Publishing 101 – Part 2

Publishing is selling. There is no easier way to explain it. One of the sayings I teach at writing workshops is, “Don’t write what sells . . . unless you want to sell what you write.” It sounds kind of obvious, but the point is that if you have no plans to sell what you write, you can write whatever you heart desires. But as soon as you decide you are writing for publication, you must give at least some thought to what is selling. That is not to say you should chase after every trend, “Vampire books are hot. Maybe I should write a vampire book.” But you should research the market enough to understand the trends and know what is selling and what is not.

When we last left off, we had researched the market, discovered the publisher we wanted to pursue required an agent, and got a copy of a publication that listed agents. Now, you have a book or website with a whole bunch of agents in it. What’s next? Well first, you need to narrow down the agents to the ones that are the best fit for your work. It is a waste of your time, and the agent’s time to send him or her a manuscript that she does not represent. This is not a lottery. You do not increase your odds of selling your manuscript by randomly sending out submissions.

The first thing you want to do is decide what genre your work falls into. There are many, many sub-genre classifications. Horror can be anything from psychological thriller to splatter-punk. But at its essence, it is still horror. So you’ll start by finding agents that represent horror [or fill in your genre here]. Of course, your story probably has elements of romance, mystery, action-adventure, etc. But for the purpose of finding an agent, you need to start with a single genre. Romance? Mystery? Women’s fiction? Fantasy? If you can’t decide what genre you are writing, you are not ready to find a publisher. Go find books that are similar to yours and see what genre they fall into.

Next, you need to know who you are writing for. Is this a picture book? Early reader? Middle Grade? YA? Or adult? One again, many books cover many audiences, but you have to decide. You can’t tell an agent, “My book is great for everyone from one to a hundred.” Agents specialize in certain areas. If you are writing a middle grade mystery, you don’t want to go after an agent who only reps adult books. Don’t worry if you are not sure whether you are writing a middle grade novel or a YA. The agent will let you know if you are wrong—or may even ask you to change your protagonist’s age, down the road.

Let’s assume you are writing a YA mystery. You will look up agents that represent YA and mystery. Then you will read their submission guidelines to see if they do YA mysteries. Most agents who do YA, are going to accept a YA mystery, but not all agents who accept mysteries also rep YA works. Once you have a list of agents that represent your work, you want to see if they take new and unpublished clients. Not all agents do. Some agents have all the clients they can handle. Some take on a small number of new clients every year. Others are actively seeking new writers. Other things to look for include how many and what type of works the agent has sold. This may require a little additional research, but hey that’s what Google is for, right?

Okay, so far, so good. You’ve decided what genre you are writing and found agents who represent this type of work. You’ve put together a list of twenty agents. Now rank these agents from the one you would like the most to the one you want the least (remembering that any of the agents would be acceptable or you wouldn’t have chosen them, and that you are going to do much more research if one of them actually offers to take on your work.) The next thing to do is find out how the agent prefers to be contacted. (Sound familiar? It’s just like the publisher guidelines we checked out in the Publishing 101 post.)

While most of this information will be listed in the same place you found your agents in the first place (Writer’s Marketplace, etc), I prefer to double check it on-line. Agents move around, and often their guidelines will change from what’s shown on a current year’s print listing. So for this example, let’s head over to Bookends Literary Agency. This is one of the better submission pages I have seen. If you read the whole page (including following the various links), you will learn what they are looking for and how they want it sent.

Notice a few things. First, they are only accepting unsolicited manuscripts via e-mail. Let me just step in for a minute and say, “Hallelujah!” Those of you who know me, know that I believe paper submissions—in particular the whole SASE idea—is a waste of time, paper, and money. We are in an electronic age, and it’s about time more agents did away with the wasteful practice of sending out reams of paper and using countless stamps just to hear, “No thank you.” I LOVE the fact that Bookends is doing away with all of that.

Second, they clearly tell you what they are actively looking for. Can’t get much easier than that. If you fall into one of these categories, submit away. If not, find another agent.

Last, they tell you how to send your information to them. If you are not familiar with what a query letter is, read their whole FAQ, it is a wealth of information. There are a gazillion different ways to package a query, but remember that a query is like the clothes you wear to an interview. It won’t get you the job, but it could very well disqualify you. Bookends does a great job of identifying what they want in a query letter.

1) Your name, address, phone number, e-mail address, and any other pertinent contact information. This is pretty self-explanatory. But make sure your information is up to date and that this contact info is included with every piece of correspondence you send. More than once, an agent has read something they really liked, only to discover they have no way of contacting the author. Also, make sure you spell the agent’s name right. Misspelling an agent’s name is not the way to get off on the right foot with them.

2) The book's title, the genre it best fits into, and the length or word count. Keep it simple here. Death in a Fruit Cellar, cozy mystery, approximately 73,000 words. Do NOT try to get fancy here with something like: Working title, Death in a Fruit Cellar (but I’m open to changing this), mystery/thriller with a touch of romance and intrigue. Word count about 73,000 (I’m not sure as I haven’t finished writing it yet.

3) A very brief synopsis of your book. This is the most important piece of the letter since this is the one thing that's going to hook the agent. We don't need to know every detail of your secondary characters, but we do need to know what those key things are about your book that makes it different or special. To use one of our own books as an example:

"Featuring amateur sleuth and wine expert Nikki Sands, Murder Uncorked is the first in a proposed series set in California's wine country. When Nikki stumbles upon a body in Napa Valley, it isn't long before her nosiness gets the best of her. Now she's knee-deep in trouble and must find the killer before he finds her. In addition to a terrific cozy mystery, I've incorporated wine-pairing suggestions with delicious wine country recipes."

Pay attention to the brief part. That is the agent giving you a big hint about what they will throw in the trash. A query letter should never be more than a single page (I know we are dealing with e-mail here, but you still know what a page looks like.) The hook should be no more than two paragraphs max! The hook should include: who the protagonist is, what he is trying to accomplish, what stands in his way, and the consequences of failure. This is not a synopsis. Save that for later. This is a hook that makes the agent go, “Wow! I’ve got to see more of this.”

4) A bio that highlights any significant writing experience you have had. Key word here, significant. Do not tell the agent about how much the neighbor kids (or your grandma) liked your book. Do not tell the agent how many other agents rejected you before. Do not tell the agent about all of your other unpublished works. Keep it simple. Previous publishing experience. Awards. Marketing experience that is applicable to this work. If you don’t have any previous experience, just leave this blank. Don’t try to make something up.

Let’s put this into action with a sample query letter:

In 1964, in the small town of Twin Forks, Utah six second graders were lost in a Utah gold mine. After days of searching, five of the children were found. The sixth was never recovered, and eventually the mine entrance was dynamited closed. Now, more than thirty years later, tragedy has returned to Twin Forks. Someone is killing the survivors of the mine incident. All clues seem to point Cal Hunt, Chief of the Twin Fork’s Police Department, to the dead boy’s ghost.

Struggling to deal with the recent and unexpected death of his wife, Cal must stop the killings before all the survivors end up dead, while unraveling the secret of what happened in the mine all those years ago. In order to do that, he may have to admit the presence of the supernatural and come to grips with his wife’s passing.

Dark Memories is a 102,000 word supernatural thriller. I have previously published a nonfiction book on rose pruning and several magazine articles. I have an excellent PR background and have procured interviews with television, radio, and print media. I have also taught many writing classes and seminars.
If you would like to see more of my novel, I can be reached at 801-555-1212 or e-mail me at scott@jscottsavage.com.

Best,

J Scott Savage

That’s all there is to it. Keep it simple. Make it interesting. Check very, very carefully for typos. Your manuscript may not be perfect, but sending a query letter with misspellings and poor grammar is not the way to impress an agent. Finally, once you send out your query, forget about it and move onto other things. Do NOT send another e-mail a week later, saying, “Hi! Just wanted to make sure you received my query.”

In part three, we will focus on how many queries to send out at a time, who to send them to, and what happens if the agent asks for more. And remember, there are lots of scams out there. NEVER, EVER pay an agent or publisher. The money should always flow to you. Not the other way around.

Getting Published 101

Probably the most common question I am asked as I do author events is, “How do you get published?” Of course there is no “one” way to get published. Everyone’s experience is different, and there is no magic bullet. The simple answer is, “Write something really great and send it out until someone buys it.” Kind of like the old joke. “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” “Practice!” If your writing is good enough—or you are willing to really work at getting better—and you are persistent enough, you will eventually get published.

Every author has written something on this subject, but I haven’t addressed it lately, and there are so many myths or misunderstandings about getting published, that I thought I would add my two cents. This is going to be getting published 101, so if you already know all about agents, query letters, and SASE’s, you may want to skip this post.

First, let me clear up some commonly held misconceptions—the dreaded publishing myths.

1) All authors make are rich. The truth is that most authors could make more money flipping burgers than they do writing books. Many, many authors are lucky to earn $5,000 for a book that took a year or more to write. And that’s before they spend their own money on marketing, gas, book tours, etc. This is not to say that people do not make good money as authors, or to discourage would-be writers. There are always going to be people making a living writing books or articles, and you could very well be one of them. But do not begin writing a book because you need to quit your job, make a ton of money, pay pressing bills, or anything like that. Write because you love to write, and let it lead you where it will.

2) This brings me to the second writing myth. If I turn in a book in January, it will probably come out sometime this summer. On average the time from submission to publication for a new author is a minimum of two years. And that’s not taking into account the time it takes to get an agent, which is required for many publishers. This is another good reason not to write because you hate your job. Depending on the publisher, you may not even see a dime for another six months after your book is published. If you hate your job that much, quit your job and find one you like—it’s much quicker.

3) You must pay (either an agent or a publisher) to get your book published. I’ll talk more about agents a little later, but suffice it to say that if an agent asks you for a dime, run away fast. They are unethical at best, and most likely a scammer. An agent who asks you for money up front is not making money by selling books. He or she is making money by scamming innocent writers and playing upon their hopes. You will not get published by paying money to an agent.

In general the same thing applies to publishers. There are many types and sizes of publishers. Depending on how big they are, and what their policies are, they will pay and market your book very differently. Bigger publishers have bigger budgets, and generally pay better. But they are also more difficult to sell to. Most big publishers won’t even look at a manuscript that is not represented by an agent.

That being said, publishers fall into two general categories. The kind that pay you and the kind you pay. A traditional publisher does not charge you money to publish your book. They may or may not pay you an advance (money you get before the book is published), the royalties (how much they pay you per each book sold) and contracts can differ wildly. But in general, they pay you money for each book that they sell. Self-publishers (also called vanity press) charge you money for the service of publishing your book. If you have a good way to sell your own books, or if you are publishing primarily for friends and family, this can be a great service. But do not be fooled into thinking that if you publish with a vanity press your books will start showing up on the shelves of the local Barnes and Nobel.

4) Getting an agent means I will definitely get published. While it is true that many publishers will no longer even look at un-agented manuscripts, getting an agent does not guarantee that a publisher will buy your book. Think of an agent as a middleman. The agent’s job is to weed out bad manuscripts and find ones that are good enough to be published. Then they sell the work to a publisher. They negotiate the contract, sell additional rights (movie, foreign, audio, etc), and help set up the next book deal. For this, they get a cut of the royalties—typically 15%.

Okay, now that we are done with myths, let’s get to work going through the process of selling a book. Let’s say I have written a great new novel called Vlad the Embalmer. The first thing I need to do, is get the book done and polished before I start shopping it. Do not start contacting agents or publishers unless your manuscript is finished and polished. Another thing I could have listed in myths is that it is the editor’s or agent’s job to clean up your story. Yes, the editor will help make your story better, but you will never make it to that point if you haven’t polished your work until it shines. If you think you can send out a rough draft and the story will shine through, you are in for a rude awakening.

Once your story is as polished as it can be, you need to begin researching publishers and agents. For the sake of this example, let’s jump over to a publisher’s site and see what their submission guidelines are. The link is http://www.shadowmountain.com/authors/guidelines. What we are looking to see is if the publisher takes un-agented submissions, and also what types of books they are looking for. The good news is that they do not require and agent. Notice the description of what types of books they are looking for:

“Shadow Mountain seeks to publish new books for adults and children that will appeal to a values-based, general market of readers and writers. We prefer to publish books that reflect traditional Christian values. A book we are interested in will be

1. Of value to our readers.

2. Well written and well researched.

3. Unique.

In general, Shadow Mountain is not interested in poetry, family histories, or personal journals. We will consider manuscripts that are being submitted simultaneously to other publishers. We do ask, however, that you let us know you are also submitting it elsewhere, so misunderstandings can be avoided.”

Pretty straightforward. Be aware though, that if a publisher tells you they are not looking for a particular type of book, they mean it. Don’t think that your poetry is so good that they will buy it anyway. Instead, find a publisher that is looking for poetry if that’s what you write.

Now let’s jump to another site. http://www.randomhouse.biz/manuscripts/. When you read their submission page, you quickly find that they do NOT take un-agented submissions.

“Random House, Inc. does not accept unsolicited submissions, proposals, manuscripts, or submission queries via e-mail at this time.”

This means that if you want to publish with Random House, you will need an agent. Okay, so where do you get an agent? Well, there a couple of places to look. Two of the best sources are The Literary MarketPlace (the LMP), a reference guide that can be found in most libraries. Or The Writer's Market, which you can also find in the library or purchase. Writer’s market is also available online at http://www.writersdigest.com/, for a monthly or annual fee.

So your next step is to go to the library or the bookstore and do some research. What you want to find are agents that accept the kind of book you have written. Typically this will be broken down by reader age and genre. For example, our book, Vlad the Embalmer is a horror novel for young adults. We don’t want to waste our time or the agent’s time by sending them a YA horror novel if they only accept nonfiction, romance, and mainstream mysteries.

In my next post, I’ll talk about researching agents and putting together a query packet.

Q&A with Lisa Mangum, Aquisitions Editor at Shadow Mountain Publishing

Okay, so I was going to begin this post by lavishly praising Lisa as a saint to downtrodden authors, who gives her lunch money to starving children and is the picture of beauty, wit, and intelligence. Then I saw her answer to the last question, which was clearly sent in by some wise and insightful reader. So with that in mind, here's Lisa, some woman who I met at a writing event.

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Q&A

1) If I wanted to publish with Shadow Mountain, how much would I have to pay to get the book published? What fees does the author pay and what fees does the publisher pay?

There are essentially two different kinds of publishers. A publishing house like Shadow Mountain doesn?t require the author to pay any money up front to get a book published. The author signs a contract and receives a royalty. Of course, since it?s essentially free to submit a manuscript, we get lots and lots of submissions and can only pick a select few to publish.

In the self-publishing or vanity publishing world, the author pays upfront for a large portion of the costs to have their book published. But, since the author is paying, self-publishing or vanity publishing outfits don?t have to be as selective in their decisions.

2) ?Leven Thumps" and "Fablehaven" have such amazing, elaborate websites, and, as a professional graphic designer, I know that those could not have been cheap! I just wondered if Shadow Mountain, being a relatively small publisher, has the means to do that with all its new titles or maybe just the "New York Times Bestsellers"?

Many of our titles have some presence on the Internet and we are doing more every season. We felt it was important to have a strong website for our children?s fantasy titles since many of those authors go on tour to promote their books.

3) What kind of material is Shadow Mountain looking for right now? What kind of things do they NOT want?

Short answer: We?re looking for the next big hit. :) Our door is always open to all kinds of submissions?fiction, non-fiction, children?s, young adult. Publishing is such a fluid business that it?s more of a ?we?ll know it when we see it? situation than it is a ?send us X manuscript now.?

4) What's the process after they receive a submission?

Once a submission arrives, I log it in and send the author a postcard to let them know we received it in good condition (and whether or not we receive a SASE). Then I start the submission through the review process. We have several people in-house who help with the review process and if the submission gets enough more ?thumbs-down? than ?thumbs-up? from our reviewers, then we?ll send a rejection letter back to the author. But if the submission gets more ?thumbs-up,? then I?ll pass it along to one of our Product Directors, who will make the final decision about whether or not to publish the project. Once the decision is made, we?ll send the author a letter or an email (or sometimes call on the phone) to let them know what we decided to do.

5) On Shadow Mountain's website, it mentions sending query letters and either a few chapters or the entire manuscript. They prefer physical hard copies. My question is, can a query letter be sent via e-mail, or should it be sent by "snail mail" as well?

I don?t mind if query letters are sent via email, though I prefer hard copies. I tend to do better at tracking a submission (and responding to it promptly) if I have an actual letter or envelope or package that takes up space on my desk instead of an ethereal, easy-to-miss email buried in my Inbox.

6) Also, their site mentions children's books. What types of children's books are they most interested in right now?

Again, we want children?s books that will stand out from the pack, that are unique and original. The kind of children?s book that we just couldn?t pass on publishing. :)

7) What kinds of things do you see in a query letter that make you go, ?Wow, I want to read more?? What kinds of things make you pass?

I think it?s really important for fiction queries to include a detailed plot summary. A two-sentence summary isn?t going to help me make a decision and sometimes it?s easier to just say ?no? to those kind of queries than it is to say ?send me three chapters.? I also think it?s important to include in a query letter some hint of what your marketing plans are for the book, or some indication that you?ve done your homework about competing products and how your project is different.

I hate query letters or cover letters that are filled with errors and typos. Or letters that are missing important author contact information. I?m just an editor, not a mind reader, so always include your full name, full address, and as many phone numbers or email address as you have.

8) How was Shadow Mountain so fortunate to get such a handsome and articulate author as Mr. Savage?

Oh, we only picked up Savage because our current rising star and best-selling author James Dashner suggested we take a look at him. And since James is so talented and handsome and articulate, how could we deny him anything? :)

All joking aside, it?s true that networking is a powerful tool that can sometimes help you to get published. Get to know potential publishers and what they are publishing; get to know their editors and what they specialize in; get to know their authors and what they are writing. The more you know about the business, the better chance you?ll have of matching your work to the perfect publisher.

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Alright fine. Since I know she really loves me more than James and was clearly speaking tongue in cheek. Lisa is an amazing person and editor. It is because of her belief and encouragement that I have the opportunity to publish the Farworld series. Shadow Mountain is lucky to have her. I owe her at least half my royalties--not that I'm going to give them to her after that. But she richly deserves them. Not to mention that she penned this Q&A in arterial blood from her death bed. Thanks, Lisa! You are awesome.

Questions for Shadow Mountain

First let me say thanks for all of the support and encouragement on the blog tour. Out of nineteen votes on the poll, eighteen people said they?d be willing to buy a book they read about on a blog. Of course I guess you could expect that from bloggers. But still that?s even better odds than the dentists who recommended Trident for their patients who chew gum. I?ll take those odds.

I talked to my editor today and it looks like the ARCs will be ready in early May. So I should be able to start moving forward with the blog tour in April. I?ve got about 30-40 bloggers who expressed interest?either through comments or e-mails. So now I?ve just got to figure out a grass roots way to reach another 100+ bloggers. Maybe word of mouth will spread once I actually start signing people up. Thanks for the Librarything idea. As soon as I have a book available, I?ll join as an author and see if there is more interest there. I assume Shadow Mountain will do the early review copies there as well, like they did with ?The 13th Reality.?

I also have a meeting with the art department to discuss my cover on Friday. It?s like getting a little hint at what might be wrapped under the Christmas tree. Can?t wait!

Since several people have asked me about my publisher and the process of selling a book, I was thinking maybe we could do a Q&A with Lisa, the acquisitions editor at Shadow Mountain. If you?ve got any questions you?d like her, post them here and I?ll see if I can get her to answer them before the weekend. She?s pretty busy with a lot of projects, but I?ll see what I can do.