[A. S. Warwick]

If they offered me a bazillion dollars I'd allow an agent to work for me.

In the meantime I'll stick with being an indie, even if I'm not selling much.

 

[Dennis Coslett]

I tried to get an agent. i sent out many queries and never got a word of interest. So now, I am an indie author.

However, I won't say I will never have an agent, but I won't be looking for one anytime soon.

 

[daringnovelist]

I'll be honest, I've never been that interested in an agent, even when I wasn't an indie.  You can always get an entertainment lawyer to help deal with contracts.

I might be interested in a WGA listed agent for movies rights, or other specific things, but I've never been what Kris Rusch calls a "take care of me" writer.  It's only been recently that agents have been so important, and frankly I see that as an anomaly.

Camille

 

[Gone 9/21/18]

Lifer.

 

[Alan Ryker]

I'm a lifer. Does that mean I should get a tattoo of some kind?

This is a great idea! I can't believe no one else is in.

INDY LIFE across the knuckles. What do you think?

 

[NoahMullette-Gillman]

I'm not at the point yet where I make most of my income from my writing. That said, I'd be open to having the conversation with an interested publisher or agent. However, I am aware of my options and would only sign on if I were convinced I'd be better off.

 

[Karly Kirkpatrick]

I'm planning on being an Indie Lifer and building my own brand/publishing label to help carve out that spot. I see that I'll probably need either an agent or entertainment lawyer in the future for things like foreign rights and film, if it ever comes to that. But as with many on here, the agents have come to them. So we'll just see what happens!

 

[Carol (was Dara)]

I see myself as a small press/self-published author for now but I'm definitely not writing off New York. IMO they've still got a lot to offer and I don't see any reason persuing one should exclude the other. There are authors who make a successful go of both.

 

[boydm]

Does Boyd Morrison still visit these forums after he's been picked up by an NY House?

I'm here! I think whether to go indie or traditional all depends on your personal situation, how much control you want, whether you can survive without an advance, what the offer is, and many other factors. So for me, going with traditional publishers makes sense right now, in no small part because I wouldn't know how to translate my books into German, Italian, Slovenian, or more than a dozen other languages. But I could also envision scenarios where it would make better sense for me to go back to being an indie author. The publishing world is changing rapidly, so be prepared to adapt. Just look at Barry Eisler's recent gob-smacking decision to forgo a $500K advance for two books or Amanda Hocking's rumored million-dollar deal with a traditional publisher.

I listed some tradeoffs you should consider before going either route in a Huffington Post blog:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/boyd-morrison/to-selfpublish-or-not-to-_b_696960.html

 

[ASparrow]

Indie lifer. Trad publishing seems to require too many compromises while offering too few rewards. Even for the talented and skillful, it's a lottery.

 

[Christine Kersey]

Indie Author Lifer. I've been published traditionally but I much prefer the control I have over my writing and publishing now.