Publishing Newbie FAQs

Hi everyone! Mary here, and a few weeks back, I got an email from a writer friend who'd been working on his manuscript for a while but didn't really know how to go about publishing it. He asked a bunch of questions, and I wrote a huge long answer. Realizing that these were pretty common newbie questions, I figured I could adapt them for this blog.

These days, there are more publishing options than ever before, and it can be overwhelming for writers to figure out which path to take. As someone who's tried most of them, here are my thoughts on a few FAQs:

Do you need an agent?
If you want to gun for the big publishers, then yes, as these publishers don't accept unsolicited manuscripts directly from authors. However, many smaller publishers do take direct submissions, in which case an agent is unnecessary.

How do you get an agent?
There are databases of agents online (here's a popular one https://querytracker.net/). Search for agents who represent your type of book (e.g. thriller, or romance, or memoir), and send your submission according to their guidelines. All will require a query letter - essentially, a letter introducing your book with the title, genre, word count, and a short pitch. Some may also request additional materials like a synopsis or the first few pages of your book. Read each agent's submission guidelines closely before querying.

Pros and cons of an agent
Pros: Your agent finds and submits to publishers on your behalf, negotiates the contract, and generally handles the business stuff for 15% of what the publisher is willing to pay for the book.

Cons: Long wait time to even hear back from agents you're querying, let alone find one who's a good match. Rejection rates are extremely high these days, just because of the volume of writers submitting. And if you're lucky enough to snag an agent (as I was), there's still more waiting... waiting for the agent to read your book, comment on your book, decide it's ready to submit. And after all that, publishers might still reject your book. An agent is not a guarantee of a publishing deal.

What about small / POD presses?
Small / POD presses come in many shapes and sizes, so be sure to carefully vet whoever you're submitting to. Some are small traditional operations who print books in bulk and send them to brick-and-mortar bookstores. Others are individuals who publish books as a passion and utilize Amazon's print-on-demand abilities. And there are shades of gray in between.

Pros: The right small press can be a great partner. You'll get lots more attention from the editor than you would at a big press, and probably more say in things like cover art as well. Generally, a small press will edit your book, provide cover art and formatting, and distribute your book. In short, by the end, you'll have a book in your hands

Cons: Small presses don't have much, if any, marketing reach, so you probably won't sell many more books than you would self publishing (this will vary widely by press). Also, there are some shady operations out there. Some small presses will take any book, slap a low-quality cover on, chuck it on Amazon with no editing, and leave the rest to you. Some will be well-intentioned but clueless (I fell prey to one of these)... they'll have big ideas and make big promises but be unable to deliver. My book was stuck in limbo for 4 years because of a well-intentioned but clueless small press. And some will just be sketchy... there might be issues with payment, for instance. Your book could get snarled in contracts that prevent you from getting your rights back while they fail to pay you.

With any kind of publisher, big or small, working with them means giving up some control of your book. For instance, my editor for Stronger than a Bronze Dragon made me shuffle around some chapters and add a few new ones. My agent for Starswept made me rewrite half the book before she would even submit it to publishers. Not all editors / agents will do this - some will be happy to take your book as it is with a few light suggestions. You have to decide how much control of your book you're willing to give up, and then, as you're vetting potential agents or publishers, see whether they're going to be a good fit based on that (I've known of instances where a book was accepted by a publisher but the author wasn't willing to make edits requested, and so the book was canceled).

Self-Publishing
This is where you turn yourself into a publisher. You hire an editor, cover artist, and formatter, and upload the book to Amazon (or another self-publishing service) yourself. 100% of control is yours.

Pros: Your book, your way, your own timeline. You could upload your book to Amazon tomorrow and it'll be in your hands in a week. Or you could take your sweet time finding the perfect cover artist and making revisions, with no one hurrying you. You are the boss.

Cons: Expense - you'll be paying for everything that goes into producing the book. You'll also keep whatever money you make off of sales, but it can be very hard to recoup the costs. You'll also have to do your own marketing and outreach, so the chances of your book reaching a wide audience are slim given how crowded the market is. Also, some people can be snooty about publishing and look down their noses at self publishers, though there've been enough high-profile self-publishing successes that this attitude is starting to change.

Which publishing route you take really depends on what you want to get out of it. Do you want your book, your way, in a timely manner? A book you can be proud of and share with family and friends, that you're happy is out there even if it never reaches bestseller status? And are you willing to pay for it yourself? If so, then self publishing is for you.

Do you want a shot at the New York Times bestseller list, even if it means years and years of work and rejection with no guarantee of any reward by the end? Is the reward worth the gamble, even if it might mean you'll have to rewrite significant parts of your book? Then try to find an agent, who can later submit to large presses.

Do you want your book in your hands, but you want someone else to take care of the production, even if it means giving up some control? Do you not care too much about what kind of reach they have? Then go for a small press.

BEWARE OF SCAM PRESSES AND AGENTS
There are some "publishers" and "agents" out there who prey on new writers' dreams. The red flag is if they ask you for money to publish your book. Common tactics are saying they'll publish your book for a fee (usually thousands of dollars), requiring that you buy hundreds or thousands of copies of your own book, or requiring you to hire an expensive editor that they select.

Paying a freelancer for a specific service - such as editing, or artwork - is different from paying to publish. There are also self-publishing consultants out there who can help with the process for a fee; these are also different from the scammers in that they'll be very upfront about the fact that they are NOT a publisher.

How I Got My Agent

Hellooooo, readers. I hope you are all doing well in these--I don't even have the adjectives anymore--times. At least 2020 is half over. Of course, it can also get worse. We haven't hit November yet.

My daughter just dressed up her American Girl doll in a cute cheerleader outfit and said her doll has practice. "We're doing it online," she said. Via Zoom. Because this hell is our new reality.

Anyway, that's not why you're here. You're here to read about my agent story because perhaps you're seeking representation or considering it. Or you want hope that you, too, will one day land an agent. I used to read these kind of posts all the time for that same reason.

So I am currently an indie author. I have five YA novels to my name, all self-published. I had shopped my first novel to agents in 2013 with little luck, but wound up signing a contract with a small, independent press (a good one where I met the majority of ATB bloggers). When my rights were up, I took ownership of my book and republished it on all the major book retailers. I self-published its sequel, and then decided to embrace the indie track. I had no trouble hiring my own editor and cover artist. I bought Vellum for formatting. I had figured out how to make a good product, just not how to market one.

I still don't understand how to utilize Amazon ads.

Then in 2017, I decided to try for representation with a new YA novel because it's hard to get books into the hands of teens as an indie author. I queried five agents and snagged my "dream agent" only to find out that he was all smoke and mirrors, and that he dicked over more clients than he had helped (I should've known something was up when he didn't follow me back on Twitter). He sent my book to several publishers in a slap-dash, Jackson Pollack style of submission and nothing ever came of it. So I dropped his ass and self-published the book myself.

Fast forward to 2019 (ah, the good old year): I wrote an adult mystery and decided to see if I could, again, get representation. I submitted the manuscript to roughly 75 agents and got interest--more requests for full reads than I had ever secured before, but alas, no takers. Then through a referral, I submitted the book to an editor at Thomas & Mercer. And while that was being considered, I got a request from an agent--Liza Fleissig. I told her that the book was under consideration at Amazon and she said that was "not a bad problem to have."

Ultimately, while the book made it to the acquisitions meeting at T&M, it didn't make the final cut. And Liza felt that the manuscript would need another round of content edits before she could offer on it. But at that point, I was 40K words into a new story, a PI novel that I felt had great potential for Liza and crime fiction imprints. And both Liza and the editor at T&M had welcomed me to submit again. Let me tell you, a girl can survive solely on that.

The pandemic really put a damper on my ability to write, but in May, I finally finished the revisions on my PI novel. I submitted the manuscript to Liza who--because of our previous communication--was eager to read it. She got back to me within four weeks and offered rep. This book, she said, was ready to go.

Liza is amazing. She is responsive and smart and on the ball. And she follows me on Twitter and Instagram.

I'm not going to lie--when I thought I might have a deal with T&M, I spoke to two of Liza's clients and asked for references. If I had sold my book, I wanted to make sure that the agent I signed with was honest and ethical. [If you take away anything from this post let it be: check an agent's references. Not just from the clients who sell, but from the ones who don't.] Spoiler alert: Liza is both those things.

And that, folks, is how I got my agent. You'll notice that I could not have done this without the referrals. Or maybe I could have but not as easily. Writers have to help each other out. Hopefully, I'll be in a position to help someone else one day.

I like self-publishing, but I also like having an agent in my corner to advocate for my work. I like feeling like I'm part of a team.

The path-to-an-agent is different for every writer. It's not linear or complete. I know writers who have had multiple agents over the course of their careers.

That said, I don't know what my career path will look like. It could be jagged and uphill. It could stall out. I might make a return to indie publishing, I might not. I just don't know. Because if 2020 has taught me anything it's that plans are for suckers.

10 Signs that It Might Be Time For a New Agent

A post by Mary Fan

Being a writer often feels like being at the bottom of the publishing food chain, especially when you’re just starting out. On the traditional publishing side, landing a literary agent feels like reaching a finishing line of sorts, like you’ve Made It. But sometimes, having an agent isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Before I go on, I want to clarify that I’m not subtweeting (subblogging?) anyone in particular here, but rather aggregating a list based on various anecdotes from various writers.

Anyway, the agent-author relationship is a business relationships, and as in all business, sometimes, things just don’t work out. Now, as a writer (especially a newbie writer) who’s spent countless hours querying and hoping and praying for an agent, to finally sign with one can feel like a miracle. So it can be especially hard to accept that it may be time to walk away. But you’re not doing yourself any favors by staying with an agent who’s not a good fit. 

Here are some signs that it may be time to move on with your publishing life:

1. The agent doesn’t return your emails

Open communication is key to making any relationship work, business or otherwise. While it’s true that sometimes people just get busy and accidentally miss emails, watch out if a pattern starts to form. As in, you email and follow up time and time again, only to get crickets from someone who’s supposed to be your advocate. If they’re being unresponsive, it probably means you’re low on their priority list, and that’s not a good place to be.

2. The agent doesn’t answer your questions

This is related to #1, but also distinct. For example: You send the agent an email with a question, and the agent dashes off a vague reply without answering. Again with the communication. And again with being a low priority.

3. They don’t add you to their client list on their website or follow you on Twitter

This might sound petty, but hear me out. If an agent lists a bunch of their clients on their website but not you, that could mean they don’t see you as being that important. Similarly with Twitter—it costs literally nothing to hit the “follow” button on Twitter. Yet I’ve heard of some agents only following back clients after they’ve sold, which just seems… petty on their part. And is yet another sign that you just might not be that important to them.

4. They treat you like a cog

Publishing is a business, but that’s no reason to stop treating people like they’re human. And authors are human beings, not just word producers and revenue generators. If you’re starting to feel like you’re being seen as a product instead of a client, then it might be time to walk away.

5. They become less cordial the longer you don’t sell

Related to #4. It can take a long time to sell a book. I’ve heard of books being on submission for years before landing a deal. Or sometimes, the book the agent originally signed for doesn’t sell, but the next one or the one after that does. And the agent-author relationship is supposed to be long-term one. So it’s starting to feel… transactional, like you only matter when you start bringing in cash—maybe reconsider who you’re working with.

6. They’re not open to your new ideas

Some agents sign authors—they’re in it for the long haul, and if the book they signed you for doesn’t sell, they’re up for trying again with the next thing you write. Others sign specific books—they liked that one thing you wrote, but if you try anything different, they’re just not interested. Some authors find a specific space they’re comfortable writing in, in which case, this one probably doesn’t apply, because if the agent liked the first book, they’ll like subsequent, similar books as well. Others are eclectic. They want to explore. They never write the same book twice. And sometimes, this throws a wrench into the author-agent relationship. If the agent isn’t open to your new ideas, then it could be a sign of a bad fit. You shouldn’t have to feel like you’re querying your own agent with every new thing you write. You might as well query another agent entirely.

7. They don’t pay attention to your concerns

This goes back to the whole “you’re just not that important to them” thing. Remember, you’re the client. You shouldn’t feel ignored.

8. Their enthusiasm wanes

Sometimes, they’re just not that into your writing anymore. And they won’t be a particularly effective advocate if that happens.

9. They don’t provide updates

This is an important one. Lots of things can happen during the submissions process, and you have the right to know what’s going on with your book. Who has the agent sent your book to? Have they followed up? Who’s requested or passed on it so far? Are they sending it to anyone new? Even with bad news, it’s better to know what’s going on. If you’ve asked your agent for updates and they aren’t answering, then that’s not a good sign.

10. You’re just not comfortable

Trust your gut. You should feel comfortable working with your agent.

10 things to never, ever, ever do in your query

A post by Mary Fan

If you're an aspiring writer, then chances are, you're going to find yourself querying literary agents at some point (unless you're planning on going indie). I spent a few years in this state of writerly limbo, reading everything and anything I could find about how to write a letter that could hook one of those elusive gatekeepers to the Big Five publishers. And along the way, I discovered a few exclamations of query frustration from agents on their Twitter feeds and blogs.

Below are ten agent peeves to avoid. Many may seem like common sense, but you'd be surprised what some people will stick in a query...



10. Send an attachment (unless one is requested)

Agents get dozens (if not hundreds) of emails a day from total randos. Most are legit aspiring authors hoping to hook their interest. Some may be jerks sending out viruses disguised as manuscripts. For this reason, most (if not all) agents who accept email queries will explicitly state NO ATTACHMENTS in their query guidelines. So unless their guidelines specifically say otherwise, assume that they want everything in the body of the email.

9. Copy a crap ton of other agents

Even though sending basically the same letter to multiple people may feel tedious and tiresome, copying a crap ton of agents on one email (even if you BCC them) is a bad idea. When you query an agent, you're asking for a business partnership, and business partners should be chosen for a reason. Personalizing each query (even if 98% of them are identical) shows that you at least took the time to email that agent individually.

8. Get the agent's name wrong

Because duh.

7. Waffle about your audience

Examples of what not to do:

This book could appeal to adults or teens or even younger children, depending on their level of maturity...
I suppose you could call my book science fiction, though it really is more like women's fiction in a lot of ways...

Writing may be an art, but publishing is a business. You've got to know who your target audience is. Even though a wide range of people with all kinds of tastes read all kinds of books, marketing folks love to segment. And so do readers. So do a bit of research into what books like yours are being called these days and zero in on the appropriate audience. Also, be sure it's the right audience. If you pitch your book as a romance when it's actually a graphic thriller, the agent will not be impressed.

6. Bloviate about how amazing your book is and how many copies you'll sell

Examples of what not to do:

This is a guaranteed bestseller that will make Stephen King's sales numbers look like pocket change! It will sell at least 10 million copies in the U.S. alone!
My book is the Great American Novel and will put the so-called classics to shame.

This kind of overconfidence makes you sound like an oily used car salesman. In other words, a jackass.

5. Attempt to be "clever" 

Examples of what not to do:

Greetings, Monsieur Agent! Please call me Jaques. I am the charmingly Parisian protagonist of...

I dare you to just read the damn thing.

Sure, some back-of-book blurbs or jacket copy might be written in the voice of the main character, but when it comes to queries, it's a bad idea. Don't get cute with your query... just follow the damn guidelines.

4. Forget the query part

Some people, for whatever reason, just send pages without the cover letter. Maybe they don't know any better (in which case, you're ahead of them because you're reading this blog and picking up tips), but in any case... don't forget the query part of querying.

3. Badmouth another book

Examples of what not to do:

All the thrillers put out by the big publishers these days are total crap, but my book is different because...
Unlike filth such as [title of bestseller], my book...

Yeah, Ms. Agent might rep one of those, and she won't appreciate you insulting her clients...

2. Whine about your lack of success

Examples of what not to do:

I know you'll probably delete this query before reading it, but...
If you've made it this far into my query, then I'm impressed, because I'm pretty sure no one has actually read my pitch...

That ain't being clever or irreverent. That's just whiny and irritating.

1. Insult the agent and his/her industry

Examples of what not to do:

You gatekeepers will do anything for money and can't appreciate true art, so I don't expect you to appreciate the work of genius before you...
I've been working on this novel for thirteen years and none of the idiots in the publishing industry seem able to see its true worth, but I'm hoping you'll be different...

That's like saying "your face is hideous, now go stake your career on my stuff."

BONUS: Don't forget to finish the book before query. Querying an unfinished manuscript hoping the agent will love your idea and voice and sign you before it's done is just silly. Sure, maybe some authors get contracts on spec (though usually with publishers, rather than agents), but that's because they have established careers and relationships. For the rest of us, all the agent's got to go on is the strength of the book you're pitching (unless you're a celebrity. In which case, why are you reading this post? Your name alone will get you an agent!)



Hard to tell what to do when it comes to writing a good query - so much about the whole thing is subjective - but I can pretty much guarantee that if you do any of the above, then the form rejection you receive will be the last you'll hear from the person you queried.

As in, you are never, ever, ever getting back together...