I am with a small publishing company, not self publishing, but I would like to gain an agent. The publishing company I a with does not edit, and that is a huge problem for me. What agents will take on an already published author?
Would an agent be interested?
- Thread starter mommaareaux
- Start date
There'd be no reason for an agent to take on a novel that's already with a publisher... agents make commission by selling books, and if your book is already sold, what are they going to do with it? But if you mean that you want to get an agent for a second novel, I think most agents are open to already-published authors. I've seen SOME say they're specifically looking for debuts, and there are some who ONLY want established authors.
I'd be more concerned that your publisher doesn't edit... is this a vanity press? Are they paying YOU for your work, or are you paying them to publish it? Agents may be wary of someone whose only credit is with an iffy publisher... but it depends on the agent. At the very least, I'd expect most of them to read your query and sample pages, not to simply dismiss it without reading because you mention having published a previous novel.
I'd be more concerned that your publisher doesn't edit... is this a vanity press? Are they paying YOU for your work, or are you paying them to publish it? Agents may be wary of someone whose only credit is with an iffy publisher... but it depends on the agent. At the very least, I'd expect most of them to read your query and sample pages, not to simply dismiss it without reading because you mention having published a previous novel.
Momma, I've split your question out of the thread you asked it in, and put it into a thread of its own.
I see from another post you've made here that you're with Black Rose Writing.
The book which has already been published is very unlikely to attract the attention of any good agents. Consider that one done.
However, I doubt that your previous publishing history would put any good agents off IF the new book you submitted to them was good enough, and commercial enough.
I would advise you to seriously reconsider your relationship with Black Rose. It isn't going to do well for you: it doesn't have the distribution and sales required to sell in decent quantity; even if it did, it relies on POD to print its books, meaning they are too expensive to discount appropriately for most bookshops, and its books are not going to withstand shelf-life well enough to be shelved routinely; and any publisher which is happy to publish unedited books is not interested in publishing well. You'd almost certainly do better if you self-published.
ETA: We have a thread in our Bewares room about Black Rose Writing, which is long but useful; and Writer Beware! has blogged about them. You might find the links interesting.
I see from another post you've made here that you're with Black Rose Writing.
The book which has already been published is very unlikely to attract the attention of any good agents. Consider that one done.
However, I doubt that your previous publishing history would put any good agents off IF the new book you submitted to them was good enough, and commercial enough.
I would advise you to seriously reconsider your relationship with Black Rose. It isn't going to do well for you: it doesn't have the distribution and sales required to sell in decent quantity; even if it did, it relies on POD to print its books, meaning they are too expensive to discount appropriately for most bookshops, and its books are not going to withstand shelf-life well enough to be shelved routinely; and any publisher which is happy to publish unedited books is not interested in publishing well. You'd almost certainly do better if you self-published.
ETA: We have a thread in our Bewares room about Black Rose Writing, which is long but useful; and Writer Beware! has blogged about them. You might find the links interesting.
Last edited:
There often is reason for an agent, and a different publisher, to want a book that's already with a publisher. It really isn't uncommon. I can think of a fair number of novels that were with smaller publishers when a big publisher decided the book had huge sales intentional.
One of my favorite novels,Tom Clancy's The Hunt For Red October, started just this way. It was published by the Naval Institute Press, if I remember name correctly, and then bought by a much larger publisher.
The agent still makes very good money, plus commission on royalties, which can be huge.
I can think of a pretty fair number of times when this happened without doing any research. It's really not uncommon.