Publishing Series: #11 Traditional or Indie Publishing?

This is a huge question.

There are folks out there who want to be traditionally published and are willing to die on that hill. Traditional publishing means being offered a book deal by a major publishing house.

This path requires finding an agent first. Back in the old days, you could send your manuscript right to a publisher, but no more. If you do that, you'll be lucky to have it sent back to you.

Nowadays, you need to find an agent first. There are tons of them out there. If you have no other publishing credits behind you -- in other words, you haven't published any articles, short stories, or poetry in magazines or newspapers -- it's best to start with an agent who is new to the business. Sounds like it won't get you very far, but these folks are eagerly looking for a good manuscript. Search out new agents on google, in the Writer's Market, or in ads in writer's magazines. Since agents specialize in certain genres, you'll want to find an agent who handles the genre you are writing.

When you have gathered a few names, you'll want to craft a query letter. The first paragraph of the letter should tease your book, much like the back cover blurb would tease a perspective reader. The rest of the letter should include your book's length, genre, and your contact information. This letter will accompany the first part of your book -- usually the first 30 pages. To an agent, these first 30 pages are key, so make sure something big happens in the first 30 pages. If it doesn't, rewrite!

Then send off your packages. And wait.

As you might have guessed by now, this is the hard part. You'll get rejection letters. Some of them nice, some of them form letters. The most disappointing part of this path is that agents will only represent one writer per genre, so if they already have a science fiction client, for instance, and you write science fiction, they won't represent you also -- at least not until they have sold that first client's book to a publisher.

Book deals are hard to come by. They take talent and a whole lot of luck -- but there are other options.

Next Up: Indie Publishing

Rejection Happy!

I’ve queried 8 or 9 agents about Relic at this point. I could give an exact number because I have all the email queries and a paper file with the agent information, but I am purposefully being vague – even with myself. I am almost trying not to put too much emphasis on it so that I don’t become discouraged. I think it’s easy to become discouraged at this point. But I want to give Relic a fair chance with this route.

Yesterday, I received a marvelous rejection! I know that sounds rediculous, but it actually made me really happy. I won’t mention the agent’s name, but the email didn’t sound as form-letter-ish as some have. She said, “Thank you so much for writing to me!” (It was the exclamation point that seemed so wonderful.) And she added, “I would definitely encourage you to keep trying.”

Just goes to show you, even a rejection can be encouraging!

Picking an Agent

The agent search continues. I’ve read some articles by published authors on how to find an agent. One writer said that although she felt she wasn’t supposed to, she queried several agents at the same time. I’m following her lead. In the past three days I’ve queried five agents.

It's time consuming and a bit nerve racking. You need to send the query letter, but each agent also wants a different amount of the story -- some 10 pages, some the first chapter, some are as vague as "the first few chapters." Some want it double spaced, some apparently don't care. Some agents request that you include your email address in the query -- which is baffling -- wouldn't they just need to reply to your original email? Anyway, I keep plugging,  knowing this is my one and only shot with this agent, hoping that the segment they request is enough to pique their interest.

I’ve rewritten my query letter. I like this one much better than my first. I think I nailed the summary of Relic more accurately, and I’ve included more information about myself. I really want an agent who believes in the story as much as I do. I love Samantha Whitaker, the way she grows and changes, and the way she starts to believe in someone other than herself. I love that Sam takes a stand for someone who has no voice and helps her find her place in the world. I’m hoping to find an agent who has the patience to see the manuscript through to the end and becomes as proud of Samantha as I am.

My First Agent Attempt

Now that Relic is complete, I need to find an agent. I contemplated self-publishing, but someone – sorry, can’t remember who – advised me that because Relic was a young adult book, I could be leaving out middle school libraries as one of my top clients. Since I adore my middle school library and the librarian who runs it, I couldn’t let that happen. The search for an agent began.

I googled “young adult literary agent.” I love Google, and I love Writer’s Digest. Put them together and I found exactly what I needed. I read several agent descriptions and found one I thought was perfect. Without naming names, she had the same last name as one of my favorite protagonists, she liked many of the same books I enjoyed including some more obscure titles, she was looking for a genre that fit my book, and she looked pleasant – like someone I wouldn’t mind having for a friend. And since I anticipate this process to be long and complicated, I would need a friend to see me through. I felt a connection. She didn’t want multiple submissions, and so I sent a query and sampling of Relic, “as per her submission guidelines.”

I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

No response. Rejection assumed.

Oh, well. Rome wasn’t built in a day.