You're going to need a bigger boat

My game plan has always been to write something for the larger publishing market and to eventually seek a literary agent, but I deliberately started with smaller publishers: partly because of my confidence, partly because some of the things I want to put out probably wouldn't work for anything but a niche publisher (esoteric bits of history and fiction, not anything obscene or illegal like penguin erotica).

I'm signed to put a number of things out over the next two years. The publisher and editor are people I hugely respect, and who I think are very good at their jobs. I got a full length novel out electronically this year, with a print edition to follow next spring. I have two children's books out under a pseudonym that is deliberately easy to link to my other work.

However, my sales are fairly low. I'm aware that you've mentioned on your blog that you do check the sales of authors' other works. I'm trying to improve things, but my publishers are small and I find self promotion really difficult.

Could this sabotage my future attempts to seek representation?

Yes.
You're no longer a blank slate. You have sales numbers. And they're probably terrible because a lot of small publishers sell direct to readers, and thus the sales aren't recorded on Bookscan.

However.
It's entirely possible to have backlist with a small press and still secure a deal with a larger publisher. You just need a better, faster, stronger, smarter, and more enticing book than everyone else.

In other words, you can hook an agent but you're gonna need a bigger boat.

If an agent/editor/publisher gets excited about a book and thinks they can rake in the cash, nothing silly like a track record is going to hinder them.

Your job, Ishmael, is to get a whale of a project before you start querying agents.

I want to sell in multiple countries, do I need multiple agents?

I would like to think that all my works have international reader-appeal, but I am originally from England, currently live in Australia and have two completed creative NF WW2 stories (a PB and an 8+/YA) that have English main characters, and a creative historical biography in progress that’s set in London. While they will be submitted to Australian publishers, I have a feeling that a UK publisher could well be most likely to make an offer. I also have five ‘normal’ picture book texts completed for any readership and one that is distinctively Australian. Would you advise attempting to partner with an Australian agent, one in the UK and one in the US? Do most US agents have co-agent partners in the UK for stories that will probably find a first home there, rather than for a sale of rights after initial release in America?

NO NO NO.
You don't want or need multiple agents.
You need ONE agent who will do multiple deals.

What you don't know is that the Australian publisher will most likely want the right to publish in English around the world. That's called "World English" That then means the Aussie publisher controls the rights for the UK and the US.

You wouldn't have anything for a UK or a US agent to sell. (An Australian publisher would generally not engage a US agent to sell rights; they'd do it directly.)

Whereas if you have ONE agent, they will strategize about which publisher is best suited for your work and which territory they're best suited to exploit.

World English has some very tricky aspects and you do not want to just assume that everything will work out.


Any questions?

Will working in publishing help my career as a novelist?

I work in social media for consumer goods and have for about five years now as I've toiled away on my novels on evenings and weekends. I accepted a few years ago that it's unlikely I'll make a living on just writing novels, so I've really made an effort to pick day jobs I like. Despite my best efforts, my jobs have been just kind of okay.

Recently an opportunity has arisen to apply for a job at a publisher! Social Media Manager role. The problem: it pays 2/3 my current salary. However, a writer some time ago told me that she credits working in publishing with her ability to eventually get published. "At least it's a salary," she said. "I'd do that over going to get an MFA." (Which is something I also briefly considered before ruling it out due to not wanting to go into debt.)

I know it's really the strength of the story that sells a book, but I do wonder if I don't consider at least applying for this job, I'll be missing a huge opportunity to see the inner workings of the industry and somehow putting myself at an advantage when I'm ready to query again.

I'm not expecting you to decide my life for me, but I'd love any insight you can provide.

Maybe.
You don't say where the job is located.
If it means moving to NYC and working at the actual publishing company, well, that's gonna test your budgeting skills, but it is a good way to get the low down on how this industry actually works (if you can call this working.)

If it's a job that's done remotely, you'll see and experience less of the day to day stuff and insider knowledge will be harder to come by.

Moving to NYC isn't for everyone, of course. I always say the only reason you should be here is if you want to be. It's too hard to live here if you don't.

But the bottom line is I think it's a good thing to experience if you want to be a writer.

And for those of you who don't have the option of working in publishing or moving to NYC, that's ok. It won't hurt your career at all. That's why you'll have me. I know enough about how publishing works for the both of us.

Editor suggested books

I have a writer friend who mentioned last year that after quite a few published novels, she was going to be curious to see how her most recent novel did. She said her editor had more input on this book than any other, basically giving the author the subject matter to write about. The book sold very well, better than any of her other previous books, even making bestseller lists.

I wrote this off as a one-time thing, but then I recently heard from another writer, with whom I share an editor. She said that our editor told her that the imprint would be publishing fewer books and as a result, the editor wanted to make sure she got exactly the books she wanted. The editor told the writer that she wanted a novel on a specific topic. The writer was offered the opportunity to write that specific novel. (Both of these writers are with Big 5 imprints.)

Now, two does not make a trend (not even for the New York Times Style section), but it made me wonder: Is this a thing? Editors asking for specific novels to be written? I understand this in nonfiction, but hadn’t realized this happened in fiction. Are we all destined to all be works for hire?

First, let's get our terminology clarified. Just because an editor asks for a particular kind of book does NOT make it a work for hire.  My guess is your writer friends had standard publishing contracts with advances and royalties and (here's the key part) they retain the copyright to their work.

Now, to what you're actually asking about.

This happens ALL the time. I've got a client who has had 10+ books published and his editor suggested an idea, and my client wrote the book.  I'm not sure the editor ever mentioned to the sales team that the ideas was his. He certainly didn't push it any harder than he did the other (not-his) books my client wrote.

Editors hear about books the sales team is hungry for; editors then pass that along to agents and writers.

When you see editors tweet about their manuscript wish list (#MSWL) it's exactly this kind of thing. Editors don't dream up projects based solely on their own idea of what would be good to read. They're listening to the sales and marketing team, who are talking to booksellers and librarians, who are talking to library patrons and readers.

It's not efficient communication by a long shot, but then this is publishing. For efficiency, you need to go someplace else.

Don't worry about this. Write the best novel you can.

When trade publishing isn't the way to go

This weekend will be the tenth anniversary of the first time I finished writing my manuscript. It sucked then, but I had no idea. I thought it was a victory. I'd overcome my demons and turned them into something that would help someone else overcome theirs, or at least help a loved one understand. And so I set out on a journey to get it out there to all the someones and the people who love them.

I committed rookie author sins. I submitted my 38,287 word first draft manuscript to agents. My query letters were embarrassing. Worst of all, I didn't really know yet what I had to say.

Then, I started to learn. I took classes and workshops, attended conferences and critique groups, and I read books and blogs. Your blog is one of my favorites. Also, through following you, I met others whose help was invaluable. But in submitting to you, I was given something even more precious. You answered me. Not a form rejection, but an answer. With you, I felt heard. Your rejection was fair, so please don't fear I'm asking you to do consider my work again. You've also been very generous in answering questions. For all of this, I sincerely thank you.

If I may be so bold to trouble you one more time, this silly anniversary has prompted one last question. As I worked over the years, I also prayed for the words God wanted someone to see. Now, despite the constant rejections I receive, I feel a responsibility to get my work to  the right eyes. My story is finally ready. Following a professional edit, I'd like to self-publish. I'm not a career writer, nor do I expect to make any money through this venture. I can't, however, afford to make books on my own.

Are you aware of a way in which I could have books printed and sold at cost?

Maybe I'm being foolish. Perhaps sharing this victory is what I need to make it real. I don't know, but I have to do something.

You're not being foolish, and it's not a silly anniversary.
You tried something new, and persevered to get better at it.
That's something to celebrate.

And if anyone says anything to you disparaging your accomplishment, punch them in the nose. Well ok, maybe just a pithy retort will do. Something akin to "even your dog knows you stink."

But on to your question.

There is indeed a way to have books printed and sold at cost.  But that's not what you want to do. You want to self-publish and use POD.  I don't know how to do this, but a lot of other people do.  You can sell your books on Amazon, and you can have a buy button on your website.

Do what you did when you researching trade publishing: google, find people who know what they're talking about, ask questions and listen to the answers.

And when you publish your book, let me know. I like to support writers, even the ones I don't represent.

Youthful indiscretions in the fiction section of your life

I am grateful for both of your blogs. I check both of them every day.***

On my query letter, should I note that I self-published a bad novel seven years ago that didn't sell because, basically...........

Iwas25anddidn'tknowanythingaboutanythingandjustwantedtosayiwroteabookandnowimreadytotakethisseriouslybutimsuperembarrasedaboutthatbook........

and if so how should I mention it? Or, should I avoid it on the query and address it honestly if an agent brings it up - assuming, hopefully, that discussions get that far?

You don't have to mention this in the query letter.
DO however, make sure that all evidence of your youthful fling are removed from your website, and from Amazon.

Do NOT reference this work you're querying for as a debut. You can be silent on that point until an agent asks for more info. Then you have to reveal the first book.

The first book is NOT a deal breaker at all. As long as you don't want me to try to sell it, we're good.

And truthfully, it's actually a plus for me. Now that you know how hard it is to sell and promote, hopefully you've been in training for the marathon of publishing for lo, these seven years.

Wait, what, you say? Training??

Yes, training.  If you want to write and be published, even though you're still at the early stages,  you should be training for publication.

By training I mean things like building contacts among other writers. Those writers will become your first readers and early champions.  The community that has grown up around this blog's comment section is the perfect example of that.

By training I mean you avail yourself of information on industry blogs so you learn terminology. You read more than the deals section of Publishers Marketplace. You ask your librarian for the copies of Publishers Weekly they keep behind the desk.

By training I mean you read widely in your category.

By training I mean you support your local bookstores. When you are published, they will be your bosom buddies.

You can do all this without a finished novel, without an agent, without a contract.  Then when you have those, you're tuned up and ready to go.

***While this blog updates most every day, QueryShark is much more irregular. 

If you follow QueryShark on Twitter, you'll see when that blog has new content.

My freelance editor wants to send my ms to contacts at publishers

A funny thing happened on the way home from the edit.

I have novel that I swear is the best novel I can make it without another set of eyes. And I swear I’m not a completely terrible writer, despite my use of the preceding adverb. Except for commas. I suck at commas.

So, with a year of querying behind me (part of the 100 club), those last ten fulls out there, and me ready to move on to a new project, I decided to find an editor, because I didn’t get it—everyone who read the book liked it and many agents who did request and said no wanted to see everything I wrote next, so I figured there had to be something wrong with THIS book.

I went on Reedsy and found a former acquisitions editor for one of the Big 5 imprints now freelancing. Good, someone who could tell me what was wrong. He had some good ideas that we discussed, and he was excited for me to query this book until I told him I was pretty much queried out.

Maybe I had a terrible query. Maybe it was the 1st person thing. I also made edits whenever I got useful feedback, so maybe that was part of it too. Who knows? But when I told him this—that my point in hiring him was to learn from this book if I could and to grow as a writer, his response was that the things to fix were minor, and that he still had friends at the Big 5 and would be happy to send them my work as a referral.

I checked and his background is legitimate. He also did not ask for anything, money or otherwise. I have another WIP, but it’s 4-6 months away from querying.

(1) Should I consider accepting this referral?
(2) Do agents know something he doesn’t?
(3) Am I disadvantaging myself?
(4) If someone offers, should I try to get an agent?

I know agents know many things I don’t with regards to contracts etc., but what’s the procedure for trying to find an agent after a publisher offers if you answer yes to questions 1&4 and lightning strikes (or I get bitten by a shark of the publishing variety)?


I am happy I do math for a living. Publishing is crazy. :) 

(1) Sure, why not. No one will die if you do.**
(2) Yes
(3) No**
(4) YES


You didn't ask him the defining question: if he'd gotten this ms while he was an aquiring editor, would he/could he have bought it? The god's honest truth is a lot of good work doesn't get published.  That happens for a lot of reasons, none of which you have control over.

And that's what agents know that editors don't. We see many more manuscripts than editors do. I can hear my editor friends screaming disbelief, while pointing at their overflowing inboxes.  As proof let me tell you that an editor recently mentioned she had 30 manuscripts in her inbox from agents.  I have triple that in queries on a weekly basis.


And if he sends the ms to friends at publishers, remember, that means the ms has been submitted. If they say no, that's a no for the imprint, if not the entire publisher.  Since you're at the END of your querying process for this book, the risk is low. If you were just at the start of the querying process, I would throw myself in front of your keyboard to prevent you from doing that. (notice the *** after questions 1 and 3. That means this answer is NOT one-size-fits-all.)

And if an offer results from this, email the agents who read your full with this subject line: OFFER from PUBLISHER on TITLE.

If you don't get any bites, let me know and I'll help you find a publishing contract specialist who (for an hourly fee) will review your contract and keep you out of hot water.

Yes, publishing is crazy.
And the people who work in it, including writers, are crazy too.
You have to be; it's an actual job requirement.

Vocabulary Quiz to come

I have a question about writing in two genres (having seen several times that you recommend against it for authors starting out, and suggest mastering one before adding the other).

As I see it, there are two types of genre: genres that talk about the plot, and genres that talk about the setting. Mystery, for example, defines a kind of plot and talks about what will happen. Historical defines a kind of setting and talks about where it will happen.

I can see the problem with trying to combine two type of plot genres, especially for new writers. If you're still learning how to plot out a good, compelling mystery, I imagine it'd be really hard to also figure out how to plot out a good romance, and then even harder to figure out how to tie those two plots together and balance them well. So I totally get that.

But it seems to me like if you have a mystery, it has to be set somewhere. Why not make it historical? If you don't make it historical, what is the non-setting that means you're not writing in two genres? Would it have to be modern day where you live? And similarly, if you are going to focus first on mastering historical fiction, what sort of plot would work for not combining two genres?

Or did you have more in mind trying to combine mystery and romance when you don't yet know how to write mystery or romance?

And are you ever tempted to make up new genres with esoteric rules to confuse and bewilder the authors who keep asking you about genres?

(Sharkian Fiction: The protagonist must be named Felix Buttonweezer, and he must be chased by a shark throughout the story. If he is chased by a dolphin, please see Delfine fiction. There should be at least three but no more than seven instances of key words used throughout the story (letters in consecutive order, but not necessarily in the same word); the words must be chosen from advertisements in the New York subways. Always submit on a Tuesday, and only to agents whose name begins with an F, Z or Ö.)

Thank you for your patience!

I'm not sure why you think there are only two genres, and that they are plot and setting.
That is simply not what genre is.

Genre is used to describe a certain kind of book. Genres are: crime, science fiction/fantasy, and romance.

Historical is NOT a genre. Plot is NOT a genre. Nor is setting.

Historical is a category. Any genre can have books that are historical (although historical science fiction defies easy explanation.)

YA is a category, because any genre can have books that appeal to young adult readers.


The reason I tell you to focus your writing in one genre (ie write crime novels, not crime and a romance and a fantasy novel) is because you need to be familiar with the books in your genre if you want to write something fresh and new.

That means you know the canon. Canon means the books that came first. Those are books that you see on lists like "100 Best Crime Novels of All Time."  Unless you know who murdered Roger Ackroyd, you're operating with a severe handicap if you want to write crime.

It also means you know who's leading the pack these days.  You want to read the nominees for Best Novel for the Edgar Awards, and you certainly want to keep up with what is selling well, and also what doesn't seem to be selling at all.

It's hard enough to do that in one genre, let alone two or more.


The larger problem is this: you're operating in a vacuum of knowledge here. You need to spend some time learning the vocabulary of your trade. It's essential that you know what genre and category are, and not just decide on your own.

Hands on or hands off, and no I don't mean that.

On Monday 3-27, you said:

6. Is the agent hands on or hands off?
An agent should know this about him/herself. And his/her clients will know for sure. ASK.

The more you know about an agent's day to day style of working with clients, the better.
------

Will you clarify what you mean by hands on/off? I always thought "hands on" simply meant an agent who gives fairly detailed editorial feedback on the writing. After reading a couple comments on that post, I'm wondering, is there more to the definition than that? Or maybe I'm wrong and it means something entirely different.

I'm hoping "hands off" does NOT mean an agent who never or rarely communicates with clients, but is one who leaves any editing to the publisher. 

Hands on is more than just how to describe an agent who gives fairly detailed editorial feedback.
 
Some agents sell a book, then *poof* they're off to the next sale.
Editors and clients don't hear from them until it's time to re-up.

There are levels of this; some agents will stay in touch a bit more often than that, but their focus is selling the next project not managing this one.

And that is perfectly legit. Some authors want that.  

If, on the other hand, you want or need an agent who is more involved, you want an agent who is more "hands-on."

When people ask me that question, I tell them I'm involved with editing and development right up till we sell it. Then I hand off content to the editor. If there's a problem, I get looped back in, but I'm not an editor and I like to sell to editors who really know their stuff (ie a lot more than me about how to make a book better.)

Of course, I've got my long pointy nose in all the business side of things.  From royalty statements to short story contracts, to helping authors develop their brand, activate their social media presence and build platform, I'm right there in the trenches with them. That's what hands-on means.

One of the things I need to learn about every new client is how much involvement they need and want. It can be two different things, which is interesting.  Generally we find out when we hit some sort of rough spot---which is one of the reasons I have a bar in my office.

And authors need varying levels of handedness through out the year, and throughout their career. A client who needs a lot of coaching will often become a client who doesn't need much by the third or fourth book.

Or, the client who didn't need much on books one through five, suddenly needs a lot when their career is making a left turn they didn't see coming. 

How do you determine if an agent is hands on or off (that does sound weird I know): ask their clients. Ask what their agent works with them on. If it's only the contract, that's hands off. If it's editorial work up till the book is sold, then not till the next book, that's hands off. 

I reiterate: both hands on and hands off are legit choices. One is not better than the other. The trick is to know what you need and sign with an agent who does that.

Questions?   

Subsidiary rights

Monday's blog post elicted a question from Lisa Bodenheim

I'm confused about subsidiary rights. I had thought marketing and sub-rights belonged with the publishing company not the agency.

Who controls subsidiary right is negotiated when the book is sold. Sub rights can be licensed to the publisher. They can be retained by the author/agent. (Sub rights don't have anything to do with marketing.)

We try to retain the subrights cause it means more money for our author.  Here's the breakdown:

Publisher controls translation rights:
Book licensed to French publisher for $1000.00
Royalty statement credited for $500.00 (one-half of the amount) because money received from sub rights controlled by the publisher are split with the publisher.
Domestic agent commission (15%) ($75.00)
Amount remitted to author: $425.00
 

Author/agent retains translation rights:
Book licensed to French publisher for $1000.00
Comm to French sub-agent (10%) ($100.00)
Comm to domestic agent (ie me) (10%) ($100.00)
Amount remitted to author: $800.00


Whether translation rights are licensed to the publisher is negotiated at the time of sale.  You'll see it mentioned in the Publisher's Market deal announcments as:
(1) World (publisher controls translation rights);

(2) World excluding X (publisher controls translation right for everything excluding X);

(3) World English (author/agent has retained translation rights-the deal is for the English language book throughout the world); or

(4) North American English (author retains translation and English language in everything but the North American market)


The trick with retaining sub rights is you must have a way to sell them. Retaining them just to hold on to them isn't usually a good idea.

Questions?

Quitting the day job

Let's assume three factoids: an aspiring writer has a secure day job he/she doesn't hate, and makes a decent middle-income living at; the author queries and you offer representation; you secure an advance on their manuscript equalling two years income for the author, let's say $120k.

Are there expectations that the writer will now quit that job and get to work full time doing the things people who make a living writing do (polishing the accepted work, reviewing other existing works, beginning new works, marketing)? It's a turnabout on the question about agents working hard enough for writers--is your new client working hard enough for you?

That cacophony you hear if you lean slightly left is every agent and editor in the world screaming "Don't Quit Your Day Job!"

No one expects a writer to quit a day job. Not ever.

Usually when you do, we weep.

I understand it's hard to meet deadlines with a full time job, but a steady income with health insurance is not something to give up lightly.

Publishing income is erratic at best. That $120K is NOT a usual size advance (would that it were!) and the advance could very possibly be the last money you see from the book. Most books do NOT earn out (ie do not earn royalties.)

We expect writers to do a lot of things, but that isn't one of them.

I'm a writer and I'm thinking of applying to work at a lit agency

I'm both a young writer and currently working my first job in publishing at a Big Five publishing company. I'm not sure where I'm planning to go next career-wise, but I have considered trying to move over to the agenting side of the business, and I did previously intern at a literary agency and interview for several internships and assistant positions at different agencies. My question is, how do I handle querying an agency that I previously interviewed with, and how do I handle applying for a job at an agency that once requested my full manuscript?

You keep quiet about the writing. Don't mention you've queried, don't mention you write. If you're applying for a job, focus on the job they want you to do. Don't tell anyone you're really just here till you sell your novel.

I cannot urge you strongly enough to NOT consider working at lit agency while trying to forge a career as a writer.

It takes a lot of time and attention to become good at a job. Literary agenting isn't 9-5 or even 9-9 if you want to be good at it. You're thinking about work even when you're out at brunch with your pals.

And if you're an assistant, it's worse.

The problem is: writing is the EXACT same kind of work. It's not 9-5 even if you only write for a couple hours a day. Writing a novel of any kind requires your creative brain to engage, and there's no schedule for that.

If you want to be a writer, you want a job you don't take home with you after quitting time.

The other part of the problem is wearing two hats in the publishing industry at this stage of your career means it's almost impossible to network effectively.  You've got to build your career as one thing, then branch out later when you've got an established base.

If you ignore this, and apply for a lit agency job anyway: do not mention anything about writing.


I know you think you're the exception to this, that you can do everything you want and do it well. That's exactly the kind of bravado and confidence required to be a good agent, BUT you also need to be realistic.  It's very very hard to do two things very well (just ask Michael Jordan.)  Do you want to be really good at one thing, or sort of ok at two?  That's the real choice here.

Sorting out credit after the work is done

I'm working on a short collection of interviews that is going to be published as an e-book for my company. I've done all the work, from finding the interviews, to collecting them, to formatting and eventually publishing the book. I get paid hourly, so I've been paid for the work as I've done it, but originally it was just going to be placed on our blog for free, only later did we decide to sell it as an e-book for $1.00. 
We're a small start-up so pretty much anything we do is up for negotiation, and we're all just learning as we go along. I'm curious if I should ask for a percentage of the proceeds from the book, and if so how much? I also had a sketch artist do some work for the book, but again they were paid a flat fee per-post. I realize this question is a bit out of the usual for you blog, especially because it's not fiction, but I've struggled to find the answer I'm looking for anywhere else. Thanks for your help!

What you'll ask for is a royalty rate.
If the book sells as an ebook, you ask for a percentage of the money received.
Generally when I negotiate this, I ask for half of net proceeds.

That means if the retail price is $1.00, your company will receive some amount that is
$1.00 less $X.

X is the amount the places like Amazon or BN.com charge you for selling and delivering the book.

You ask for 50% of [$1.00 - $X]

[Remember when you were sure you didn't need math after high school?
Welcome to the 21st century.]

Start by asking for 50%, but you'll probably have to settle for somewhere closer to 30%.

One thing you did NOT mention in your question is who is registering the copyright, and in whose name the copyright will be filed.  You'll want to get that taken care of pretty quickly.

 

How many agents can you have?

  Do people ever have more than one agent, if they are writing in different genres? What if they are only a little different like the difference between pictures books and middle grade?

Generally you get one agent per writer.
Some writers have two, but only if the categories are quite dissimilar. The most frequent example is fiction and non-fiction, followed  by adult and kids.

It's not likely you'd have two agents for middle grade and picture books.


It's hard enough to get one agent.
Try not to worry about whether you need two until you have one.

The Engagement Period

Recently I fell in love with a novel I received on submission.
I emailed the author and said "I love your novel. How's that query process going?"

Well, the query process was going just fine thank you, and, eager to press my case, I mentioned that now during the fallow time while he waited for those other slugabeds dawdlers agents to read his work, he could use the time to ask questions.

Even by email I could hear the gnawing panic and uncertainty. What the hell to ask? As a writer, with a real live agent on the hook, you really don't want to ask something so stupid they reconsider. As a writer, a woodland creature through and through, you are certain that EVERY question, up to and including "what is the commission rate?" is stupid.

Well, let's ease your fears.  Here's a list of questions to ask a prospective agent. None of them are stupid***

1. Have you read the book all the way through?
Now I know you think this is stupid. It's not. If an agent hasn't read the entire book before dangling a hook, you know a LOT about how they work.  Of course, if the agent has sent you back the manuscript with notes, questions, comments, etc. you don't need to ask this. You know the answer.

2. What's your commission structure? 
15% on domestic sales is the norm. 20% on subrights handled by the agency.

3. Is there a written author/agency agreement? 
Is it negotiable? I have a written agreement. And it's not negotiable. Every client agrees to the same thing. Yes, I'll send it to you. Yes, I'll explain it to you.

4. Is the contract for a certain period of time? 
In other words, at the end of a year (or whatever time period specified) is representation terminated?


5. What changes do you envision for the book? 
Obviously if you've gotten notes from the agent (see #1) you know this already. If you have not, ask. Make sure the prospective agent has the same vision for the book that you do.

6. Do you have comp titles in mind? 
What are they?  Do you think they're correct? If not, talk to the agent about this.

7. Do you have editors in mind already? 
What publishers are they with? If you're envisioning a big sale to a print publisher, and the agent is talking about a digital only publisher, you want to know that NOW.

8. What happens if you don't like other books I send you for representation?
(if #4 is for a specified period of time, you don't need to ask this.)

9. How is your agency structured? 
Is it a sole proprietorship or a corporation? If the agent is abducted by aliens, what's Plan B?

10. Can I get in touch with some of your current clients?  
If the answer to this is "no", run for the hills.

11. What do you do when a client wants to change genres?
Even if you think you will write dino porn forever, you'll want to ask.

12. How long does it take to  reply to emails, and read new work? 
(Ask that of the current clients too. I'm guessing the two answers are quite different.)

13. What does the agency do for subrights, and film rights?

14. What does the agency offer in terms of guidance on promotion and marketing?

15. How does the author get paid?
Some agencies have payments divided, and the author's portion sent directly from the publisher. Some agencies process checks and pay you directly. You should know which before you go any further.


An agent should be willing to answer each of these questions for you. She's not obligated to spend hours on them, but you should understand the answer, and if you don't, ask for more explanation.

The last, and I mean VERY last thing you want to do is sign with someone you end up not wanting to work with.






***there is only one stupid question in the world. I'll leave you to come up with what you think it is.

Metamorphosis

I am a very small-time published author (m/m erotic romance), a genre I originally stumbled into (seriously) so that I could have a publishing history in the hopes of one day getting an agent for my young adult material. While I have enjoyed writing m/m, I feel it is time to "move on", and have begun querying agents for one of my YA novels. Your September 5, 2015 blog post post about being reachable, however, has made me wonder if I shouldn't delete my m/m persona just yet, although I am eager to leave the old "me" behind and delete my Goodreads author page, my blog and my Facebook presence. I simply feel that clinging to my old pen name is holding me back from pursuing a possible future as an author of young adult novels, or perhaps even some of my more conventional romances. I'm at a crossroads, and wondering which way to go.


Basically, my question is thus: should I wait until I'm done querying so that potential agents can find me on the world wide web, or should I jump in with both feet, delete the past, and go after what I want? Even if I'm unsuccessful, I have no plans to go back to writing m/m, its just not where my heart (or muse) is. In fact, I'm not even sure if I should tell agents when I'm querying about my published work--do you think they would they hold it against me? Would you?

If you know you're moving on,  make the changeover now. Do so for the same reason you don't buy new curtains for an apartment you're leaving in two months.

Invest forward.

The post on Be Reachable meant you should be reachable NOW, not that I need to see what you did in the past. I want to talk to you about your NEW work, not have a discussion about your old work.  Time enough for that later.

A lot of people have publishing credentials they don't want to talk about. It's not a deal breaker at all.

While the subject matter may not be suitable to every taste, it's not like you're publishing stories about evil librarians which would be a total deal breaker.

How to Evaluate a Small Publisher

1. Ask to see the boilerplate contract.

A. Lloyd Jassin has a list of things that should be in a contract.
B. Morse, Barnes-Brown, Pendleton also has one

There are lots of places to find lists of red flags in contracts.
C. EPIC has one here 
D. The Authors Guild has one here
E. The amazing and invaluable Victoria Strauss has a great resource here.


2. Ask if the terms are negotiable
That means the publisher will negotiate with you or an agent or a contract review specialist to change the terms of the contract either by deleting clauses, amending clauses, adding clauses and/or changing royalty rates.

If a publisher says s/he doesn't negotiate, you've got a big red flag.


3. Look at the books they're publishing
Do they look professional? Trust your instincts here. You've read books, you've held books in your hands, you can recognize when one looks cheap and poorly designed. What they are publishing now is probably what your book will look like too. I will freely confess I am a book snob. Maybe you aren't.



4. Is the only way to buy books through the publisher's website?
Most readers don't like giving their credit card information to a site they don't know or use often. If the only way to buy books from this publisher is on their own website, that's a problem.

A.  Are books for sale on Amazon and BN. com?
Verify. And check the prices. The LIST price, not this discounted price.

B. Are the books listed at Ingram and Baker & Taylor?If they're not, your chance to get into bookstores and libraries other than as a special order is close to zero.



5. Look for the price of the books.
Are hardcovers more than $25.00
Are trade paperbacks  more than $15.00
Are Ebooks more than 9.99

If the books are overpriced (I didn't say over valued so lets not open that tin of gummy bears ok?) you've got a problem.


6. How long has the publisher been in business?
One of my ironclad rules is not to be first. Let the new publisher learn those first hard lessons on someone else's client. I like to be third. Or tenth.

Has the publisher been in business less than five years? That's a brand new publisher since publishing is a very long lead industry.

You know who discovered that the hard way? Amazon. They knew a lot about selling books, but selling books and publishing books are two VERY different things. They had a lot of money and some very smart people but they still had a bumpy road the first few years.


7.  Is the focus of their website writers or readers?
If it's writers, they're not using their website to promote their product. A publisher should be focused on their product: books. If the website is largely about how to become one of their authors, how to query etc, that's a problem.




A lot of small publishers do very well. They know their business and they work very hard.
I've sold books to a goodly number of them.

Some aren't.

Make sure you can tell the difference.

So, my author friend told me...

In your Effective Query Letters post, you state 'Don't offer exclusives.' Usually I take all your advice to heart, but an author friend of mine - I won't name names, but she is an award-winning children's author - told me that offering exclusives to literary agents is actually a good thing to do. She strongly advised that in my query letter I make it clear that I am offering my manuscript to the agent on an exclusive basis.

So my question is, how do aspiring authors like me know who is right? There are so many books and websites about what agents do/don't like, yet many of them seem to contradict each other. How are authors ever supposed to craft a successful query when they are being told so many different things by so many different people?

Ok, here is a little quiz to help you make those decisions:

1. Who is reading the query?
A. Your award-winning children's author friend
B. Me

2. Who has written a query in the last month?
A. Your award-winning children's author friend
B. Me


3. Who has written a query in the last year?
A. Your award-winning children's author friend
B. Me

4. Who would presume to offer advice on a topic she knows little about?
A. Your award-winning children's author friend
B. Me


From this quiz (correct answers: BBB/A&B) you may extrapolate the following: give more weight to the advice from people who are actually DOING the task you are trying to learn.

Thus: if an agent talks about how to send work to an agent, and particularly to her own agency, you follow that advice rather than any advice from someone who is not an agent.

If you're trying to figure out how to add plot to a novel you're better off talking to writers who have plot driven novels rather than agents, no matter how brilliant they are about query letters.

This rule applies to almost every aspect of life. A million people have opinions on how to do things. Some of them are well-intentioned. Even fewer are actually right.

Specifically to your situation: your award-winning childrens author probably hasn't queried in a dozen years or more. Even if she has, it's been with an award-winning backlist. Her situation is not yours and her advice is outdated at best.


You're smart enough to recognize that. Apply that caution to all the other advice you're reading, EVEN WHAT YOU READ HERE. I've waxed on about topics that other people know more about (self-publishing, writing, being pleasant on social media) and you should bear that in mind when you think about your own strategy.

Query Question: importance of platform for novelists

 I was at a writers' group meeting last night. A number of published writers insisted that even if an agent loves a writer's debut novel and sends it to an editor who also loves it, it will still get shot down in acquisitions by the publisher if the writer doesn't have a sufficient online platform. Is this true? To what extent does a writers' online platform matter to a publisher when deciding whether to acquire a debut novel?

These published writers work for publishing companies do they?
That's how they know what goes on in acquisition meetings?

I thought not.

Writers, published or not, know only what they're told about their own work, or hear from other writers.

Often this information applies to their situation alone; you can't extrapolate from it. 

This is one of those cases.

You do not need any platform at all for a novel, particularly for a debut novel.

One thing we know for sure now: Facebook friends, Twitter followers etc does NOT equate to book buyers.


Social media is now established enough that we have data to support, or disprove,  theories, about whether online presence sells books.


We know it doesn't.


What we know is that online presence is a great way to connect to readers you already have, or that come to you from book sales.


We still know the best way to get someone to read a book is have it recommended to them. Word of mouth is still the number one way people choose books.


We KNOW THIS.


Your job as a writer is to write a book that people will want to talk about.


And maybe to find a different writing group.

Ineffective book promotion

This book promotion email is being shared around the internet.

Here's the text:

Congrats! You are on my list to receive an ebook version of my latest novel (Title) for free, in exchange for a positive review.

After reading (Title) please help me spread the word by posting positive reviews about it on all social media sites. This includes positive review on Amazon, Goodreads, and any other social media that you use. If you have a blog, vlog, instagram, Tumblr, Facebook, Google or any other social media site, please mention it BEFORE and AFTER reading it, including links to Amazon or Barnes and Noble (if possible).

IF for some reason you really don't like the novel and don't think it's worth a 4 or 5 star review, please DON'T leave a review on places like Amazon, as 1-3 star reviews REALLY HURT the INDIE AUTHOR.  In fact, promotional sites will remove the author if you don't have at least a four star average.

If you aren't a fan, feel free to write me and share with me why.

Oh, and one last thing: As a huge favor, in your review, please DO NOT write things like "I received a free copy from author for an honest review.."  That's an automatic turn off in review world and discredits your review from those who need to read it, so please don't do that. Pretty please :)

(Remainder left out, but the "May you never grow up" line I'm praying relates to the book and is not her actual wish for us.)


Those of us posting this on Facebook were of course rolling our eyes, but it dawned on me that a new author or even an author inexperienced in doing her own publicity might not understand why this is a textbook illustration of what NOT to do.

Here are some things to remember:

1. Asking for a review, even when you give someone the book for free, is not a quid pro quo. The reader/reviewer is not obligated to review the book at all, let alone only in a positive light.

2. Telling the reader/reviewer where and how to post a review implies an obligation to follow her instructions.  That is the actual reverse of the situation.  A reviewer can post when/where s/he wants to. Or not at all. The writer not only has no control over it, it's a terrible breach of etiquette to even ask, let alone issue instructions like they are orders to be followed.

A writer CAN ask that if the reader/reviewer elects to read and review the book, a link to any post is much appreciated.  (See the difference?)


3. Telling a reviewer to lie is flat out wrong. If you hand out books in exchange for "a positive review" (see line 2) not even  just an  "honest review" (see line 13) you can't tell people not to say that.  We all howled with laughter when the FTC handed down rulings on what bloggers must say about getting free copies, but holy hell, apparently some people really do need to be told.


By way of contrast,  here's what my cover letter asking for blurbs for  Lee Goodman's INDEFENSIBLE looked like:

 

I'm writing to ask for your help with my client Lee Goodman. His debut novel INDEFENSIBLE is being published in June by Emily Bestler Books (a division of Simon and Schuster) and we are eager to build buzz for him.

I first met Lee after I was thwarted (twice!) from attending the Alaska Writing Guild conference back in 2009. [Weather over the Alleghenies kept us on the tarmac for four hours each of two days.]  The next year I left a week early just to make sure I'd get there, and wow am I glad I did.

I still remember that frisson of 'holy moly, this guy can really write' when I read his sample pages in the hotel room in Anchorage.  By the time I'd finished the novel I knew I had something special.  One of the best things about the impending publication is hearing from other people, writers I respect, that I was right about Lee. Reading ahead of the curve can be a daunting test of self-confidence even on the best days.

William Kent Krueger offered this blurb: "Lee Goodman has created characters we care about deeply; when he puts them through the wringer, we feel their pain. Add to this a compelling insider's look at prosecution and law enforcement, language that sings, a stunning series of plot twists, and the result may well prove to be the outstanding debut novel of the year."

John Lescroart offered this: "Lee Goodman's INDEFENSIBLE is the very essence of what the crime thriller is all about.  Complex and intelligent, fantastically well-plotted, stylishly written, and populated with real, flawed, beautifully rendered characters, INDEFENSIBLE is most of all an intensely and immensely human story of love, betrayal, friendship, duty, and family.  Unputdownable, powerful, heart-wrenching, completely satisfying, INDEFENSIBLE is as good as it gets."

I hope INDEFENSIBLE will resonate with you as it did with me. I know you have many demands on your time and many people asking for your rare reading time. Thank you very much for any help you can provide.

A couple of points to notice:

1. Ask the reader/reviewers help: upfront and as plainly as possible.

2. Talk about the book.

3. Mention other people who love the book (which helps readers have confidence they're not getting the bag o'crap someone else sent them last week.)

4. Acknowledge that they might NOT be able to help (for any of a million reasons.) It's important to let reader/reviewers know that it's ok to say no.

5. Personalize the letter (I deleted that from this example) in some way.  Using "you're on my list" says the reader/reviewer is just one of many, not special or individual at all.



Publicity and promotion increasingly fall to the author, indie pubbed or not.  It's critical to learn these skills so you're not the one being mocked on the interewebz for clueless book promotion.

Any questions?