I have been trying to find a good fit between me and a publisher and I don't know where to look or who to look at. I write young adult fantasy romance novels and though I have gotten offers I feel like they are all just shams. Any suggestions for a new author for where I should look?
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Who publishes the YA fantasy romance novels you like to read by other authors? That's as good a place to start as any.
Before you submit to a publisher, check it out in the Bewares, Recommendations & Background Check subforum. Each press will have its own thread (you can search for them here -- they are listed alphabetically). That way you can find out what other authors are saying about that press.
Editing to add: Alternatively, seek literary agent representation, and let them submit your manuscript to appropriate publishers.
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My only issue is that all the publishing houses that I like from that genre only want an author with a literary agent and none of the agents I have talked to want a author who has yet to find a publisher to get a book published. I am working on my second novel but have yet to get one published because of this issue. I don't know what to do.
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So you have made sure none of those publishers take unsolicited queries, and approached ever possible agent all of who said the same thing?
I suggest you get specific: what publishers, and what agents?
I suggest you get specific: what publishers, and what agents?
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That's not surprising. Most of the big presses only accept agented submissions.
Really? Have you actually talked to them, and they said this? That seems very odd indeed. Most agents accept queries from unpublished authors. Look at this list: all of them accept queries from new authors. Here are more YA agents who talk about what they are looking for.
There are also a lot of smaller presses that do accept unagented submissions -- Carina, Entangled, etc.
While I was still writing the second novel I went and asked some of my favorite publish houses like Simon & Schuster Books and HarperCollins and a few others that publish in my genre and they emailed back they will throw out any unsolicited queries and after doing research to try and find an agent no one wanted my work because I had yet to publish.
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Yes, they will. They are very clear in their guidelines that unagented submissions do not get read.
I am quite sure that the fact you are unpublished is not the reason an agent would not want your work. Agents pick up new, unpublished authors all the time.
But, for each author an agent accepts, there are thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of authors that get turned down. That's the reality of the situation. To get agent representation you need a little bit of luck, a lot of persistance, a superb manuscript, and an excellent query letter. You can't do much about luck, but the other three are all in your hands.
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My agent has taken on unpublished authors. Lots of agents do.
It's just that your query and your book have to be really stellar. (Which is the case of the published authors she takes on, too.)
It's just that your query and your book have to be really stellar. (Which is the case of the published authors she takes on, too.)
Thank you so much for the help. I have been trying so hard and yet no one will talk to me or take me seriously because I haven't had anything published or is a scam.
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And if you want to bypass agents you just have to make a list of appropriate publishers, and work down in order of preference until you find one that will take a query. Most will not take unsolicited submissions, but some will in fact take unsolicited query letters.
After all this wonderful advice you have given me and I thank you all do any of you have suggestions besides the big names that I know of that publish this genre that I could try and query?
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What do you mean by not talking to you or taking you seriously?
How have you approached them?
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I approached with a query and asking some general information in a professional manor. I did mention that this was a query for my first publishing but hoped it wouldn't deter which in some cases it did in others it was a scam. Some emails back told me to try again when I am older so I had more experience since I am fairly young though since I am over the age of 18 do not see how my age plays a part in my writing skills or the fact that I am a college writer. I tried making it individualized but professional but it isn't working.
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I don't know how they would know your age for sure, since it's not standard to mention one's age in one's query letter. However, I think it's possible you are receiving form rejections if your query letters suggest to the agent that your English is not up to professional standards. Have you had others proofread your letters before you send them? (I don't mean to be insulting, but your above post should read "in a professional MANNER" and "query for my first PUBLICATION", so if your queries have a similar level of errors in them, that can be enough to turn agents away.)
Editing to add: Also, did you send a standard query letter describing a particular book, or did you send a letter asking if they would represent you without mentioning/describing you had a completed manuscript? If the latter, that too would generate a form rejection.
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You might want to spend some time looking through the Query Letter Hell section of this forum to get an idea of the meat-grinder critiques and revisions authors go through to get their queries ready to send. Then I would suggest posting your query letter there so other writers can provide feedback as to why it hasn't been working for you.
As another source for agents, I'd recommend manuscriptwishlist.com and the corresponding #MSWL tag on Twitter. It's how I've kept track of what agents seem interested in my writing specialties.
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If you (or anyone here) is having a problem finding an agent and would like to start submitting to publishers that are reputable, I wrote a list a while back on my blog: Advance Paying YA Publishers Accepting Unagented Submissions
I have additional updated lists too. Hope this helps.
I have additional updated lists too. Hope this helps.
Most of the bigger good publishers will only look at submissions which come through an agent. But the idea that good agents won't consider books from unpublished writers is not correct.
You started another thread in Ask The Agent to discuss that point, so let's try to keep these two conversations separate.
I think you need to slow down.
Before you start submitting, learn more about the publishing process. Learn how to separate the good from the bad. You've already learned that vanity publishers are to be avoided (in this earlier thread you say you were originally published by Tate) so that's a good first step, but I suspect you've got a long way to go yet.
There's no point knowing all about publishing if your work isn't ready to go, though, so you'd be wise to focus on improving your own work too. And our Share Your Work rooms are a brilliant resource.
You need to reach fifty posts before you can post your work for critique here but judging from a sample you posted already, you do need to work on your writing. What I suggest you do is work your way to fifty posts by critiquing the work of others; you'll learn a huge amount by doing so, and there's the added benefit that when you post your own work for critique you'll be more likely to attract advice.
As I said, you'll get a lot of help in our Share Your Work rooms.
If I were you I'd work on your own writing before working on your query. It's hard, but we all have to do it.