No One Loves Dragons

I was talking to my mother the other day, and things drifted into my work in writing. I was feeling excited about my progress when she burst my bubble. "Your father just mentioned the other day that you never publish ANYTHING." That's not completely true, but no novels yet. That comment left me feeling insulted. I mean, here I've got an awesome 12-novel series, but I swore not to publish the first book until I was done with the entire arc, since I keep changing things. If I publish Book One, I'm locked into that world setting. I want the freedom to be able to completely change a character's background.

It's not that I'm NOT WORKING. Many writers say that for a long novel--not a 150 page teen novel, but a 600 page behemoth--finishing it in three years is pretty darn good. Many take five or more years. Well, I started work on Book 3 in 2003 (the first two books were written in the 90s). I'm now in the process of writing Book 12. That means, in six years, I've written nine 600+ page books. Plus add in Blue Fire Dragon, which I finished last year. So that makes ten books in six years. TEN! Around 6,000 pages in 6 years.

Honestly, I have no life.

However, Mom was right. All this writing does no good if it's sitting within my laptop and not on the shelves of Barnes and Noble. So far, only myself and Matt have read my stories. He loves them, but he's biased.

I react to criticism with stubbornness, so I spent all morning searching literary agents, determined that, at the very least, I could thrust Blue Fire Dragon out there and see if they want the rest of the trilogy. In this business, publishers are closing their doors to unrepresented writers, so an agent has become as necessary as a Bachelor degree. Besides, I do NOT want to deal with legal crap. I would gladly fork over 15% to keep out of that mess.

The problem is, no one wants dragon stories. I've searched so many agencies, and many either hint that they are not looking for high fantasy, or flat out state "no swords-and-dragons." This post in the New Literary Agents Blog points out that the dragon genre has become saturated, so that even if you write an outstanding book, no publishers want it. Unless, of course, it's a children's fantasy, which Blue Fire Dragon most certainly is not. One of the main characters is a harlot, there are themes of racism, incest, animal cruelty, communism, and a touch of mysticism, plus a couple of the characters in the second book are lesbians. Honestly, it's not the type of book I'd want my mother to read, but I'm proud of how I handled these issues.

No love for dragons!

So who do I turn to now?

I decided to research Dragonriders of Pern. I've never read the series, worried that people might say I copied some other author. I now think maybe I SHOULD read a few dragon novels to ensure that I didn't inadvertently steal ideas. That's besides the point! Donald Maass Literary Agency represented Todd McCaffrey (son of Anne McCaffrey and currently continuing the Pern series), so I'm looking into them. Maybe they too have had their fill of dragons. Maybe they've been waiting for a fantasy/romance with a love triangle that involves a racial minority, a landless princess, and a professional harlot.

Man, that makes the novel sound really lame.

Still, I'm nervous about committing a novel for publication. My parents would hate most of what I write, since I like to tackle controversial issues. I fear public events, so things like book signings would be nerve-wracking. I know a dozen rejections is normal, but I fear such dismissal. What if they want to completely rework my lovely plot? What if it's published and flops? What if I'm scammed? Would the economy affect sales? Probably all typical fears of first-time authors, but it's definitely holding me back from simply submitting.

Are there any writers out there with suggestions on how I should proceed? I've read all the "what to look out for" forums and have a book on how to pick a literary agent, but I'm lacking in the confidence department right now. Hints on writing query letters? Advice? Encouragement? Cookies?