Offer of Publication - Advice

Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Unlikely an agent will be interested in a really small publishing house.

What you do is your call.

Others will no doubt be by with better advice.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

You shouldn't query agents and publishers at the same time. One or the other is better.

If this is a small publisher, most agents are not going to be able to help you because they won't earn enough from the deal to justify their time.

It is absolutely ok to ask for some time before accepting their offer and if the publisher baulks at this, then they are neither professional nor reasonable. I would probably reject their offer if this happened, but I am notoriously grumpy.

I would think getting a big time agent would be better in the long run than publishing in a small time press.

Bolder said:

I would think getting a big time agent would be better in the long run than publishing in a small time press.

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but you do realize that even if you get a big time agent- there is no guarantee that your book will be published- right? If you sign a contract with a reputable small press your book will be published.

sheadakota said:

but you do realize that even if you get a big time agent- there is no guarantee that your book will be published- right? If you sign a contract with a reputable small press your book will be published.

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Key words being "reputable small press". I signed with a publisher that had a good reputation, paid an advance, etc. But it turned out their sales were really low and they've decided to close. Which is not something I anticipated. Fortunately I signed with an agent shortly afterward so subsequent books are being handled by him.

Aggy B. said:

Key words being "reputable small press". I signed with a publisher that had a good reputation, paid an advance, etc. But it turned out their sales were really low and they've decided to close. Which is not something I anticipated. Fortunately I signed with an agent shortly afterward so subsequent books are being handled by him.

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Which proves that some agents may not mind the small press. Or does it prove that your next book was great too?

sheadakota said:

but you do realize that even if you get a big time agent- there is no guarantee that your book will be published- right? If you sign a contract with a reputable small press your book will be published.

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One of the things that I found through mine--and friends--experience is that your agent WILL try for the big names first - it maximises their chance for getting paid as well.

Even the most shockingly substandard books can get a Publish America level of **publication**, but an agent's interest in managing a career writer rather than a hobby writer will advise you against going small. Your book might not be a debut book, but it could be picked up as a second-or-third book.

It's better NOT to be published than published badly.

I'm not sure you should nudge an agent based on a full request from a larger publisher. Unless it's time-sensitive issue, it seems premature, and you might be best off not rushing the agent if you don't absolutely have to. You run the risk of an agent passing on your manuscript simply because they're too busy to read it at this very moment.

The other thing is that, like Old Hack said, you're best to not be querying larger publishers if you're looking for an agent at the same time. If you shop it around yourself, an agent will have more limited options for pitching it on your behalf. And you'll need to disclose all those submissions to an agent after you receive an offer of representation, so they know every editor that's seen your manuscript and at which house.

Of course, if you get a publishing offer from a larger house, that's a different story. Finding an agent can be a lot easier then.

Sounds like you've got a project that's really generating some interest. Congrats and good luck!

lostintwinpeaks said:

The novel is definitely generating interest - but more from publishers than agents. I'm still not sure why that is.

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Well, I think smaller publishers don't have to ask themselves "Am I going to have to convince my boss, a publisher, the publisher's boss, the acquisition team to like this book?" They can straight out pulish the thing.

Small press editors have a lot more influence over what they publish, usually as there are less steps to publication - some may even own the imprint.
An agent or even an acquisitions editor for a larger house will need to convince a lot more people about the value of the manuscript, which can lead to some very conservative choices being made.

I had a similar situation with my first book - it got small publisher attention but not agents. The reason, as far as I could tell, was mostly to do with genre: space opera wasn't being actively sought at that stage. I continued to query it to small publishers, as agent interest was low, but queried my second novel to agents, as it was getting interest.

A small publisher offer didn't get any additional interest from agents, and I declined the first two offers - one for contractual concerns, one because I was unconvinced of the distribution plans. I was lucky at that point and got an agent for my second novel and when I received another offer on the first book (trilogy, actually) she agreed to rep me for the offer and I got a good, tight contract.

So, I think if you're getting small pub interest you may not get an agent on the back of that and it comes down to seeking the best offer you can from the publishers. Or self-pub - if it's doing well with small pubs it may well do well out in the market....?

In terms of thinking time - take it and if they put pressure on you back away. A reputable publisher shouldn't.

Aggy B. said:

Key words being "reputable small press". I signed with a publisher that had a good reputation, paid an advance, etc. But it turned out their sales were really low and they've decided to close. Which is not something I anticipated. Fortunately I signed with an agent shortly afterward so subsequent books are being handled by him.

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I signed with a reputable small press; no advance, but good sales and good royalties and good reversion clause.
I also have an agent (two, in fact) but I did not need an agent for the contract, which was vetted by the Society of Authors (UK). My UK agent handles fiction foreign rights, and has made two sales for me. My US agent is for non-fiction.

In my experience agents are just not interested in e-publishers -- not even from a big house. As it is, I am very glad I took this route. The experience up to now is better than with the big publisher I used to have.