Write a Best Seller without First Securing a Buyer?

[littlebee]

This is my (future) dilemna:
I write a great novel.
However, in this scenario, the book has written itself.
There was no query letter sent nor an agent secured.
How would an author try and sell such a book?
Do any writers operate this way?
Thanks for any advance and hope you have a great week ahead. :-)

[ClaudiaGray]

Are you talking about writing a book before querying and getting an agent? I mean, that's what almost everyone does. (Weirdly, it wasn't what I did, but that's a whole other story.) Or do you mean something else by "written itself"?

[Mumut]

I don't have an agent but I've had my book published by one publisher and in line for publication with another publisher. I just sent a proposal to the publishers direct.

[Susan Breen]

There are certainly best sellers published by houses that do not require an agent. I think MacAdam Cage doesn't require agented submissions and that's the house that published The Time Traveler's Wife. But usually with a novel you do have to have it written first.

[aka eraser]

Hi littlebee.

Well, you've flummoxed me. Your question certainly doesn't belong in Freelance writing and I suspect the folks over at Novel Writing might eat you.

Figuratively speaking of course. :)

I'm going to try sending this over to the nice folks at Basic Writing Questions.

[Linda Adams]

It'd be tough to sell a book without an agent. Some of the small press take manuscripts without agents, and a few of the fantasy publishers, but I believe they may also take much longer to get a response than an agent. The majority of the publishers don't accept unsolicited manuscripts (meaning you'd need an agent). Pretty much, there aren't any shortcuts.

And, of course, though every writer dreams of their book being a best seller, there isn't a guarantee of that either.

[IdiotsRUs]

There was no query letter sent nor an agent secured.
How would an author try and sell such a book?


Unfortunately, with a query letter, unless you actually know an agent / publisher. You have to make contact to sell it ( even with just the publisher and not an agent, you'll still need that query letter - most don't take whole MS's as submissions at least here in the UK).


OFC I could have completely misunderstood the question, that happens to me all the time.

[Maryn]

And, of course, though every writer dreams of their book being a best seller, there isn't a guarantee of that either.Sheesh, why didn't anyone tell me that years ago?

Maryn, winking

[Danger Jane]

The fact is, if you've written a great novel, someone will be willing to represent it. Most major publishing houses only handle agented manuscripts, like other posters have said.

[BlueLucario]

Why don't you try advertising it? I've heard authors try to sell their books through media before they hit the shelves.

[Soccer Mom]

Why wouldn't you want an agent? Just curious. If you are imagining that submitting directly to publishers and cutting out the whole querying process will make things speedier and less painful, you're unfortunately mistaken.

[Devil Ledbetter]

I think the first hurdle will be getting that great novel to write itself.

[Karen Duvall]

This is my (future) dilemna:
I write a great novel.
However, in this scenario, the book has written itself.
There was no query letter sent nor an agent secured.
How would an author try and sell such a book?
Do any writers operate this way?
Thanks for any advance and hope you have a great week ahead. :-)


There are dozens, if not hundreds, of mircropresses out there that would scarf up your completed book in a heartbeat. No agent required. Honest. If your goal is to see your great novel in print, there's a good bet one of these guys will grant your wish. Just don't quit your day job.

I adore small press publishers. I've had two different ones for two different books and it was a great experience. I didn't make more than a few hundred dollars on each, but that's not why you choose this smaller avenue of publication. It's unlikely you could make a living writing books for a small press. Even a big press, for that matter.

If you're looking to make a living wage off that great novel, finish the book and then query the couple of large-scale publishes that still accept unagented submissions. You may just be the one that lightning strikes. And then you can do this. :snoopy:

[hammerklavier]

I too, have written a bestseller. Unfortunately, it hasn't been published yet.

[IceCreamEmpress]

First of all, you're doing things in the right order. With fiction, a first-time writer has to finish the book first before you approach publishers or agents (this is true 95% of the time in the US--the few exceptions, like work-for-hire with series characters, almost certainly don't apply to you).

If you live in the US and you want to be published by a large publishing house (read: you want an advance of $5,000 or up) you need an agent. There is a lot of information on here about how to get an agent in the US, and some more specific information for Canadians on how to get a Canadian agent.

If you live in the UK, there are some good resources on how to find an agent out there on the Internet, and other folks will probably have some pointers for you.

If you live in Australia, NZ, or elsewhere in the English-speaking world, I'm sure there's someone on here who can offer specific advice about approaching publishers or agents or both.


If you don't care about being published by a large publishing house, there are small presses and micropresses that accept submissions directly from authors.

[littlebee]

Thank you everyone for your wonderful feedback!
I am so delighted by this discussion. :-)
Deep in my soul is a novel that needs to be written.
Should I sit down and dare to write these words, despite no promise of monetary recompense? My higher self mandates a resounding "Yes!".
The next question, then, is if against all odds, the novel is terrific and needs to be shared with the world, what would be a good way for me to approach a big-time publisher? Would I first need to contact an agent with my finished piece and hope they too fall in love with it? Thank you again for your wonderful feedback! :-)

[Lyxdeslic]

Littlebee,

I'm going to step in with the hope of, if nothing else, saving you from the pummeling I sense you are in for.

It's clear you're green; that's okay, we all were at one stage during our love affair of writing. My advice? Put your huge aspirations on the back burner. I speak for myself, and doubt few will admit what I'm about to, but I, too, was once filled with delusions of grandeur. Thinking I would tear the literary world to shreds and no one could touch the likes of me.

Well, the truth is, I sucked. Not only did I suck, my words were about as neatly strung together as vomit splattered all over the toilet bowl.

You're excited about this idea; that's great. You seem to have a passion, too; again, great. My only wish for you is that you are careful: don't let your emotions guide you through the writing of this book. The results if you do? A story with an odor reminiscent of dead rodents soaked then boiled in vinegar.

Write hard. Write honest. Write well. Find a critique partner, someone with no emotional attachment to you or your work. Get knocked back a peg or two, then fix what is wrong (and I guarantee you, there's always plenty that is).

So yes, to answer your questions, FIRST AND FOREMOST write the hell out of your story. Then revise, revise, revise. After that, revise some more. Work your fingers to the bone, until your novel is the best it can be. After all this, YES, find an agent. Clearly you have reveries of success; an agent is the most likely person to help you attain them.

You have many peaks and valleys to traverse, and it's a helluva ride. You bring back a lot of memories for me.

And I wish you the best of luck.

Lyx

[Devil Ledbetter]

Should I sit down and dare to write these words, despite no promise of monetary recompense? My higher self mandates a resounding "Yes!"That, right there, is reason enough to write a novel. Good luck with it.

[BlueLucario]

So all of this on how to make your books best-seller? Hehe, that was my dream too..... You dream of one day your book could become a movie a video game and people can roleplay your characters in their backyard. Being interviewed on TV. Having millions of people read your book.Getting autographs If this really happened to me, I'd be so happy.Well a kid has got to dream... :,(

Oh well, some dreams are meant to be flushed down the toilet. It's better to just write anyway and hope you get lucky.

End of my Emo statement.

I just read that the best way of making bestsellers is using the BIC method. But some writers failed to even attempt that.

[Phaeal]

With fiction, unless you already have a track record, and a good one, you're highly unlikely to sell a book without a completed manuscript in hand. You must first write your novel. Then you must get unbiased opinions about whether it's ready to go out to agents or publishers. Then you must revise until you honestly cannot make the work any better. Along the way, if you haven't done so already, you need to read books about fiction writing, editing, and marketing, learn the basics.

Can lightning strike? That is, can you have instant success at the highest commercial level? It's happened, but it's an extremely rare phenomenon, and to pin all your hopes on writing a bestseller is to discount the many "lesser" achievements in writing. Writing some good polished short stories is big. Simply completing the first draft of a novel is big. And so on, all the way to the pinnacle.

My feeling is this: Write only if the writing itself gives you satisfaction, because the process is all you can own for sure. You have a right to your work, your stories. You have a right to market your work to the best of your abilities and the end of your strength. But others ultimately control how much money you'll earn, what awards you'll win.

Work toward writing the best novel you can write. Make that your goal. If the bestseller follows, that's great. If not, if the novel's not published at all, you'll still be a winner, and you'll know whether you have what it takes to be a writer: the will and desire to write another novel, and another, and another, until death do you and your pen part. ;)

[Toothpaste]

To answer very simply to your questions:

1) Fiction, novels, are written before securing a publisher.

So the answer is yes.

(I know, it sounds risky, writing something without the promise of publication, but most writers are so passionate about writing that they are willing to risk it).

2) Yes you will need to find an agent before a publisher. There are some publishers that accept unsolicited manuscripts, but since your goal is bestseller, you will need a big publishing house, and they, for the most part, require agented submissions.

[Death Bean]

Just let it pour out and let it make you happy - if it doesn't reap commercial rewards in the end, it'll still keep you warm in the times to come, because it'll be YOUR book. :)

[KansasWriter]

Deep in my soul is a novel that needs to be written.
Should I sit down and dare to write these words, despite no promise of monetary recompense?

The word "dare" indicates that you're scared of something. That's OK: to have courage means to act despite fear.

Figure out what that fear is. Get rid of it. "Don't try", as Bukowski said, but really get rid of it.

If you're scared that some people won't like your book then let me put your mind at ease. You're right. Some people will think it sucks. I gave my book to friends and family. Half gave polite smiles, half still talk about why they like it. The funny thing is, I couldn't have guessed worse which ones liked it and which didn't. Strange really.

Writing a book is only a big deal if you decide it is. I think there are bigger deals.

You also seem to have a hang up about money. If your book is really "deep in your soul" then you won't care about the money. The only way to test that theory is to start writing.

KW

[IceCreamEmpress]

Should I sit down and dare to write these words, despite no promise of monetary recompense?

THAT'S HOW EVERY FIRST-TIME NOVELIST IN THE US DOES IT, EXCEPT FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE A CONTRACT WITH THE 'SWEET VALLEY HIGH' SERIES OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.

So, yeah. If you want to write a novel, you have to do it not knowing whether you can sell it or not.


None of the US bestsellers--from Stephen King to Danielle Steel to John Grisham to Dan Brown to you name it--had a contract in hand for their first novel. Some of them (King, for instance) didn't even SELL their first few novels.

[jannawrites]

The fact is, if you've written a great novel, someone will be willing to represent it... <snipped>

I absolutely agree with this! If it's that good, your publishing home is waiting for you. It may take several tries, either with securing an agent and their sale of your ms, or by going your own route and querying the pubs directly... but it'll happen if it's meant to.

[mscelina]

Just write it. You have to be able to handle the WORK before you need to worry about the PERKS. Anything else at this point is nothing but useless speculation.

WRITE.THE. BOOK.

[maestrowork]

For new writers, most agents and publishers require to see a completed ms. anyway. Very few, if any, would buy based on partials only. You're selling a product, not a concept.

[BlueLucario]

Hey, look if you want to write a bestseller. Try the BIC method. :)

[Bufty]

Come on now, Blue.

You are a relative Newbie and I think I am reasonably tolerant but I find this a bit much, bearing in mind your Feedback Addiction thread.

Try following your own advice.

Hey, look if you want to write a bestseller. Try the BIC method. :)

[BlueLucario]

Come on now, Blue.

You are a relative Newbie and I think I am reasonably tolerant but I find this a bit much, bearing in mind your Feedback Addiction thread.

Try following your own advice.


Do you understand what I meant? I was hoping someone would ask.

[Bufty]

What!!?

Do you understand what I meant? I was hoping someone would ask.

[mscelina]

yes, yes--butt in chair. we all know what it is. It just seems a bit...officious...for you to spout that off in light of your recent threads. Bufty's POINT was that it's probably better for you to BIC rather than to point that out to someone that you don't know.

[/lecture over]

Here, Bufty, have a martini. Carry on.

[Birol]

This is my (future) dilemna:
I write a great novel.
However, in this scenario, the book has written itself.

No novel writes itself, even when the characters are dictating it to you. There's still miscommunication, false starts, writing, typing, editing, rewriting -- in other words WORK -- to do.

There was no query letter sent nor an agent secured.
How would an author try and sell such a book?
Do any writers operate this way?


If you're not sending a query letter to an agent or publisher, then you're talking about self-publishing or vanity publishing. That's the only way you're going to get published without having prior industry contacts and without sending a query letter or an agent.


Well, you've flummoxed me. Your question certainly doesn't belong in Freelance writing and I suspect the folks over at Novel Writing might eat you.

Figuratively speaking of course. :)

I'm going to try sending this over to the nice folks at Basic Writing Questions.

Hey, now. The Novel peeps are nice. Shweta's a good influence in that regard.

Should I sit down and dare to write these words, despite no promise of monetary recompense?

There's no other way to write it.

The next question, then, is if against all odds, the novel is terrific and needs to be shared with the world, what would be a good way for me to approach a big-time publisher? Would I first need to contact an agent with my finished piece and hope they too fall in love with it? Thank you again for your wonderful feedback! :-)

Read the submission guidelines, available on most publishers' and agents' websites, and follow them. Odds are, for the biggest publishers, you will need will to secure an agent first. Whether you approach a publisher or an agent, you will need to write a query letter and a synopsis.

[BlueLucario]

BIC is supposed to be writing humor. I didn't think you knew what that meant.

[Birol]

BIC is supposed to be writing humor. I didn't think you knew what that meant.

:Wha:

[mscelina]

ummm.....oooookay.

[dpaterso]

I didn't know what BIC meant, but I didn't want to look stupid by asking.

-Derek

[Bufty]

There's no answer to that really. :snoopy:

I didn't know what BIC meant, but I didn't want to look stupid by asking.

-Derek

[Esopha]

I didn't know what BIC meant, but I didn't want to look stupid by asking.

-Derek

Psst. BIC is a kind of pen.

I dunno what this "butt in chair" stuff is...

[Bufty]

Probably some type of smoker's jargon.

Psst. BIC is a kind of pen.

I dunno what this "butt in chair" stuff is...

[Esopha]

Probably some type of smoker's jargon.

Ouch.

I guess I'll be avoiding it, then. I don't want a singed bum.

[RJK]

Littlebee:
If you're serious about writing a best seller, start learning with Uncle Jim here http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6710 It will take you a month or two to get through this thread, but when you have, many of your questions will have been answered.

[kzmiller]

My advice is the same as a lot of others': to not think about publishing and the whole bestseller thing (which it may well be) until the book is written. I've had what I thought were stellar ideas fall apart, had what I thought was a bestseller turn out to have been written by someone else 50 years ago and is a terrible cliche'. I've also had the opposite happen--something I wrote only because it was an exercise (and a lame one at that) turns into something unique and in a way beyond my own ability.

But don't worry about that stuff too much--just be aware and then write. Whether an idea is unique and awe-inspiring or turns out to be overdone doesn't matter as much as the voice/story that develops on the page. Great writers can turn cliche's into something fresh and beautiful, after all (and poor writers can turn a bad idea to mush.) But no one can know if a story is great until it's written, not the author, or an agent, or a publisher.

The joy, and the terror, of writing something you're passionate about is that at least for that first draft you will connect completely with something beautiful that is entirely of your own creation. Some liken it to being like a god. Others are humbled and reverent and a bit mystified by the process. I hope you have a great experience writing your novel. Have fun, and let us know how it's going. And if you get stuck, you're lucky--you have AW on your side. I know I'm very glad I found AW!