the door and I'm thankful to my editor and the team that helped me, I can't help but feel worried. A lot of trends that are popping up in the USA and UK also seem to be on their way here. And to be honest, I'm not sure if I'd ever want to publish a book the old-fashioned way again.

Web Novels to the Rescue!

Having written online for years, I always thought the grass was greener on the other side. That tradpub is more legitimate or superior. But having had a taste of it myself, I have to say—putting my work online feels like the right path for me.

Here, you don't need a social media presence. Sure, you still need followers and fans to succeed, but I only need to focus on writing and nothing else. I don't need to perform dumb TikTok dances or show my face, and that's a godsend for me.

Sure, the competition here is much greater than my local publishing scene, but I like it. Being on a writing platform also means that you're always one click away from reading other stories. In a way, it's like writing inside a library! Just a virtual one. And while there might be a lot of slop or low-effort stories, I'd argue it's pretty much the same everywhere else.

You're never going to make me touch a NYT Bestseller romantasy novel ever again. But smut on Novel Day? It's free (real estate).