I initially came to Mastodon to promote my recently published novel How to Succeed as a Supervillain by Following the Evil Overlord List. It was originally written for the Novel November challenge where the aim is to write a 50,000-word story within the 30 days of November. It’s loosely based on the Evil Overlord List and tells the tale of how a downtrodden, mild-mannered man becomes a villain by using the list as a guide to infamy.
The novel is written in the form of a memoir and is a wry commentary on the tropes commonly associated with science fiction, fantasy, and crime when viewed through the lens of popular culture. The protagonist discusses the pros and cons of the advice contained within the list while he proceeds to build his evil empire. As the story progresses, the tone of the story begins to change, leading up to a hopefully unexpected ending. Some elements of the story mirrored real life events which were being featured in the news at the time of writing.
I attempted to get my new novel traditionally published, but they passed on it. I suspect this was because it was only 162 pages. Not being as invested in it as I am with my ongoing series I decided to self-publish it anyway. I’m wary of approaching a publisher even though I’ve got a series of 6 completed novels to offer.
What are people's views on the pros and cons of self-publishing versus the more traditional route to publication?
#Bookstodon #WritersOfMastodon #Author #Novel
