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Questions about finding publishers



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Fri May 06, 2011 8:51 pm
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Dynamo says...



These questions are for anyone who has had their work published, or knows someone who has. I'm currently starting on my forth, and hopefully final, re-write of a story I've had clunking around in my head for the past decade. I'm still a long way away from finishing it, in fact I'm still only working on the first chapter. To be honest, at the rate I'm going it may not be finished for a few years. Regardless, I'd like to know ahead of time if there is anything I should know about when looking for someone to publish my book.

Is there any sort of procedure to follow when looking for a publisher?

What kind of royalties from sales should I expect from my first book if it does get published?

Should I look for an agent before or after I get my book published? If after, then what keeps people from simply stealing my story when I pitch it?

I know there are some other questions I need to know, but this is all I can think of at the moment. Again, it's probably still too early for me to even be thinking about this stuff, but I like to know all of my options ahead of time. Any help would be greatly appretiated, and if you know anything else I should know about that I didn't mention in the questions above, please let me know.
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Fri May 06, 2011 11:12 pm
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RacheDrache says...



There are a few, small, indie publishers out there in the world that'll consider you without an agent. But they are few in number, and they typically only print a few things a year, and typically are looking for specific subgenres. They also don't have the resources, really, to push your book's sale. Not that bigger publishers will do that.

So, to answer your third question, you need an agent first. Agents know how to navigate the sticky, unfair realm of publishing. Great novels sit at the bottom of slushpiles and crappy ones get published because of the lack or presence of an agent. To get an agent, you query them. Agent Query is now your new best friend. They have articles there that'll tell you how to write a query, and every agent there is reputable.

Beware of agent scams. They exist. Don't pay any agent ever. That's not how it works. Agents work via commissions. If it's too good to be true it probably is. Writers Beware will fill you in.

Anyway, query these agents. Make sure, for the love of frogs, that they are a) looking for new clients and b) actually represent what your book is. Use forums for older writers (writers.net) to get someone with experience read your query before you submit it. Don't mention your age. And prepare to get rejected over and over and over and over again. In fact, you'll be rejected so many times that you'll probably want to give up. That's part of the process.

And did I mention those rejections are just the agent rejecting your offer to read more? If an agent is interested, then there's still the synopsis and/or first-three-chapters stage, then the half novel, then the full novel...etc. Lots of rejection happens.

So, in reference to your first question, don't look for a publisher unless you want to go the self-publishing route (Amazon.com is the new thing for that).

As for royalties, there's a reason why writers have a reputation as starving artists. 10% of the writers published make 90% of the revenue. In other words, James Patterson and Stephen King and Rowling and Meyer make most of the money.

If your agent finds you a publisher, you'll get an advance of probably a few thousand unless you've really blown their socks off. This advance is how much they think the book is worth. Don't sign any contract without reading it through and getting someone with legal knowledge (preferably a lawyer) to look over it.

Royalties are a percentage of whatever the book makes in sales after the publisher gets the money back for the advance and publishing costs. I believe the author cut is something like 10-15% for every hardcover sold. Not much. Your agent'll also get a cut, and the seller gets a cut, and the publishers get a cut. The rest is production costs. So how much you make in royalties is dependent on how many books you sell. You're looking at roughly 40,000 books sold to make a 100 grand. In US dollars, that is.

(Which reminds me, anywhere outside the US (possibly Canada?) will have different procedures than this, so everything I'm saying could be irrelevant.)

I hope I haven't depressed you too much. But, if you thought writing the damn thing was hard, welcome to the wonderful world of the business end of writing. Population, significantly fewer.

My last bit of advice is that whatever you do, don't get discouraged and don't give up. But be smart.

And, also... pick up a copy of Writer's Market. That'll also help.

If you have any questions, let me know. I'm not published myself or anything like that, but I researched this all a few years ago when I was set on being *the* next young writer. (Thank frogs that didn't work out.)

Rach
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Sat May 07, 2011 1:58 am
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Dynamo says...



Thanks for the advice. I suppose nothing worth having comes easy.
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