Risk assessment on repubbing previous novels

In another lifetime (14 years ago, to be exact), an indie press published a suspense novel of mine as a hardback. My mom bought a copy, bless her heart, and I suppose a few other people did, too. In 2012, an agent convinced me to self-publish an e-version of the book along with an e-version of another novel. My mom might’ve bought a copy of those, also.

After those experiences, I decided to devote myself to finding an agent and pursuing the route of traditional publishing. I’m dead set against e-publishing, and I have great reservations against pursuing the indie route.

But now an indie publisher is showing interest in re-publishing the book that came out in hardback. I don’t have a strong desire to do this, or a strong motivation not to, though the novel is a fun read, and I wouldn’t mind seeing it in print again.

Here’s my question: would republishing the hardback with the indie be a strike against me in the eyes of super agents such as yourself (though I fully recognize that you’re in a category all by yourself)? That is, I’ve heard in different places that if you’ve got books out with lackluster sales, that might hurt you when trying to publish with a traditional house.

There are no hard and fast rules about this kind of thing because a lot depends on the book, or in this case books.

When I get a query for a book from an author with backlist, the first thing I assess is whether that backlist will help us find an audience for the new book. Are the books in the same general category (both crime, or romance, or sf/f)  Are there some good Amazon reviews; ones that say "can't wait for this author's next book"?

Most important though is whether the new book is really terrific. Of course I only sign really terrific books but if you've got a publishing history, the new book needs to be bigger, bolder, better on all fronts. A real break-out novel.

What you always need to remember is that agents and publishers will overlook just about anything if they think they can sell a lot of copies and make money.

When you hear "lackluster sales of a previous book kill your chances" what that means is we doubt the new book is bigger/bolder/better enough to assuage our fears that this book won't do better than the last one.

Here's the real dilemma you're facing: Most likely, there are no reliable Bookscan numbers on the first edition of your book. Bookscan was founded in 2001 and it took a while to get enough coverage to make the numbers semi-reliable. (Don't worry about the e-edition in 2012, Bookscan doesn't track electronic books)

If you republish that book now, you'll get current Bookscan numbers and without any kind of marketing push, those numbers are going to be abysmal. Bookscan misses ALL direct website sales (if the publisher sells books direct to consumers via their website) and all library sales. It does pick up Amazon, so that helps.

You need to balance the risk and reward. A book published 14 years ago isn't going to get much notice. How much money do you think you'll make from the new edition? Is this new book big enough to overcome fears of lackluster sales (if that's what you're expecting from this repubbed edition?)

Without a clear and compelling reward for repubbing, I'd hold off. There's no time constraint on repubbing that first book. In fact, if you sell the new book, you can repub the first one digitally and use it as promo for the new one. I'm in the process of doing just that for two of my clients.

You're the only one who can assess all the factors here. There's nothing to lose by waiting and a lot to be gained by holding your fire.

The contest prize is editor consideration. You said "agents first" Should I enter?

Yesterday I discovered an award/grant from SCBWI: Work in Progress Grants

I meet all the requirements and my WiP meets the requirements. The only thing I need is a 250 word synopsis, and I should be able to drink enough liquor to sufficiently dull the pain to write one in less than a month. So I'm interested in submitting. The deadline is March 31.

However, the information includes the following:

"Award: The works submitted by winners will be made available on a secure webpage and presented to a hand-selected group of editors for their consideration. Although this is not a guarantee of publication, the opportunity to have your work presented to acquiring editors, along with an SCBWI endorsement, is a unique opportunity."

Remembering all of your previous warnings about not submitting directly to publishers/editors if we want an agent, should I NOT submit my almost-ready-to-query WiP to this particular opportunity?

SCBWI is a very reputable group; I encourage everyone working in kid lit to join and avail themselves of the resources there.

This award does NOT fall under the "don't send to editors before agents" rule.

The reason is you are not submitting your work. They're reading contest results.

The difference seems minor, but it's important.

When you get an agent for this work, you'll mention that you entered/won this contest and that some editors saw the manuscript.

If an editor reaches out to you after seeing your work, you alert the agents you're querying with that news. You tell the editor you're agent hunting.

Bottom line: An editor seeing something is not the same thing as a submission.

Good luck with your entry!

Gusto kong mosulat sa Iningles

Is it a terrible idea to write a novel in English when it's not your first language?

If your answer is just black and white "yes", then I don't want to know because my novel is finished (not necessarily including the final draft) and I am not a native English speaker.

In case you're wondering now why I haven't written in my first language:
1) my boyfriend is British and I couldn't imagine him not having a clue what I've been doing the last three and a half years.
2) The market for books in English is so much bigger.

I'm not just worried about me not matching the required level of language skills, but actually also about my story not being attractive to the American market because it's nothing to do with the US. The story happens in four European countries (Germany, Switzerland, England, France), but these places don't really matter for the plot.

So in fact, as I am writing this, my second question is about whether it's reasonable to try and find a literary agent in the US when my story takes place in Europe?

My query letter says in the fourth line "An unnamed Girl at primary school in northern Germany struggles..."

Is "northern Germany" an immediate prompt for a rejection?

I have changed my manuscript from British to American English. All "realise"s have become "realize"s, all "mum"s have become "mom"s and all "mumbling"s annoyingly turned into "mombling"s.

Should I just reverse it all to British English and try to find a literary agent in the UK only?

I live neither in the US nor in Europe.

Do you live on Carkoon?
Sending royalty payments via interplanetary mail is a pain, and that's the only reason I would care if someone lived somewhere other than here.  Well, actually, I also care if you have access to the internet, cause so much of publishing is now conducted electronically I can't sign someone who lives off the grid.

So don't worry about where you live.

If you think books set outside the United States are an immediate rejection, let me introduce you to:

Gary Corby
Alan Furst
David Dowing
Kerry Greenwood

And that's just the first four I thought of in the six seconds it took me to type their names. You might say "well, those are all genre books" but there are lots of other books set in far off lands that do quite well.

So, don't worry about your setting.

The writing in English part is a little more problematic.  I can usually tell when someone is a non-native speaker because they use interesting words, and often are just a little off-key.  That's not always a bad thing. I love the novels of Aleksander Hemon for example, and he writes in his non-native English. If you haven't discovered his work, hie thee to a book store at once.

But your concern is well-founded. English is a weird language and it likes to trip up natives and non-natives alike.

You'd do well to find a beta reader to make sure you haven't misused idioms, or confused liar with lyre, or worse, lair!

There are a number of people writing in English who weren't born to it. I'd say judging from the writing in this question you're going to do just fine.

So don't worry about that either.

(For things to worry about, consult yesterday's blog post!)

When is my book new enough to query again?

So let’s say you wrote a book and it made the rounds, but it was rejected. You got some feedback, rewrote it, but it was still rejected. Then you got some more (but more extensive) feedback from a publisher and suddenly you had a light bulb moment and figured out how to take elements from the old novel and reimagine it completely, would this still be considered the same book? So basically what I’m asking is, at what point (if any) does a previously shopped manuscript become a new novel - i.e. if you write a new book based on elements from an old book that made the rounds, is this still considered a previously shopped work and would you have to disclose it as such when querying agents? I know if you make some rewrites it would be considered the same book, but what if you reimagined the book so extensively, it becomes a new product?

Here's the bottom line: it's not illegal or unethical or immoral to repurpose your work, slap on a new title (that's key) and send it out in the world again to find gainful employment. There's no magical makeover number that makes it "new" and it doesn't need to be all new to go out.

My ONLY concern when you query is whether I like and think I can sell this project you're now querying.

If that project started life as something else, well, we all grow and change as we figure stuff out!

If you queried me on the previous iteration, and I passed, you'd do well to not start by requerying me (or others who have passed.)  Start fresh. Give your ms a chance to find friends.

Your unspoken assumption here is you don't want to end up on some sort of agent blacklist.  You are in ZERO danger of that if you query politely, even for a novel with hand me down elements.

There are a couple ways to be irrevocably banned from my query inbox.  In case you're wondering, they are:

1. Be rude or condescending about my assistants/interns.

2. Be snotty about my clients or their work

3. Tell me I lack taste and refinement. You're free to ignore books that have garnered starred reviews and positive critical attention but if you think I'm a dodohead, why did you query me at all? Oh wait, YOUR book is the gold standard for taste... how could I not have realized that. Perhaps I am a dunderhead.

4. Query for the same project over and over. No title change, no revision, no change at all.

Notice you're not even close to #4 here.

You now must worry about something else, cause this concern is off your list. World peace, rising sea levels and what would happen if sharks disappeared are always choices for fretting.

Film! They want my book! This is good, right?

I work in the film industry - specifically theatrical marketing, producing movie trailers and promos. A few colleagues and friends, who work on the production side for major studios, have expressed serious interest in reading my manuscript once it's complete. They are interested in possibly optioning it as a movie. I feel that if a film studio is interested in my manuscript, it might be easier to get an agent. At the same time, I'm hesitant to send my completed manuscript to a major film studio without having an agent representing me. It's a conundrum for me and I was hoping to get your thoughts on the matter.

Does this situation fall into the same forbidden category as 'Pitching to Editor / Publishers First' or is it different since it's film?

DO NOT DO THIS!

DO NOT SEND YOUR MANUSCRIPT OUT TO ANYONE until you have secured representation, particularly to anyone in the world of film.

I'm sure your friends have the best of intentions. I'm sure they're honorable folk. Sadly, y'all work in a snake pit and I'm not telling you anything you don't know.

It is NOT easier to get an agent if there's "film interest." If anything it's harder here cause we have a film department and they don't want something people have already seen. Other agents also want a fresh slate. Something that's been seen is NOT that.

And unless your friends have the money and connections to actually get films MADE, optioning your script is just useless twaddle. I can't tell you the number of people who've slunk by my office hoping to option my client's books. Asked how much they're willing to pay, the answer is often "ummm....pay??" and that's a total non-starter.

Finish the book.
Get an agent.
In that order.

There are exceptions. You're not going to be one.

How Now Meow Flash Fiction contest-results-FINAL

These are preliminary results. Winner posted Monday afternoon!

 
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Special recognition for getting the correlation of the prompt words

Amy Johnson

and Michael Seese, for not getting them but making me laugh anyway.

Nominees for the Steve Forti Award for Amazing Use of Prompt Words

Steve Forti

“Pita? You got a screw loose. Wonder bread? Forget it.”
“Okay, how about a wrap?”
“Ugh. You ask for a wrap, I think you're dense. It isn't able to stand up to the sauce.”
“What then? Rye?”
“R-rye!? Are you insane, man? This ain't corned beef. It's a meatball sub!”
“Then what, just an Italian roll?”
“Just? Just an Italian roll? It's a classic for a reason. It's perfect. And if I really want to do it right, I'll toast it.”
“Geez, you're crazy about this.”
“Crazy delicious.”

Not quite a story, but utterly lovely

Dena Pawling

She kindled a fire on tabletop mountain
Raising her hands
From the abundance of joy
Praising the gods
For the birth of her Henry

She kindled a fire on tabletop mountain
Raising her voice
From the deep ugliness of grief
Pleading with the gods
For the life of her Henry

She kindled a fire on tabletop mountain
Raising her fist
From the pit of despair
Cursing the gods
For the death of her Henry

She kindled a fire on tabletop mountain
Raising her eyes
From the wisdom of experience
Thanking the gods
For the gift of her Henry

Not quite a story but holy moly!

RKeelan

First scotch, then rye.

Neither helps.

I take another look at the note. The handwriting is still mine.

I found it by the fireplace, a few crisp words announcing my intention to kill myself.

The thought of dying is repugnant, but my other self must feel differently.

I used to pity her suffering, now I despise her selfishness. I wish she would kill herself—if only she wouldn’t take me with her. I hope she knows that.

#

Pills lay spilled across the tabletop.

I claw at the bottle. What does the label say?

Anti-psychotics.

Not quite a story, but gripping as hell!

Madeline Mora-Summonte

Dearest Husband,

If you find this, please know I did not go quietly. But the enemy I was pitted against was entrenched, formidable. Familiar.

Do not blame yourself, Henry. You worried about leaving us. You said business could wait. I insisted we were fine.

I do hope it brings you some peace to know the children will not suffer. They sleep like angels. The tablets worked. Sometimes to stop ugliness, one must do unthinkable things. Or so the voices tell me.

I must go now, my love. It is time to light the fire.

Your devoted wife,
Lydia

Here the stories that stood out for me

Barbara

Henry discovered the tablet in the fire pit. Strange markings covered its surface. He took it to his friend, Clay.

"It's Sumerian cuneiform," Clay said.

"Sumerian? The first civilization on Earth? What does it say?"

"You won't believe it," Clay said.

"Is it how they invented the wheel?"

"No."

"The plow? Writing?"

"Neither."

Henry gaped. "Dear God! It proves they really were created by Annunaki gods from outer space?"

"Afraid not." Clay cleared his throat. "Why did the chicken cross the road?"

"No," Henry said, as Clay continued.

"To escape the farting pug. Seems they even invented the first riddle."

This just cracked me up.
I often confess to having the sense of humor of a 12-year old boy, and this just proves it.
The writing is terrific and taut as well.

Colin Smith

When Ryan fired me, I called him a repugnant rapscallion. A table-thumping tramp. A hood, a heel, a hoodlum, and a pitiable putrid profligate poser. I told him he could take his wretched wastrel work and thrust it where the helioic sphere does not radiate its resplendent rays.

He told me to remove my ungrateful, unguent, ulcer of a body from his edifice of endeavor, and find myself an alternative avocation.

The conflagration in the refuse receptacle was an afterthought as I evacuated his smoldering premises.

I never really wanted to work for Roget in the first place. Bombastic boneheads.

This made me laugh out out, and "bombastic bonehead" is my new favorite phrase. Honestly, Colin could start writing for the Spiro T. Agnew Memorial Speech Writing school after this.

Nate Wilson

Dear Liza,
There's a hole in my bucket.
Henry

Dear Henry,
I'll fix it. Swing by the stable tonight.
Liza

Liza,
I'm not driving a leaky bucket through atmo, babe.
Come to my hab.
Henry

Don't "babe" me, you repugnant bastard. That was one time only.
No house calls.
Liza

Such a spitfire! Love that about you. Among other... qualities. Meow.
I'll saunter over.
Hengry for More

Yee-ech. Offer retracted. You come at your peril.
L


Dear Liza,
There's a hole in my spleen. You'll hear from my lawyers.
Henry

Dear Henry,
It matches your bucket. Go to hell.
Liza

I'm a sucker for these kinds of off-beat entries. This one of course benefits from being familiar; the hole in the bucket song that kids learn in first grade music class.  Of course, Nate put his own spin on it, and it made me laugh.

I guess the funny entries are doing pretty well today!

John Davis Frain

K-9 rounds up the usual suspects. Enters names into her tablet.

Jimmie Three Paws. Muttley Crue. Their leader, Great Catsby. And the new cat on the block, Fifty Shades of Clay.

As an afterthought—the human, Mrs. Henry.

“Start barking,” K-9 commands.

“Heyyyy,” Catsby purrs.

Hours later, pugnacious Chief stomps in. “Confession?”

K-9 shakes her muzzle.

“When’s this end?” Jimmie asks.

Chief nods at Mrs. Henry. “Ain’t over till the cat lady sings.”

“What’s the crime?”

Clay thinks, erecting a statue in a dog park.

“Vandalism,” Chief spits.

Jimmie shuffles three paws. Swallows. “I thought it was a fire hydrant.”

Talking cats and dogs, plus puns! Honestly, it doesn't get better than this!

Claire Bobrow

Publishing intern by day…
Black Panther by night!
Who would ever suspect pitiful milquetoast Clay, always hiding under chairs and slinking about the office, afraid of water and pug dogs?
But when the sun went down and a tsunami of sin struck Gotham City…
Hiss!
Claw!
Me-ow!
No one could stop the Black Panther.

So he’d play along until they fired him.
Purr.
Pretend to enjoy traipsing on tablets and cluttering keyboards.
Even reading queries, like the one he’d napped on today.
No O’Henry, that author, but still…
The Secret Life of Walter Kitty had distinct possibilities.

This one is Clay the kitten's favorite (as relayed by Intern Kim). Not surprising since it reveals he's a superhero by night! I love the word play, and the dexterous writing.

Honestly, this was really hard. I loved all these a lot.

In the end I had to agree with Clay (and Kim) that Claire Bobrow's stood out.  Congrats Claire! Your prize is a copy of Word by Word by Kory Stamper.  I loved that book a lot and hope you will too. If you've already gotten a copy let me know. Drop me an email with your preferred mailing address.


Thanks to all of you who took the time to write and post entries this weekend. It was great fun to read your work. The depth of talent on this blog is rather frightening!






 Let me know what you think, and if an entry you thought should have been mentioned got left out.