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*** If you have any questions, or know of another great contest for self-publishing authors, email me at jd@jdwrite.com. *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** FINDING AN AGENT - SO YOU CAN FIND A PUBLISHER 'Before
you can find a publisher, you should find an agent.' This
advice is repeated in book after book, article after article about
getting your book published. While some books are plucked from the
obscurity of the publisher's slush pile, they are the one-in-a-million.
Most published books were introduced to a publishing house editor over a
New York lunch, clutched in the arms of an excited agent (well, it isn't
always over lunch, but you get the idea). Why
Do I Need An Agent?
Successful
publishing houses receive hundreds of unsolicited manuscripts every
month. They simply do not have time to read them all. In the old days (a
few years ago) a very junior employee would be paid a pittance to
periodically go through the stacks of unopened manuscripts, looking for
a gem. Then authors started suing publishers, accusing them of rejecting
their book and then publishing something similar. Many publishing houses
stopped even opening unsolicited manuscripts. Then September 11 and the
subsequent anthrax threat hit. Most publishers are requesting that
authors don't send unsolicited manuscripts, for security reasons. Many
will not even open an unsolicited proposal. Instead
of reading the massive mountain of manuscripts (aka the 'slush pile')
publishers have found they have much more success allowing agents to be
their first line of defense. Editors build relationships with agents, or
the agent becomes so well-known that editors simply trust their
judgment. Often an agent, guarding their reputation, will work with a
promising author, to get their manuscript up to scratch before
approaching a publishing house. This kind of agent is earning her 5%
commission! How
do I Find An Agent?
The
information out there on agents is overwhelming, so don't rely on
websites or online listings. Instead, find a reputable, published
directory and looking through it for agents who specialize in your
subject area. For
US agents, start with the Writer's Digest book Writers
Markets (they issue this directory every year. It's pretty pricey,
but has loads of magazine article markets as well as info on publishers.
You can buy the book or subscribe to their new online version). Another
good title is Jeff Herman's guide to literary agents (The
Writer's Guide to Book Editors, Publishers and Literary Agents).
This also has a CD-ROM version and an international
(English-speaking countries) version available. If you are looking for
agents who deal in a very specific type of book, the CD-ROM version
might be your best bet (easier than manually paging through the paper
tome). There
are similar publications for the industry in other countries, for
example, Writers'
and Artists' Yearbook
is aimed at UK and Commonwealth writers. Another
good tack is to find books like yours (in tone or subject or general
thrust) and then try to find out who the agents for those books were.
You can do this by following the industry publications (in the US that
would be Publishers' Weekly) Another good reason to subscribe to this
kind of publication is that they usually feature a 'hot deals' section.
If you follow this section you will develop a sense of which agents are
doing which deals for which books. Look for agents doing deals for books
similar (with similar audiences) to yours, and add them to your list. How
Do I Know Which Agents Can Really Help Me?
A
Literary Agency scam is one of the easiest scams to run. You declare
yourself an agent, list yourself with a couple of search engines, charge
a 'reading fee' and outrageous expenses from every hopeful author who
comes your way, and send out the occasional ineffectual letter to
publishers so that your conscience doesn't bother you too much. There
are thousands of bad agents out there. They are not all scam artists.
Some are lazy or inexperienced; others are too far away from the centers
of power in publishing; still others lack the reputation to get their
(or your) foot in the door at a publishing house. Any
reputable agent should be able to provide examples of the clients and
deals they have handled in the past few years. If they are reluctant to
do so, or cannot show you any evidence of completed deals, walk away.
Some legitimate agents may charge a reading fee to look at your work.
There are mixed opinions about this practice in the industry. It is
generally held that an agent should make money from selling books to
publishers, not from reading fees, so be wary of anyone who charges a
reading fee. How
Do I Get The Agent To Take On My Book?
Once
you've picked a few agents, you need to put together a proposal that is
every bit as professional and targeted as if you were approaching a
publisher. The agent doesn't want to hear that you're the right person
to write this book just because you've been there. They'll want to know
your writing experience, your analysis of the market for this book, some
examples of the kinds of experts/sources you're going to quote, and all
kinds of stuff that prove you're serious and that you can do this and
that there is a market for it. They will also want to hear that you are
willing to get out and promote the book. For
creating the proposal, I'd recommend getting hold of Michael Larsen's How
To Write A Book Proposal.
(Again with the proviso that this is intended for the US market.
Publishers in other countries may not want the same things in a
proposal. UK authors, for example, might want to take a look at Carol
Blake's From
Pitch to Publication : Everything You Need to Know to Get Your Novel
Published,
written by a British agent. I haven't read it, but it gets good reviews
and reflects the UK market). Querying
agents and publishers is a time-consuming and frustrating business. It
can take an agent three to six months to get back to you to tell you
whether or not they're even interested in seeing some sample chapters.
Then it can take months or years for them to sell the book to a
publisher. Then it takes about 18 months for the publisher to get the
book out. So don't be discouraged. When you haven't heard back from an
agent in two weeks, don't panic. What
Else Can I Do To Attract An Agent
Attend
Conferences
One
of the best ways to enhance your chances of getting noticed by an agent
is to go to a writer's conference and sit down with one. At conferences,
agents come and give talks about the business but they also often offer
one-on-one sessions with conference attendees. If you have a halfway
decent idea and some well-written samples, AND if the particular agent
you meet deals in your kind of stuff, there is a good chance that they
will at least ask to see a few sample chapters of the book. This is a
much better way to get your foot in the door than simply sending it to
them, cold (and in the current climate, agents may not be opening
unsolicited packages). Luckily
there are thousands of writers' conferences every year - mostly in the
spring, summer and fall. You can check them out at Shaw
Guides . Of course, then you're into a whole other realm of
'too-much-information' and 'how-the-heck-do-I-choose?'... Your best bet
is to look for conferences that specifically mention agents, and that
aren't too far from home. When
you look at a conference listing, look at the agents that are coming,
then look them up in one of the directories to see if any of them deal
in your area. If there is one agent you particularly want to see, get
your conference registration in early, because the one-on-one sessions
are usually filled on a first-come, first-served basis. If
you want to read more about conferences, the Update features a series of
three articles on the subject that starts here. Enter
Competitions
Another
way to get noticed is to enter competitions. A win can bring you to the
attention of an agent, and even an 'honorable mention' can significantly
enhance your pitch. Everyone in publishing seems to be looking for
evidence that someone else thought your book was good (perhaps because
judging literature is so subjective). If
you have already self-published, you can find more information about
awards and contests in the Update's Contests
And Awards For Self-Publishers article. For more competitions, start
at these sites: *** So,
as you've probably figured out by now, publishing ain't easy. It's a
matter of research, skill and a lot of luck and good timing. This is why
so many people do choose to self-publish, but if you want to find a
publisher, use the tips in this article to find an agent and get not
just your foot, but your whole manuscript in the door. *** If you have any questions about getting published, email me at jd@jdwrite.com. If I don't know the answer, I'll find someone who does!
This week Dorice writes: Hi there,I'm trying to sell my Print On-Demand book to bookstores, fulfilling orders myself so that I can give the stores a bigger discount than my POD company is willing to offer. The books cost so much to ship that I'm losing money. Bookstores want a huge discount, which doesn't leave much money for me - the store makes money, my POD company keeps their cut, and I'm left without a profit. There must be a better way... Frustrated, ………………………………… Hi Debbie,The answer is to cut out as many middlemen as possible. Why concentrate on getting your book into bookstores, when what you really want is to get the book into the hands of your readers? Without that big discount demanded by the stores the only people collecting the profits are you and your service provider (ever wonder why people sell things by mail order or on TV?) Where do your readers hang out? What do your readers read? What do they like to do on weekends? These are all questions that will help you target your audience and figure out how to talk to them directly. Then, get them to order directly from the source - your POD company (call it your 'fulfillment service' and assure people of its trustworthiness with their credit card info) and you don't have to give a discount to anyone. The bookstore distribution model is set up to work with books that are printed in high volume at low prices (that have room for big discounts). Print on-demand does not work well within that model, because it is the exact opposite idea. I love bookstores, but if you want to make money with print on-demand, you're going to have to side-step them for now. Hope this helps! Julie E-Ink Coming Along Nicely 9 Nov 2001 Publishers' Weekly reports that technology company E-Ink demonstrated its new screen technology this week at NIST, the e-publishing conference, in Washington D.C. The screen will be "virtually as light, bright and flexible as paper" and should be on sale by 2003. (Bring it on! -Ed) more: @Random No More 9 Nov 2001 Random House has announced that it is discontinuing its electronic imprint, At Random, due to lack of sales. Instead, Random House will issue titles under established imprints. more: RosettaBooks/Simon & Schuster Deal Dies 9 Nov 2001 A collaboration that would have seen between e-publisher RosettaBooks being distributed by Simon & Schuster, has been killed by S&S. Rosetta made a deal to collaborate with print publisher iBooks, whose titles are distributed by S&S, with the understanding that RosettaBooks' titles would become part of that distribution network. On hearing about the agreement, however. S&S made it clear that they are under no obligation to distribute the RosettaBooks titles, even if iBooks prints them.RosettaBooks and iPrint are rights-buying publishers. more: e-CliffsNotes 9 Nov 2001 The popular quick-study books from CliffsNotes are being published as e-books, in a joint venture with Palm Computing.Since the CliffsNotes analyses of titles like Romeo and Juliet are both short and popular with teens and college students, they may represent the beginning of the wider acceptance of the ebook format (I hope so! -Ed) more: State of the POD 9 Nov 2001 [A quick update on the health of three of the first POD companies.] iUniverse announced the sale of its 750,000th book this week. The company, partners with businesses as well as individuals to provide publishing services, says it has over 10,000 titles. Meanwhile, rival Xlibris's CEO John Feldcamp was quoted in Foreword Magazine as saying his company has sold 350,000 copies of its books and has published 6,000 individual authors.Both companies can name titles that have been picked up by traditional publishers. 1stBooks Library claims 6,000 titles on its virtual stacks. Earlier this year 1stBooks stated that it was 'on target to generate $10,000,000 in revenue, but doesn't specify over what period. The company was formed in 1997 and works mainly with individuals. 1st Books has announced that it is currently making a profit. more: New this week: Home of the daily Writing For Dollars column and the Complete Guide to Writing and Selling Magazine Articles by Peggy Fielding & Dan Case. Also features 650 markets for magazine writers. A great site for UK authors and publishers. Author.co.uk publishes e-books and is moving into Print On-Demand soon. It also features publishing news, writing exercises, interviews, community functions. Author.co.uk recently teamed up with the US powerhouse Publishers Marketing Association. A book designer and printer now offering Print On-Demand of a sort -- short runs of 25-300 books. While true POD would offer individual copies printed as ordered, these short runs are a good option for a self-publisher who doesn't mind doing their own fulfillment. From Pitch to Publication : Everything You Need to Know to Get Your Novel Published by Carol Blake A how-to guide to writing proposals from a UK-based agent. (may ship faster if ordered from amazon.co.uk) How To Write A Book Proposal by Michael Larsen A how-to guide from a successful US-based agent and author. A proposal is your foot-in-the-door with agents and publishers, so you might as well take some insider advice, and get it right... Writers' and Artists' Yearbook A directory of magazine listings and editors, book publishers and contests, for the UK and Canada, mainly. The Writer's Guide to Book Editors, Publishers and Literary Agents by Jeff Herman A huge book with a self-explanatory title. Herman is an agent so knows whereof he speaks. A directory. Writer's International Guide to Book Editors, Publishers, and Literary Agents by Jeff Herman An international version of Herman's book - for the English-speaking world. Writer's Market from Writer's Digest The definitive source for markets (mainly North American). Now available as an online, often-updated edition. A directory with helpful articles from authors, editors, etc Print On-Demand Pt. V - What's in a publishing agreement? AUTHOR'S Q & A POD Introduces Bookstore Returns Scheme; ABOUT JDWRITE All content copyright 2001 Julie Duffy. For permission to reprint articles, contact the editor at To Subscribe to the newsletter send a BLANK EMAIL to: Daily Grammar
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