How to talk about a self-published novel in a query

You've said that a self-published novel is not considered a valid credit when approaching a publisher or agent, but then I was wondering what you'd write at all if you happened to have one? Say I have one book I can't sell and have to give up on, my plan is that I'd self-publish to at least do something with it while I work on improving my writing for my next book which hopefully I can sell. So what then should I say about the first book while querying for the second? Is admitting I self-published a previous book bad because I'm admitting my last attempt was too poor to sell? Should I not mention it at all as a relevant credit? Or should I just avoid self-publishing as long as I'm trying for commercial publishing?

The reason self-published books aren't a writing credit is there was no independent selection process. You wrote the book, then you, yourself and ewe edited, copy edited, fact checked, sent it off to the typesetting elves, and presto, one ISBN later, it's a book.

There's nothing inherently wrong with self publishing. It's not something you have to speak of in hushed tones after hastily shepherding the children out of the room.

Very good writers have self published very good books. 

A query letter however should focus on where your work has been selected from a wider pool than your own repertoire and published. Thus, a literary magazine with an editorial winnowing process, a contest (as we discussed yesterday), are both publishing credits.

If you elect to self publish your novel you say simply that: I self-published my first novel Fifty Shades of Felix Buttonweezer.

You can leave out the rest: and I learned that it was a whole lot harder than I thought, and boy oh boy did I find out  I'm writer not a marketer etcetera;

or as we like to say in Siam



 




Now, as to whether you SHOULD self publish your novel, I will simply say this: the most common thing I hear from writers who query me again after a period of a year or more, and query for a new book is they now realize they queried too soon with that first novel.

I well understand your impatience with the glacial pace of publishing and the idea that getting the book out there is better than not, but that's impatience and inexperience talking. And lo! I have heard their siren song myself and always to my detriment I must confess.

Self publishing your first novel is a whole different kettle of fish than publishing a novel AFTER you've had several published already.

"At least do something with it" reveals a mind set that equates novels with fish. That is not the case. Your novel will not lose value in staying home from the big dance.You can always publish this novel at a later time, after you've gotten some experience, and practiced patience.


If I can persuade you to query your second and third novel, and make sure you've taken writing workshops before you send this defenseless novel out in the cold cruel world, I'll have done you a favor.

Question: About that self-publishing line yesterday

If I have self published a novel and would like to have an agent consider it, are the steps to querying said novel different than if I had never published it? While I enjoyed the process of self-publishing, and I learned a lot about marketing my work, etc, I am increasingly frustrated with how difficult it is to stand out in the saturated self-pubbed market. I would still love to have my novel picked up by an agent and published traditionally. Is that still an option with a self-published work?

I posted yesterday about bone-headed self-published promotions, and mentioned that "More and more people are being told that self-publishing is the new way to catch an agent's eye. I think that's hogwash but even if I believed it, this is the wrong way to do it."

[I wrote a blog post "Some Hard Numbers" on this topic in October 2012  as well.]

If however you've already published your novel, and discovered self-publishing to be a hard lesson in cold reality, and you want to query your novel you'll need a couple things:

1. A manuscript.  Do NOT expect to send finished copies of your book to an agent.  This is actually in your best interest since many self-published books are so just-plain-ugly (bad cover art, no book designer employed, bad layout) that a word .doc is more readable. I am a book snob. I love beautiful books. Ugly books have to be brilliant on page one to get me to read further IF I open the book at all.

2. Sales figures.  If you sold a lot, and I mean 20,000 copies within a year or less, you've got a reasonable shot of getting some attention.

3. A marketing plan.  Normally you don't need a marketing plan for a novel.  But if you've self-pubbed, and sold a lot of copies, what I need to know is who DIDN'T buy the book yet and how we're going to reach them.

Realistically if you self-publish your book and discover that making sales is a whole lot harder than everyone told you, you're out of luck on this book.  Write the next one and query that.

If you dig beyond headlines and snakeoil blogs, you'll discover that a lot of the people who "got discovered" by self-pubbing have not gone on to stellar print careers.   Most of the people who tell you otherwise have an agenda to push, or an axe to grind. Maybe I fall in either/both of those categoires but I like to think of myself as someone who looks for what actually happens rather than what we're told is Sure To Be The Next Big Thing. 

Selling rights to a previously published translated book

 

Have you ever received a query from Mongolia by someone who originally wrote their book in Mongolian, self-published that book in Mongolia but has now finished translating their book from Mongolian to English and would like to find an agent for their book in the English speaking market where it has not yet been published in any form?

OK, I don't speak Mongolian but I know you wanted blog posts that include Mongolia (now I've mentioned it enough, I think 😂).

Here's the reality and maybe it's a stupid thought/idea but sometimes I get stupid ideas: I wrote my first book in English and self-published it to KDP-Amazon UK and it is available in English, worldwide, and has been bought in at least eight different countries that I'm aware of. The ISBNs for all editions of this book (e-book, paperback, hardback) are mine - not Amazon's.

I am nearing the end of translating this book from English to German, and I am moving from the UK to Switzerland (German speaking part -> German speaking book market) next year. I had planned on just sticking the German edition onto Amazon as a self-published book as well, but then I had this thought: Would it be query-able for a German speaking agent? Like, what would YOU do if I queried you with an English edition of a book that was originally written in Mongolian and self-published in Mongolia?

The critical piece of info here is that you self-published it.
That means you didn't license the rights to publisher, you only offered the book for sale yourself.

If you had licensed the book to a publisher, an agent would need to see that contract to make sure you only licensed English language rights, not world rights.

If you license world rights, there's no deal to be made with you.
The deal would be with the publisher who now controls those rights.

So, you're free to query German language agents.
I have no idea how the domestic market works in Germany and Switzerland.
All that is handled by our co-agents who shop books there.

The ISBNs don't matter at all.
And most agents will want to take a look at the contract you signed with Amazon, just to make sure everything is hunky-dory.



Any questions?

licensing your self-pubbed book for translation

I'm in discussions with a reputable European publisher interested in translating and publishing my English language self-published novel. They haven't offered me a contract yet, but I'd like to have the answer to my questions ahead of time just in case.

While I've been self-publishing my book series with minor success, I do have hopes of going hybrid with two other novels not related to my self-published series. My questions are:

1. If this publisher offers me a contract, would I be wasting my time querying U.S. agents with this contract offer?

Answer: yes. US agents mostly do domestic deals and have a separate agency handling their subrights. Whether those dedicated subrights agents would be willing to take on a single author as a client I don't know. You can find these agents in Publishers Marketplace under international deals.


2. Should I pursue agents in the same nation as this publisher instead? Or, at least one that is European based?

Answer: You can certainly try, but my understanding is that most European publishers are not interested in self-published books. You seem to have interest from one who is. I'm not confident you can generate enough revenue for an agent to be interested, even long term since it sounds like you intend to keep selfpublishing. Again, you can find agents working in foreign countries in Publishers Marketplace under international deals.


3. Is it realistic to believe that an agent who rejected my self-published manuscript only because they "didn't know how to sell it" be more interested in taking me on as a client knowing that it can be sold due to this contract?

Answer: no. You have an offer for a sub-rights deal. That doesn't change the domestic side of things.


4. Do I start my query with information about the contract first instead of book, or does that rule still remain?

Yes you would. Always start with the book.

I strongly urge you to find other self published authors who have gotten translation deals for their books and get in touch with them to see how they handled the deal.

While I've sold books directly to overseas publishers, I've also sold a lot domestically so I had some background in terminolgy and contract terms.

You'll be signing a contract that is governed by the laws of another country so you'll need to make sure you understand those terms. The contracts are generally in English but there are some very interesting differences between countries (including the US) about what's included and left out.

As self-publishing grows, there will be a lot more people to help you out here. I'm not well-versed in this area. Make sure you talk to people who've actually DONE deals

Angelina Jolie is making a movie that my book could be about!

I queried about thirty agents last winter (2015) with my first ms, a thriller about Cambodia/Khmer Rouge. Save one partial request, all flat-out rejections.  I self-published at the same time as querying. (1)

This year, Angelina Jolie is releasing a film about the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, through an adaptation of the memoir 'First They Killed My Father' by Loung Ung. Film will be released on Netflix. Good or bad, everything Angelina does gets press.

(A celebrity is releasing a film this year about the obscure topic that will bring it more to public awareness...)

There is almost no current fiction about Cambodia. If the movie does well, I think it will help my book. (2)

Question is:  Should I re-query all the same agents as I did last year, highlighting this upcoming movie? (3)

Or query only new-to-me agents (4)
Or does it seem like a complete non-event and move on? (5)
Or a wait and see how movie does?  (6)

And should I unself-publish first?  (7)

I feel like I am sitting on an opportunity now that before was a 'No One else Cares'.

Thanks for the blog, wish had found it earlier. (8)

(1) If you self-published at the same time you queried, you seriously misunderstand the purpose of both self-publishing and querying. I don't take on books that are already published. Agents who do look for strong sales. If you've just published, unless there was a tsunami of sales on Day One, even agents who take on self-pubbed books won't be interested.

(2) Go to Amazon, type in the search term "novels about Cambodia."  I came up with six.  When you look on GoodReads, there are more. When I see this kind of statement in a query, and my very cursory research doesn't support your statement, I'm hugely dissuaded from considering your work further. You're much better off emphasizing how your novel is DIFFERENT from the other novels out there. You don't have to be only, you just have to be new and fresh.

(3) No. Publishing works on a long lead time. Right now, I'm selling books in to Fall 2017 catalog and Winter 2018 lists. You've missed the window completely for Fall 2016.

(4) Sure, if you want to.

(5) The success or failure of Angelina Jolie's movie will have almost zero impact on whether someone wants to read your book UNLESS Angelina Jolie's movie is based on your book.

(6) See #5

(7) There is no such thing as unpublishing. You've published the book. It's got an ISBN number and if you were smart, a copyright registration. Those things do not go away even if the book isn't available for sale.

(8) Me too, if only to have spared you what seems like a lot of work for no reward.




As a general rule, a movie based on a book is good news for that particular book, but it doesn't help books in the entire category. One of the (many) reasons for this is that the movie is based on a book that was published several (if not more) years ago. That means that publishers wanting to ride the wave of any renewed interest in this topic are going to look at their backlist (previously published books) FIRST, not try to acquire something to publish now. Reprinting a book can be done in weeks. Publishing a novel takes MONTHS if not a year or more.

Bottom line: query new agents if your book is selling well. If it's not, be prepared for a vast swath of silence.

If your book is not selling well, at the risk of sounding cavalier about the challenges of writing: write another book and start the query process anew. OR invest in making the self-published book a success.

Query Question: what constitutes self-publishing?

 At this point in my life, I have no job and little income, and am falling behind on utility bills and mortgage. In order to keep my house and electricity, I'm thinking of using MS Word to print out a booklet of my lit-mag-published short stories and selling that to shore up my finances for a few months until I turn 62, and can start drawing Social Security. I don't intend to do a national marketing campaign or anything -- just offer the booklet to several friends and family members for a modest fee. Will the Business consider that self-published? Will it come back to bite me when I show my novel to an agent?

Yes, that's self-published. Anything you print up and offer to sell on the open market is considered published. Generally to sell on Amazon, you'll need an ISBN and having an ISBN means the book is published.

It probably won't hurt you, given that it's a collection of short stories, not a novel.

The real problem here is that you're undertaking something that requires real investment to do well, and it sounds like you're not planning on investing at all. 

A quick MS Word document will look brutally ugly unless you really know what you're doing in terms of book production. Making a book look professional, or even attractive generally requires knowledge of book design, or hiring a book designer.

And I'm absolutely certain you've not run the numbers here if you think you're going to "shore up your finances" by selling books, any books.

If you list your book at $7.99, you retain about 70% of the proceeds or $5.59 for an electronic copy. For print books it's far less.  You'll need to sell at least 100 ebooks to make a little more than $500. You'll need to sell 100 print books at somewhere north of $10 to earn $500.

I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings but most self-published books sell far fewer than 100 copies. The average number of copies for ALL self-pubbed books  appears to be somewhere around 250, although I'm not sure that's still accurate. That means at least half of those published books sell fewer copies.

I say this not to discourage you, but if your house is at stake, you might want to spend your time doing something that has a more reasonable chance of earning income than self-publishing. 

Why can't I send you my printed book instead of a query?

I would have sent this as a comment on your blog, but it didn't seem to fit on anything recent and I guess I'm a little clueless as to starting a new conversation via blogspot, if there is a such thing.

(there isn't but sometimes, when I'm too frustrated by my rendezvous with machinery and the computer age to do anything but snarl, I answer questions)

Anyway... in one of your older blogs you mentioned not sending you a bound book with an ISBN, etc. You cited "for obvious reasons." Well it is not so obvious to me, I guess.

That's ok. No one is actually born knowing all this stuff so here's why: if you send me printed book, who exactly is going to retype it? (Answer: not me)

Almost all editorial and production work is handled via electrons these days. Even on days (like today!) where I despise that, it's still true.

Even if it were not true, the first thing an agent or an editor does on a manuscript they're thinking of buying is run it through the xerox machine to give to other people to read. Impossible to do that with a "real" book.

And think simply in terms of aesthetics: I know it's a manuscript for consideration because it's on paper, or in a .doc. You send me a book and it's not instantly clear this is a submission. Trust me, those stupid details do count.

I self published my novel and it is on Amazon, but that is not to say I wouldn't love it to be traditionally published. Is that not an option now that I have gone the self-publishing route? I am curious because I have other work waiting in the wings and if self-publishing is the end of any book's publishing options, I want to know that.

There is no such thing as traditionally published, and I wish people would stop using that phrase to mean "published by someone other than a template printing press masquerading as a publisher."

The term was started by those in that business, and has been picked up by everyone.

Do I sound cranky? I am cranky. To say something has been traditionally published is meaningless. All major houses use print on demand technology when they need too. Some small presses offer no advance.

What exactly does traditionally published MEAN? I'll tell you what it means. It means you didn't print it at AuthorHouse/exLibris/PublishAmerica or some of those other template printing presses.

Rant over. Well, ok, rant adjourned.

What you mean is you've self published a book, and now you want to have someone else publish it and get the added value of an experienced publishing team working on your book in exchange for them keeping a chunk of the earnings. Not quite as snazzy as "traditionally published" but if you've got a better term, let me know.

I am honest enough with myself to know when I want to just get something out there and when I feel something really has mass market potential and I should hang on to it, query away and be patient.

I can't answer that since I've never seen your work, and even if I have, my crystal ball has a big old dent in it and all I can predict is yesterday.

I was considering sending you a query for a cookbook/relationship, non-fiction book, trying to be a good little writer and pouring over your requirements. So, what is a "platform/established presence?" I hope that doesn't apply to me, since I am then thinking the chicken and the egg. How can I get an established presence without publishing something?!

I think you mean poring; at least I hope you do, but if it's a cookbook and you are pouring, can you not get it on the new computer? I've had enough computer troubles to last a lifetime as of today.

Platform is not published books. For more on what it is get the excellent book GET KNOWN BEFORE THE BOOK DEAL by Christina Katz.

I hope I am not rambling or sounding ignorant. I especially hope this doesn't end up a post on "why you didn't respond to this nut." :)

You're in luck.

Query Question: wait, that first one didn't count

I self published a book of short stories a few years back. (It seemed like a good idea at the time.) It got a few good reviews, everyone I knew bought it and a few strangers took a risk and bought it as well. Hooray me.

Fast forward and I would like to submit some of these stories for consideration in contests or to lit presses / online magazines etc. (Not all of them, some of them were very bad... I can see that now... but a few of them are things I am proud of.)

My problem is that they fall under the "already published" label since my little self published book has an ISBN and is available for purchase on Amazon etc.

I guess my question goes beyond a bit of "What can I do/"... to "Do I have to leave these little gems behind me for good? Can I rework them so that they are just new and different enough to count as "not previously published"? How much rework would that be?"

I'm frustrated and feeling very foolish. Any help you could provide would be wonderful.

Don't feel frustrated, and don't feel foolish. You haven't done anything stupid or wrong. You've written and published stories that people liked. Hint: that is A Very Good Thing.

However, if you want to give these stories a second shot at finding readers, well, that's a bit more troublesome.

The rules for contests and lit mags are pretty specific. Not previously published means just that.  You'd be hard-pressed to rework a short story enough to make it something other than what it is now.
And you don't want to enter, get published and then find out you're on the wrong side of previously published.  You very much do NOT want your name associated with that brouhaha.

Thankfully book publishing is not quite so rigid. Collections of previously published stories are common. Some of your stories (the good ones) could be the basis for an anthology.

And some anthologies don't require new material.  Look for those to send your stories to.
This is more common in genre fiction than lit fic, but you didn't say what kind of stories you published.

The best idea though is to write more stories.  

Is this a legit publisher?

 In my eternal quest to seek out a publisher, I managed to stumble across a company called TCK publishing that looks to be some sort of combination of a vanity press and a marketing company. Ostensibly they take queries like any small press, but they also charge a $500 fee and make the author pay for editing services. In exchange, they would assist the author with marketing, covers, formatting, all that, and split the revenue with the author 50/50.

The mere existence of the infamous Publish America company has made me wary of anyone that asks for my money, but this one makes me arch an eyebrow because some of its authors seem to be doing fairly well and the owner doesn’t seem to be a dream vampire. My question is, of course, what do you and the blog readers here think of this model? Scam? Legitimate publishing company? Still better than self-publishing?

Be careful about throwing the word scam around. Scam implies they are doing something illegal. They are not. They're very clear about what they're doing and it's all legal. 

The same is true with literary agents who charge you a monthly retainer: it's perfectly legal, it's not "a scam"

Neither of them however are what I would consider a legitimate publisher or agent.

The guiding principle is this: do they add value to your work?

In exchange for a serious chunk of your earnings, a publisher provides the value of access to the marketplace; something you'd find very tough if not impossible to do on your own.  Before the advent of e-marketing, getting books in front of readers involved sales people going to bookstores. For an author assembling  a list of bookstores in his/her city, let alone state, let alone nationally was a DAUNTING task.

Now of course, it's much easier to access readers: Amazon and other electronic sales venues.

This company makes no mention of how they help your books reach readers.  A survey of six or seven of their authors reveals the books appear to be only on Amazon.

YOU can put your book on Amazon and keep ALL the money. The question to then ask is: what are you buying for that $500 and 50% of the royalties?  I don't see the answer on their website.  

My guess is that what you're buying is "I'm not self-published" which certainly has some merit.
On the other hand, anyone who doesn't review or acquire books that are self-published probably does what I do when confronted by an unfamiliar publisher name: I look em up.

The website is so geared to signing writers up that I would instantly discount it as a real publisher. And any kind of sleuthing about reveals they don't provide editing which is one of the MAJOR values a publisher brings to the table. Reviewers and book buyers don't ignore self-published books because they're self-published. They ignore them because as a rule they're BAD books (badly written, badly designed, badly printed.)


And of course I just love their comment they don't work with literary agents very often because they want the author to keep more of the royalties. That may be true; it certainly sounds good to writers. My guess though is that it's really the other way around: they don't work with lit agents cause no lit agent would send them a book.  I'd advise an author considering this venue to simply form their own company, hire an editor and book designer, and publish their work themselves. That way you control the pricing, and you keep the dough.

If however you want your book in bookstores, and libraries, and at B&N.com, you'll probably need a company that publishes, rather than just prints books. 

Self-pubbing short stories

I’m the kind of guy who’s always been of the mindset that traditional publishing is the way to go. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had opportunities to speak with several indie authors and I love that they’re earning a living (far more of a living than I am with my day job) doing something they love. If I were any other kind of person I’d be jealous and rushing to join their ranks. Thankfully, patience is my middle name.

I’ve written and “trunked” three novels over the past four years for various reasons. I’ve had some short stories published, but nothing professional (i.e., no payment for the publishing). I’m currently working on (what I plan and hope to be) a series of novels I believe will not find themselves in the trunk. (In other words, I feel like I’m on the brink of some kind of success).

With this series, and more importantly the first book, I’m on the fence about whether to pursue self-publishing. For reasons stated here and here, I feel I want to continue with my die-hard pursuit of a traditional publishing contract. However, given all the buzz from the indie world (and some buzz from folks I’ve spoken with in the traditional world) I fully understand the need for an author to have an ability to promote and market his or her work, despite publishing options. With that in mind, I’ve been developing a website and working toward building an email list specifically to help with this promotion and marketing.

I realize this seems more a self-publishing tradition, but I assume (perhaps wrongly) that it wouldn’t hurt a traditionally published author to have a bit of a following. To help generate that following, I intend to offer short stories as a lead magnet to entice people to join my mailing list, etc. I’m also toying with the notion of self-publishing several other short stories and novellas to continue generating interest until (not if – fingers crossed) the first book is published.

Here's my question: given all the talk we’ve had about how bad self-publishing gives you baggage (and realizing that I would treat these short stories as professionally as I would a novel) would self-publishing shorts in this way be detrimental to a future traditionally published career? (i.e., I’m concerned about all the talk we have about sales figures from a previously self-published author with a second book being the “baggage” agents and publishers won’t want to touch.) I want to be proactive, but I’m also afraid (woodland creature)

My instinct tells me to be cautious, but it also says that shorts are a different animal than novels so I might be okay.

You're just not phrasing this correctly. Here's what you mean to say: I'm building my mailing list by publishing work that will appeal to people who will want to read my novel.

Once you phrase this correctly, you understand this is a very good thing, and huzzah to you for taking the promotion bull by the horns and giving him a waltz around the dance floor.

Far from being a detriment, this is something that would make me sit up and take notice in a query. You don't need platform to sell a novel, but if you include "I have a robust mailing list of 500+ readers" in your bio, well, yes, that makes my fin wriggle.

And if you need an example of a guy who's doing this, you need look no further than Jeff Somers.  Follow his Twitter feed to see how he promotes his self-pubbed stories, and builds his mailing list.  Jeff is a lot of things (likely drunk, likely pantsless, likely to be eaten by zombie cats after the apocalypse) but not proactive isn't one of them. He calls himself lazy; I roar with laughter when he does. Watch what he does, not what he says.

Recognizing when you ARE the exception

Dear Shark,
I am an author who has been querying my second novel for two years now. I have one published novel (originally self-published in 2014 but then miraculously republished by a press in Montreal) which has not sold much, alas, but has received great reviews and even an endorsement from Margaret Atwood.

My question is: Do I not even mention this in my query? Is this book, which I am proud of even if it didn`t sell much, hurting me? Some agents seem to indicate that past failures (in a sales sense if not an artistic sense) hurt you if you mention them, and you may be better off with a pseudonym or otherwise divorcing yourself from them.

Any advice you might have would be greatly appreciated.

Dear Chum,

What you don't realize is that a quote from Margaret Atwood trumps all.

And I don't think you realize that a publisher taking on a previously self-published book is quite rare. More rare than a Margaret Atwood blurb.

What you've got here is something a savvy agent is going to recognize as an opportunity.

Yes, you mention this. Almost exactly the way you did here:

I have one published novel (originally self-published in 2014 but then miraculously republished by a press in Montreal) which has not sold much, alas, but has received great reviews and even an endorsement from Margaret Atwood.

Any questions?

Query Question: I need a mulligan!

Part of your response to a blog question recently was: “And book publishers don't always see "previously published" as a problem. Lots of books have second, even third, lives in book publishing.”

I am thinking ahead to querying literary agents for my soon-to-be-completed second novel. In 2009 I came close to getting representation for my first novel by the fact that several agents had requested the full. Though I was not offered representation, I learned what I needed to do to improve my work.

Back in 2009 – 2010 the publishing industry seemed to be in upheaval because of the proliferation of digital publishing and the ease with which writers could become self-published. I did my best to avoid self-publishing, but I wanted to get my work out there for the world to see. I found a small publisher that offered what I considered a “hybrid” model—a POD arrangement with Ingram using my company name as an imprint of their publishing company. In essence, I was still self-publishing but under the guise of an actual publisher. For that reason, an earlier thriller author who had done the same thing with the same small publisher, got the ITW to place it on the ITW approved list. I therefore gained status as an ITW author-member. That was in 2011.

So, to my reason for contacting you. I envisioned the possibility of my future agent selling my second novel, and also getting a publisher to publish my first novel as a paperback because it had been published in hardcover. But yesterday, another potential option hit me. Since lack of marketing is what caused low book sales, what about querying agents about that book now, but under a different title? I am convinced that what I had done to improve it in 2010 will garner even more interest now by literary agents.

Do NOT do this under any circumstances. You should NOT query a book that's already been published without telling the agent at the query letter stage.

Oddly, I've had this happen to me more than a couple times recently. Somebody, somewhere must be advising writers to do this. It's BAD advice.


Here's why: If I don't know this book has already been published, and I pitch it to editors as a brand new book, someone is going to find out and then it's going to be a true shitstorm.


And here's how someone is going to find out: they're going to buy the "new" book and remember they read the first book, and they're going to write a one-star review on Amazon saying "this author is trying to sell old hats for new."

If a book is published, and then re-published, you need to say so on the copyright page. "This book was previously published as SharkJammies for Kittens" in 1995." 

If you think readers aren't going to make the connection, you're gambling a whole lot on your readers being stupid. 

I learned the hard way to check those copyright page notices because a lot of old time authors get re-pubbed under different titles, particularly if they have both UK and US editions.


You also really really really do not want to start what we hope will be a long term, mutually beneficial relationship by lying. Lying by omission is lying. Don't do it.

Here's what you should do: query the second novel. Tell your agent about the first novel. Decide together how to proceed.

Blog post: publishing as a class project

 

I'm currently a student in a creative writing program, and as a senior project, we write a book. It's traditional in the program to self-publish that book on Amazon, buy some print copies, and give them to your friends to celebrate all your work in the program.

 

I'm just starting on my project, and I do really want to self-publish with my classmates and have the full experience. However, I've also read your blog enough to know that self-publishing should be done wisely. I know that anything I self-publish is unlikely to sell very well unless I put in a lot of extra time and effort.

 

Furthermore, I admit that my pipe dream would be to get a traditional publishing contract for this novel. But unless I chose to skip the self-publishing part of this program (which again, sounds really fun) I'd probably need to publish my project before any agents would even get back to me.

 

Which means I'd be shopping around a novel that's already been self-published. Aim at foot, shoot.

 

This program's project wasn't designed with these concerns in mind. Most kids my age probably don't care about future marketability. Me, though? I'm worried I'm going to self-publish a novel I really love and then have it haunt me forever.

 

Should I avoid self-publishing now, and hold out for a future traditional publish? Should I make peace with the idea that this book just won't go anywhere, and that I could sell something else one day? Should I take the leap of faith and see if anyone will pick up a previously self-pubbed book? Should I stop worrying about it, and (as I ended my question last time) put this whole publishing thing on a back burner and wait 'til I'm older?

 

Thanks again for all you do. It might seem like just a blog to you, but I truly learned so much from all of your writing. You really made a difference for me as a kid, and I hope I can put everything I learned to use one day.

 

You get an A+ for asking an interesting question.

 

I'm not sure there's a right/wrong answer here.

For starters, you didn't mention if there's a downside, in terms of your grade for the program, if you don't publish.

 

If it's going to mess with your GPA, do publish. Your GPA now has a higher priority than something which might/maybe/not happen down the road.

 

If you do elect to publish (for whatever reason), you can wait a suitable length of time and then take the book off Amazon.

Yes, it will still be findable for those nosy Parkers who like to suss out every youthful peccadillo, but the hell with them.

 

IF you want to query this novel at a later time you can say:

 

An early version of this novel was published as part of a class project in my creative writing program.  My mom bought the entire print run.

 

Publishing this before you query will NOT kill you, particularly if it's a class project.

 

Even I, purse-lipped rejector of previously published books, give young folks/students a break on something like this.

 

The reason for that is NOT that I am nice and kind (I absolutely am not.) It's that a project like this doesn't make me think you've exhausted the buyer pool. You probably aren't even IN the buyer pool.

 

Which means do NOT publicize this, tout it on social media, buy copies for your Christmas list, and DO discourage Mum from buying more than one copy (Good luck with that!)

Any questions?

 

 

There are always exceptions to rules and guidelines.

This is one of them.

 

 

Query question: print books only

 I’ve seen a lot of authors talk about how they self-published their novel digitally, then sold their print rights to a publisher while retaining the rights to the digital version. However, virtually all of the query advice I’ve read says don’t bother querying an agent if you’ve already self-published, and I haven’t yet found an agent that will accept a query for the same.

So, I’m curious: What’s the best way to go about selling print-only rights to a self-published novel if most agents auto-reject this kind of query?

Make sure you open emails from editors at publishing companies.

Whereas most agents won't sign something that is a print rights only project, editors at publishing companies might have some sort of special circumstance that would allow them to acquire print only. They'll go looking for it. 

You have your email address on your website, right? It's easy to get in touch, right?

And one thing to REALLY be careful of here: anecdotes and stories from self-pubbed writers that are too old to apply to the current state of the market.

I know of several editors who did interesting kinds of deals with previously self-pubbed writers and are now looking at the resultant sales figures. Most of those are Not Good, which means deals that happened one or two years ago are not being done now.

Week in Review 11/29/15

Welcome to the week that was.

Last week, the WIR went AWOL. I blame the cat.

Her Grace, the Duchess of Yowl

Faced with the choice of petting the cat or doing any kind of work, I picked the cat. I'm sure the cat concierges among us will understand. There was, however, in place of the post, a lovely string of comments introducing us to various fuzzy family members.

I must say though Amy Schaefer's comment was really cool:

And, if I went outside right now, I might be lucky enough to see the pod of dolphins make their daily migration to the next island over. Not pettable, but lovely wildlife all the same.

And nighstmusic's comment just cracked me up:

My dobes would let anyone have whatever someone wanted if they broke into the house. If they have a cookie? The dobes will carry everything to the car!

But it was Kae Ridwyn's comment that surprised me the most:

There's a camel farm across the road from us. Ever so often they decide to graze near the fence, and we can see them clearly from our bedroom windows, just 30 metres away. Being able to watch them on such a regular basis makes me feel pretty special. My German Shepherd and Australian Cattle Dog go nuts though, wanting to herd them! It's kinda funny, really.

Camel farm? I knew there were reindeer farms (I lived next to one for a couple years!) and mink farms (raised for their pelts, not as pets) but I had NO idea such a thing as a camel farm existed.



On Monday, the results of the Duchess of Yowl Flash Fiction contest were announced.

nightsmusic's comment

I decided to do what someone else said, write it, post it, THEN read the other entries. I almost deleted it because everyone's read so much better.

reminds me to tell you to NEVER assume your entry won't catch my attention. Sometimes that one turn of phrase, or a great sentence is enough to do it. Have confidence in yourself!

Poof! had a spelling note:

2) Spell check on paws. (Lallygagging should be lollygagging). Op. cit. Cat.

Now, this is the interesting thing: blogger corrects lollygagging to lallygagging! When I spell czech with Word, it's lollygag. When I checked with online dictionaries: lollygagging.


AJ Blythe missed posting because of time zone confusion:

I tried to do what I said I would - post *then* read. Unfortunately it would seem I messed up my timezones again (somehow calculating 10pm not 10am for closing) because when I went to post it was... closed =(

Would a countdown clock be useful? There are a lot of places I can create a widget that would appear on the contest post site that would tell you the number of hours remaining. Given we have readers all around the world now I was thinking that might be something to add. Let me know, ok?

And in case you were wondering just how self-involved I am, it took me a week, and two reads to figure out that our winner here was also the winner at Flash! Friday.

I couldn't figure out how Colin had missed Marie's win, given he was commenting on the exact post that mentioned it:

PS: I just noticed Marie won this past Friday's Flash! Friday Contest too!! Wow--that's the kind of double-whammy I can only dream of!! Well, done, Marie. What an awesome start to the week for you!! :D

The light dawned when I read this from Michael Seese:

Congratulations to Marie on 2/3 a hat trick: a win here AND Flash! Friday.

Yup, Janet, there are other blogs in the universe. And contests. Get a grip on your ego, SharkForBrains!


On Tuesday I posted a new approach to getting the gist of a query on the page.

This comment from Lucie Witt was interesting:

Before I start on a new WIP, I write a query draft. It essentially reads like back cover copy.

As I draft, I return to my query several times and tweak it. Sometimes this means adjusting to match new plot points that come up as I write. Sometimes it also helps me remember to stay on my main plot when I'm drafting and subplots start tempting me to go a million different directions.

I've found that when I can't make the query work as I draft, it usually means something's wrong with my plotting.

I've often said that if you really can't get the plot into a query, it's possible there's no plot in the book as well. But, I never thought about using a query as the first step in writing the novel.

I wondered if other writers did this, and sure enough, Susan Bonifant said:

Lucie Witt, a while back, I kinda sorta joked about writing the query first. Then I did it with my current WIP. I followed a path like yours, back and forth from query to changing story and back again to keep the query from sprawling.

I thought it would be more organized, and it is. But I very much like the idea that after two years of writing my heart out, the query won't loom (or will loom less) like a big scary pass/fail guard at the end of it all.

For me, and maybe you and others, this kinda sorta really works.

And Lisa Bodenheim too:

Lucie and Susan: yes, that's how I've working at it too for the past year. The query and the WiP inform each other

I find this fascinating.



Julie M. Weathers attended a panel at Surrey about queries:

The panel was split on where they want the housekeeping stuff. Some want it up front so if the word count is off or it's the wrong genre they can stop reading right there. One agent refuses to read anything over 100,000 words regardless of genre.

This is EXACTLY why I advise writers to put the housekeeping stuff at the bottom. At least give your novel a fighting chance to entice an agent before you mention category (which you get wrong a lot) or word count.

This is the ONE time when "follow the directions" is not what you want to do.


On Wednesday I jumped up and down about cleaning up your web presence before you query:


LynnRodz bemoaned her lack of blog fodder:

Pets? Should I rent one, or can I put a photo of my cactus instead?

How about you just post pictures of where you live? I think that would be almost as good as cat and dog pictures!

Jearl Rugh asked:

However, would pictures the free range deer, including lovely photos of the cutest fawns—the ones that keep my lawn moved—be sufficient?

Yes!

Dena Pawling's comment here:

>>Your physical address
>>But you don't need ALL of them.
>>List ONLY the ones you want an agent to see.

I have to clean my house? I'm doomed. I woke up this morning to find my kitchen floor flooded. The day before Thanksgiving............

helped me figure out that I need to revise the order of the items in the handout!

Also, sorry about the kitchen floor. I always remember my mom saying that if you want to find out if the septic tank needs work, have 24 people invited for Thanksgiving. The tank is sure back up right in the middle of dinner.

Later update from Dena Pawling:

Thanks for all the well wishes. My kitchen floor turned out to be -- the reservoir of my water filter thingy overflowed. I realize that's a highly scientific definition. Sorry. Anyway, messy but not major, thankfully.

John Frain asked:

Okay, after reading a post like this and a link like THAT (!), it's still not proper to send a bottle of top shelf to FinePrint?

No. No gifts. No no no. I appreciate your inclination to say think you in a measurable way but honestly, please no. Even good stuff like liquor and choccies, and cookies are really better off not coming here.


Dave Rudden asked:

I have self-published two shorter books, but I am considering sending out query letters for different novel. Is it going to hurt my chances of finding an agent when they see that I am promoting my self-published books?

Just make sure that your query letter says you've self-published two short novels. The only time it's a problem for me is when I'm stalking a writer that I think is a debut novelist only to find out there is a bunch of work already for sale. Consistent information is best.


Thursday was Thanksgiving, so the blog post was just a selfie with blog readers

Donnaeve said:

(and that pic is seriously freaking me out. WHAT'S BEHIND THE SHARK?)

That's Barbara Poelle, of course!

There were many comments from readers who are thankful for this blog and the community that has grown up around it. I'm absolutely convinced that the value of this blog is indeed the comment trail. I always laugh when I see someone moaning "don't read the comments, don't read the comments" about some site or another. Here, you MUST read the comments…and it's actually safe to do so. That's a huge community accomplishment!



John Frain said:

Gotta give huge thanks to the Queen and the Reiders here. What a joy to look forward to meeting up every day. Remember the book "Third Places" (I hope I have the title right!). This is my Third Place.

I think the book is called Celebrating the Third Place by Ray Oldenburg


Friday we discussed whether agents are less inclined to sign writers of advanced years:


Sherry Howard had a good point in her comment:

So, Janet, I appreciate your words of wisdom and honesty here. I'd never mention those things in a query, but I use my current picture on social media. Honestly, I've considered taking down my white-headed pictures before I query. But, hey, who wants an agent who doesn't want them?

That's an interesting conundrum. I'd vote for taking it down. The reason isn't cause you want to lie or obfuscate. I think a lot of young people don't realize they discriminate against older people. It's something you don't see until it happens to you. I'd vote for letting an agent fall in love with your work before anything else.

And if you are a writer, and you are using your current picture on social media, please for the love of godiva, get a GOOD professional shot or at a least a good FUN shot. The number of really terrible headshots I've seen (on the dust jackets of self-published books a lot!) is staggering.


Joan Kane Nichols has a very good question here:

As others have said, Janet, you've answered the question graciously. But here are my practical concerns.

I've been published, have won awards, teach a writing class, so I'm no old newbie (there's an oxymoron for you). I don't mention my age in queries, but as you've often pointed out, agents google writers whose queries they like. A surf through the web will find enough to figure out my age. So that worries me.

Also--conferences. I've several times seen an agent's expression subtly shift as I approach to make my pitch, making me feel I'm written off before I get a chance to dazzle.

So I wonder--should I slip on my cloak of invisibility, scrub myself from the web (if I can), shun conferences?

It bugs me to think I have to.

It bugs me too. And I don't think you should. But I think we all need to recognize that age IS a barrier. My beloved Richard Gilbert is my ONLY client north of 60. That would seem to indicate that it's harder to get my attention if you're over 40 than I would like to think.

Like anyone facing a barrier, I think the way ahead is simply to keep at it. Write great work.


On Saturday we talked about what are known as grief memoirs and how hard it can be for them to find an audience in general trade publishing

I think all of us paused when we read Susan Bonifant's elegant comment:

Grief is a python that will kill you so slowly you don't know you're dying. A writer who is sharing heartbreak may not know they are really just trying to survive.

I'm pretty sure I'll be quoting that in emails to writers in the future.



Angie Brooksby-Arcangioli mentioned a book:

Missing by Lindsay Harrison sticks in my mind because her voice is unforgettable. I couldn't finish it because it was very tragic.

I looked it up and realized instantly it was not a book I'd ever be able to read. Which is a really good reminder that if Lindsay Harrison had queried me, I would have passed, and this book is clearly well-written and evocative (Scribner doesn't publish junk, no sirreeebob.) Not all books, even well-written books are for every agent.


Colin Smith mentioned something important here as well:

One last point--when I was researching my Teenage Alien in Victorian London novel, I looked particularly for things written in late Victorian London that would give me a flavor of what daily life was like. Doing that kind of research really gives you an appreciation for the value of memoir. It also makes me wonder if maybe those stories that aren't broadly marketable today may actually increase in value years down the road. People may not be interested in your story of struggle and survival today, but in 100 years, historians and researchers might enjoy reading how people in the early 21st century dealt with personal tragedies and hardships.

The lack of what had been the backbone of archival research -letters- in a hundred years will mean that these self-published books will be VERY important. It will be one of the only ways historians will know what life in our time was like.

The sheer volume of email archives will render them close to useless. I don't even want to think about whether computers in the future will even be able to read the software of today. (Think of how hard it is to find a cassette tape player these days! Or an 8-track!)

Actual printed books will survive software upgrades nicely; and be a much more reasonable amount of information** to look at.



**I took a look through my email archives when I was thinking about this yesterday: I've sent about 11,000 emails so far in 2015. I receive about 1800 emails a month. That's about 2800 emails in and out in the course of one month. And while I like to think of myself as the center of the known universe, I'll bet you one Big Bang Theory cookie that a lot of people with public careers gets ten times that volume. Imagine sorting through that for hidden details. One of the insidious things about historical research is you often don't know what you're looking for till you see it, and worse, you often don't know what you don't have until you see everything you do have.

Too much information can be a problem as serious for a historian as no information!



A.J. Cattapan's comment shows the value of self-publishing for memoirs like these:

This is also why my cousin ended up self-publishing her cancer-survivor memoir. It didn't quite have a broad enough appeal to catch the attention of a traditional press, so she's self-published it. Because she also sells handmade scarves to raise money for cancer research, she is able to sell her memoir and her scarves to her target audience. During her many craft fairs, she meets up with lots of cancer survivors who are interested in how she endured "childhood leukemia" and a stroke as a young mother of three children. So while she may not be raking in the dough, she is reaching her audience and her story is having an impact.

CynthiaMc said:

Sometimes I wonder if there's a place for me in the world the way it is now. I prefer to lift up rather than tear down, to laugh rather than cry, to make something happen rather than play victim. So much of what's out there is angry, depressing, depraved, violent. That's not me.

My style these days is "Yes, the world sometimes sucks but here's what's good about it, too."

Hope there's a market for that.

Oh my god, yes there is! Never doubt that for a second! In the throes of despair, the last thing I'm going to read is something dark! That's when I reach for my favorite cozy mystery writers, and even for my beloved Agatha Christie or Dick Francis. I may rep and sell dark fiction, but I'm the last person who would say there's not a place for light fiction as well. It's saved my life more than once. And as recently as two weeks ago

I think CarolynnWith2Ns hit it right on the head here:

The columns which receive the most mail always, and I mean always, are the ones which allow the reader to dip into their own well. It's about me and yet it never is. It's always about them.

I hope all of you had a refreshing break this week and are ready for the onset of the holiday season.  Start making your list of books that knocked your sox off in 2015! We'll certainly be talking about them in time for Christmas shoppers to benefit!


This week's subheader noms:

(1) It's nice to finally find a place where you feel like you belong--or, at least, where you can set aside your writing woes, learn a little (or a lot), and know you're welcomed with threats of exile and kale juice.--Susan

(2) patience isn't just a virtue when you query, it's a necessary survival skill--Lucie Witt

(3) Any dead weight can tug a heart down, but it takes magic to make it soar.--Julie M. Weathers

(4) My dragon ate my comment--Julie M. Weathers


(5) Grief is a python that will kill you so slowly you don't know you're dying. A writer who is sharing heartbreak may not know they are really just trying to survive.  --Susan Bonifant

Question: Agent commissions on self-pubbed, previously subbed work

My question is this:

Actual scenario:

Writer: I have a backlist of titles I'd like to self-publish.
Agent: That's a great idea! And we'll revise your contract to exclude self-published works from my commission structure. It's only fair, since I never worked on those books.
Writer: Yay!

Later:
Agent: Remember that book we worked on together, the one I loved so much and submitted to 10000 publishers? No one's biting. I'm afraid we have to take it off submission now.
{{Writer sobs}}

Still later:
Writer: Hey, maybe I can self-publish that one too...



Ah, but what happens next?

Possible scenario 1:
Agent: You self-published that? The one I worked several hundred hours on?
Writer: Well, it sucks to be you. Agents are working on spec, so if you don't make the sale, you don't get any of the cash.
God Almighty: Um, Writer, have you never heard of theft of services...? Don't answer that. I know you have.


Possible Scenario 2:
Writer: Here, a freelance editor would have gotten $$$ for all the work you did, so take this check.
Agent: Oh boy!
People Who Oversee Agent Ethics: Bad agent! Bad! No cookie! whisky for you!




Possible Scenario 3:
Writer, thirty-five years later: Well, I earned another five bucks this month from Amazon. I guess it's time to write my agent a check for eighty-six cents.***



My Question then is this:

Writer doesn't like any of these scenarios. What does the Shark say? #2 seems like the best option, except Writer isn't sure if it's an ethics violation for an agent to accept payment for services rendered to a client.

Well, it's not theft of services because the service the agent offers is selling your manuscript. She didn't. Thus no theft. God is very clear on this.

It's entirely ok with the AAR if you compensate your agent for sales of a book. Whether you write the check, or Random House writes the check, it matters not a whit.

This is something you want to discuss with your agent BEFORE the situation arises.  You'll say "Hey, if this book doesn't sell because every editor in NYC has lost his/her mind, followed soon thereafter by all editors in the known universe, and I self-publish this, how do we work your commission?"

And you'll find out what the agent wants to do. It's then up to you to agree. If you don't agree, negotiate.

Thus

Scenario #4
Agent: Remember that book we worked on together, the one I loved so much and submitted to 10000 publishers? No one's biting. I'm afraid we have to take it off submission now.
{{Writer sobs}}

Still later:
Writer: Hey, maybe I can self-publish that one too...

Still later:
Writer: Hey, I sold 5000 copies of that book that all those stupid editors said wouldn't fly, and that you and I really believed in.  Here's a check for x% of my earnings.  Rock on!

Agent: Yay! Booze fund money!



A lot of agents are doing this these days.

I'm not.

I've been accused by dear friends and colleagues of being "too pure" which cracks me up to no end, but my position is this: I signed on to sell your book. If I don't do that, you don't pay me.  If you elect to self-publish, you assume the risk, and you get the reward.

This is something to work out ahead of time though. The last thing you want is a disagreement about who owes who what when there's actual money on the table.  Actual money at stake brings out the knives faster than you can say "fillet of shark."



*** Agent commissions are generally 10% on subrights, and 15% on domestic sales. Thus the commission is either .50 or .75 .  If someone wants you to pay 17.2% on a book you self-pubbed you might want to shop around.

A novel from spare parts

When I first started writing with intent, I completed my first “real” novel. Being youthful in my journey toward publication and filled with flattering accolades from my writers’ group regarding my writing skills, when a subset of that group formed around the idea of self-publishing our rejected books with a commitment to hawk them at local fairs and events, I did publish the book.

I soon discovered several things:
· Unless I was autographing and shoving the book into the public’s hand, sales were pathetic

· I knew next to nothing about marketing globally (or even nationally) through social media or Amazon (did I already admit to pathetic sales?)

· My writing skills were not as mature as my ego testified they were (thus all the agent rejections)


I do believe in the story (it’s loosely based on an unsolved true crime). The heroin in the original novel is a young woman who is abducted and the trail of terror that follows. I know from more than one agent not to query a self-published work. So my question is, what if I did a complete rewrite, changing the primary POV to an FBI Special Agent who pursues the abductee? Once completed, would this be considered pitching a self-published work? 

This is a very interesting question.

At what point during a rewrite does a book cease to be a revision, and become a new book?
A POV change is probably a good benchmark.

Your question though is really more along the lines of "are you cheating if you re-purpose a previous book?"

Obviously you won't call yourself a debut author, and you'll make sure the previous book is no longer for sale from you or any one else (that means you buy up any used copies floating around on Amazon.)

And, what's the worst that could happen? Rejection? Well, you're going to get that no matter what book you write, it's part of the game.

Is someone going to come out of the woodwork, waving the self-published book, clamoring for a refund on this new book? Very very doubtful.


The key of course is to write a much better book this time. And given you've gotten more experience, the chances of that are pretty good!


Your question reminded me of the recent news story about Karen Hall revising her first novel Dark Debts.

My misspent youth includes some self-publishing

You write a lot about how much to disclose about prior self-published novels when querying. My take has been that it's not really a positive if your Amazon royalties were $50 last year, as they were in my case.

But you also mention fairly often, "your web site" and things an author might disclose there. I have a nice web site, but because it shamelessly promotes my self-published novels, and I am actively querying for my latest (best!) work, I decided to unpublish that web site and hide my author page on Facebook.

In my query I simply say that AWESOME NEW MANUSCRIPT is my third completed novel. My rationale was that I don't want Amazing Agent to be distracted or unduly influenced by my prior works, when I really believe this new one is my best yet. Plus, the new one is more 'up-market/literary' and the first two were more genre novels. I also took the two novels off of Amazon for now. My ratings are pretty good--almost all 5 stars--but there are only 9 and 12 of them respectively.

Should I be hiding my past works like this? Or am I over-thinking it?

Honestly, when did writers become so invested in transparency?

Transparancy is great for government officials, but holy moly, not here.

As long as this finessing of information isn't going to jam us up down the road, feel free to be judicious in what you tell me. I think taking down the self-pubbed work and unpubbing your Facebook page is a good idea. Honestly, it's what I would have done, were I in your swim fins.

If you've self-pubbed a previous book, you don't need to mention it. As long as you don't tell me this queried book is your debut novel, we're good.

Things you absolutely have to tell me include:
1. If you've had a previous agent
2. If this project you're querying has already been on submission
3. If the book you're querying has been previously published (that includes self-pubbed)
4. If you've pitched this to an editor at a conference or sent it to any editor anywhere


Things you do NOT have to tell me:
5. Any details of your misspent publishing youth that are not covered in 1-4 above)
6. Your health (physical or mental) status
7. Anything about your family (unless you're in my family, of course.)
8. Where you live (as long as you provide me with a way to get you your money that doesn't involve cash in a safe deposit box somewhere in the Bronx)
9. How much research you did for the novel
10. Why you want me to be your agent (cause who wouldn't, right?)

Query Question: Plan B

My first book is self published. The publisher I used call themselves a subsidy publisher. They have an acquisitions department, are very selective about the books they choose, and accept submissions without an agent. I had read about the near impossibility of getting noticed by an agent and published by a traditional publisher in multiple articles and blogs. So their claims to be an innovative publisher changing the publishing market were intriguing. While I was deciding the best career path to follow, I sent my manuscript to them. They loved it, and gave me the hard sell to publish with them. It seemed too easy, so I asked a lot of questions. Because they are one of the largest publishing companies, they assured me they could give me more options and exposure than a traditional publisher. Of course, they couldn't predict sales or give statistics, but I understood there's no crystal ball in this business. Since then I have realized, marketing my book was completely my responsibility, noone gets rejected by this publisher, and everyone in the industry considers my book self published.



I've sold close to 900 books from personal book sales, book club discussions, and in the marketplace. That's small scale, but not bad for self publishing. Just not big enough to get attention from anyone in the traditional publishing world. From your blog it seems self publishing is a negative mark against me for future traditional publishing? It's impossible to know if agents are passing because they aren't interested in my second novel or because of my previous publishing faux pas. I just don't want to waste my time. If the vast majority of agents will pass on me, even if they really love my next novel, should I even send query letters to agents? Should I just self publish on my own, use the platform I've already started to build and sidestep all the rejection?

You don't have to mention your previous run in with the brutal reality of a company earning money by selling snake oil to writers. You query as you normally would. You simply don't say "this is my first novel."

Agents are passing because they aren't enticed by your novel.  You must have missed the day when I mentioned that agents are mostly rapacious sharks who will eat their siblings to get ahead in this world, and if we think a book will help us make money we are going to pounce on it like it was a seal in a salty sea.

Character description doesn't match cover depiction

I often search for books with women of colour, black women in particular and in the genres of sci-fi or fantasy where I find we show up the least. There aren’t many out there and I don’t always like what I find (well written or not) so I often end up with books in genres I don’t even like.

One day I found a well-reviewed self-published book. Some of the reviews were filled with praise but also images of the reader’s depictions of how they believed the MC looked.

I did a bit more digging and checked out the Question and Answers and indeed someone had asked if the main character was a woman of colour to which one reader responded “yes” while another said they “could not really tell.” At this point, I write the author. Long story short, her response said she was explicit about making her MC black but that she couldn’t help what people wanted to see.


I buy the book. Within the first few chapters it is clear over and over again that the female protagonist is a black woman. I’m not even remotely passionate about the book, but I am passionate about this problem. A part of me wanted to write under the reviews of these ‘blind’ readers. Another part of me was angry at the writer for using a misleading cover. The lowest part of me wondered if another cover would even make a difference and why we even bother writing diverse characters in the first place.


How would you suggest a writer deal with reviews like this? Or should they ignore them?

If you feel passionate about it, I think you should post a comment. The trick is to respond with facts not emotion. Facts are "MC is described as this, that, the other on pages N, N2 and N3"

Leave out the "you are clearly blind and ignorant to have missed that" no matter how true you think it is.

Since this is a self-published book the writer has complete control over the cover. That is NOT NOT NOT the case in books that are not self-published.

I have no idea why an author would choose to write about black women and not have them depicted on the cover. I don't even want to hazard a guess on that one.

More generally I always advise writers to stay out of the reviews/discussions on their books. It's a fast way to go full tilt crazy.  Since you are not the writer, and have no skin in the game (bad joke?) you'll most likely be able to participate in a discussion without losing your mind.

And I really admire your tenacity in seeking out books with people of color, even outside your preferred reading areas.  If we all did that we'd solve the diverse voices problem in about two seasons of publishing.