Five Questions With a First-Time Author Who Skipped the Slush Pile

You published your debut novel directly to the library instead of querying agents. Why?

Honestly, I was scared the querying process would take three years and I'd lose the nerve to ever show anyone the manuscript. Self-publishing here meant I could upload the file on a Tuesday and have someone's grandmother arguing with me about the ending by Friday.

What surprised you most about readers finding the book this way?

The notes. People highlight a paragraph and just start a conversation about it — sometimes with each other, not even with me. There's a thread on chapter four that's mostly two strangers disagreeing about whether my narrator is lying to himself. I did not plan for that argument to exist and now it's my favorite part of publishing the book.

Any advice for someone sitting on a finished manuscript right now?

Stop polishing the query letter and go read your own first chapter as if you were a stranger. If it holds up, it holds up. The rest is just nerve.

Are you working on a second book?

Slowly. Badly. But yes.

Last question — paper or screen?

Screen, unpopularly. I like that I can see exactly where readers stopped and started arguing.