Advice for New Authors

BrandonKOrner said:

That makes sense. Self publishing is like a last resort.

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It can be, or it can be a deliberate strategy.

There are certainly authors who have made it work as a first choice. But that's a whole additional endeavor, with its own additional workload (taking up time and energy you'd otherwise be able to spend writing), and its own risks of failure (such as poor quality and obscurity).

From what I can read in your posts, you're not looking to essentially start a small business, which is the attitude that a successful self-publishers have toward their work. So for the approach you're taking, yes, it would be best treated as a last resort.

(Just being clear here, since you're relatively new and may not have run across some of our successful self-published writers.)

Hi Brandon --

No one has mentioned this, but I'll throw it out in regards to school.

Don't major in journalism. It's still defining itself in the new age, and a J-School degree isn't very helpful anymore. I say this as a former reporter.

I wouldn't major in English, either. It's a nice degree while you're getting it, but the actual use of it is rather limited. You'd be better served finding the secondary interest you have and minoring in English. The ability of a program to teach you how to write is very limited, and unless you're at a top-flight CW school, it won't matter. Plus, the more you diversify your knowledge base, the better writer you'll be.

That leads to the important point. if you want to be a capital W writer, then find a way to get yourself to Iowa. If you graduate from Iowa with an MFA, someone will read your work and you've got a better chance of it getting published. You'll end up writing the way Iowa wants you to write or you'll crap out, but if you get out of Iowa alive, there's a good chance at an agent and a publishing deal. Or at least a better chance than most. And I say that as someone who doesn't like a lot that comes out of Iowa.

Lastly, read a lot. If you feel the need to write, then write, but don't write with the aim of getting published and becoming famous. Write because if you don't write you'll go crazy. Write because if you don't get this story out of your head it will haunt you every night as you try to sleep. Write because you love the way words feel together, because you like the way words sound when they appear on your page. If you've got talent then the rest will likely follow. Or not. But don't write to be famous. Write because you have to write. Doing it for any other reason than that does a disservice to you, and to the craft.

But write first. Make the work important. But be something else, too. Be a sailor or a hunter or an accountant or an astronomer or a clinical psychologist or a social worker or anything, but be something other than just a Writer. You need to live to write about it -- you need real stories to shape, twist, modify and corrupt to become part of what you write about. You need to fall in love, get your heart broken, catch your girlfriend in bed with another man or have her catch you the same way. You need to get drunk, you need to sleep on a beach. You need to catch a trout. You need to have things other than writing to write about.

Good luck.

Hip-Hop-a-potamus said:

Don't query until your book is done. Not only done, but re-done. We're talking multiple rewrites.

Set it aside for a few months and come back to it. You'll be amazed at the problems you see.

I know you're excited to get started, but you've jumped the gun a bit. Write the book. Write a REALLY good book. Then the querying begins.

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This. I don't know an agent out there who would offer representation based on a partially finished manuscript. (Maybe a few, but most want you to have the words, "COMPLETED MANUSCRIPT" in your query letter) or they won't bother.

(I'm talking about fiction, btw, I think nonfiction works differently.)

Queen of Swords said:

Finally, don't query reputable agents unless your manuscript is polished, or else you may end up like this poster.

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Oh my goodness, that thread...

Never say "die." Where there's a will, there's a way. Good Luck!


Plus, if people call you delusional, ignore them.

whiporee said:

...But write first. Make the work important. But be something else, too. Be a sailor or a hunter or an accountant or an astronomer or a clinical psychologist or a social worker or anything, ...

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Don't be an accountant. Trust me on this one.

"We do what we are" - Alex Cross from Along Came a Spider.

BrandonKOrner said:

Hello AW,
I'm Brandon Orner. I've been on AW for a short time now, and am currently working on my first book, which is a large, fantasy novel.

I've made some threads on the Water Cooler, but by some of the replies, I feel like I'm doing something wrong. I am halfway finished with my manuscript and queried some agents from Writer's Digest.

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Did you choose the agents from the ads in Writer's Digest? Because (this is based on what I remember of Writer's Digest) many of those agents are either scam agents or they are agents who have little to no track record and cannot get you a publishing contract.

Good agents don't run ads in Writer's Digest, for the most part. They don't need to.

My advice to you is to cease querying until you've finished the manuscript. And by finished, I mean finished, revised, edited, and polished.

While you're doing that, you can research which agents might be best to approach. Find out who represents authors who write similar stories to what you're writing.

In high school, I was always the top of my class in English and wrote essays and speeches with ease. My teachers always encouraged my dream of becoming a famous author and I am willing to do whatever it takes to get there.

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Sounds like you've had a good start. While you're working on your novel, educate yourself about the publishing industry. Hanging out at AW is a good first step in that direction.

Torgo said:

I do think it's possible to sell a trilogy; it kind of has to be, because I've seen stuff published over the last decade or so in the fantasy genre that just wouldn't make sense as a standalone. But maybe you build up a rep with standalones first before you can sell a trilogy?

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Not necessarily, but if you don't, the work really has to be outstanding.

BrandonKOrner said:

That makes sense. I know a lot about self publishing, because there are a few authors locally who I personally know, and they've told me all about it. They self publish.
I was considering it, but I do want to look into traditional publishing.

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It's certainly worth taking a realistic look at all of your options. Given that you're about to embark on a university career, you may find the work and expense involved in self-publishing pretty substantial.

From what I do know, an agent is required to get a publisher.

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It varies. To get published by a major publisher, yes, pretty much. And even with a smaller press, an agent can identify good submission prospects, help persuade editors to take your work on, and negotiate better contracts than you can on your own. And yet there are people who get an offer from a publisher, and then find an agent to help with the negotiations, and some who get an offer and accept it without an agent. (Most of the authors I know who have agents say they've been glad of them at contract negotiation time, mind.)

I've also heard a bit about vanity presses, but would rather not have to pay an upfront fee of a few thousand.

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Vanity presses are generally a bad idea. As a rule of thumb, money should flow toward the author. (We call that Yog's Law, because Yog is the nickname of the guy who coined it).

The problem with vanity presses is that they're prone to making their money from authors rather than from selling books to readers. Often they do this by charging high fees to produce substandard books which are priced too high for readers to be interested in. Other times, they'll charge little money, but sell the books mostly to the authors, their friends, and their families rather than to the wider reading public.

If you're considering any press, agency, or service, you should certainly look at the Bewares, Recommendations, and Background Check area of Absolute Write. Even just reading the threads there will give you some idea of what to look out for in businesses that you want to deal with, and what to watch for in ones you will want to avoid.

How much control does a traditional publisher have, exactly?
I know they take care of promotion, distribution, editing, and cover art.

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It varies enormously, depending on the press.


Remember that if you do choose to self-publish, you will still need to make sure the book is written, rewritten, beta-read, polished, and generally as perfect as you can get it. A badly-written or poorly-proofread book will put a reader off as easily as it will an agent or editor.

This all sounds very doom-and-gloom, mostly because everyone in this thread wants you to have a realistic view of the things you'll have to do once the book is finished. In point of fact, all of these things are things you can do, requiring skills you're capable of acquiring. And we're all wishing you the best of luck with it.

In high school, I was always the top of my class in English and wrote essays and speeches with ease. My teachers always encouraged my dream of becoming a famous author and I am willing to do whatever it takes to get there. I am starting college this fall, and my major will be in either English or Journalism.

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I also had some great teachers in high school who fostered my love of writing. I'm very grateful to them. I did very well in writing, though I was lucky as well that my teachers always pushed me to do more in high school, too.

Then I started in English and journalism (double major) and got a C- on both my first assignments. At first I disagreed with some of the comments, but very slowly, I learned how to write proper literary analyses and proper news articles. Neither is that much like fiction, but the tools you learn will be helpful to no end, and so I'm very grateful to those profs as well for showing me all the weaknesses I had.

Also, in journalism (as in many kinds of writing), you get almost no control. In most cases, you write the article, editor changes it to his or her liking, slaps a badly-written headline on at the last minute, and then it gets laid out in the wrong section with a photo from last week's issue because someone fouled up the priority lists. In fiction there is some give-and-take, but it's still a collaboration between author, editor, marketer, designer, artist, manager, executive, intern, and distro to get a story told. Everyone has to figure out how to do that. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Sometimes the project bombs and then everybody has lots of entertaining meetings before getting back to it and trying to figure out how to do better next time.

English degrees are more useful than a lot of people think. First, they're an opportunity to read a lot of books you might not otherwise read from a variety of time periods. This will help any author. It will also teach you historical trends in literature and critical thinking, both of which are essential if you want to have anything to say about the world, which usually helps in fiction. You will learn tropes and their purposes, as well as how to evaluate them. You will learn how to present, pitch, teach, and read for technique not enjoyment--another essential skill. Not a bad path to have chosen at all, I think, though given I'm still in grad school and don't have a quarter of the experience some of the posters on this board have, how can I know for sure?

Best of luck.

whiporee said:

Hi Brandon --

No one has mentioned this, but I'll throw it out in regards to school.

Don't major in journalism. It's still defining itself in the new age, and a J-School degree isn't very helpful anymore. I say this as a former reporter.

I wouldn't major in English, either. It's a nice degree while you're getting it, but the actual use of it is rather limited. You'd be better served finding the secondary interest you have and minoring in English. The ability of a program to teach you how to write is very limited, and unless you're at a top-flight CW school, it won't matter. Plus, the more you diversify your knowledge base, the better writer you'll be.

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As someone with a BA in English and an MFA, I think this is good advice (though I will say that all of my BA English pals and my MFA crew have pretty decent jobs now).

Also, for anyone considering an MFA, I'd say that about 1/3 of my fellow classmates in the program actually had a BA in English. There really was a mix of majors. A comm studies major, a sociology major, even a guy who had focused mostly on pre-law in his degree.

If I could do it again, I would have probably majored in something that made me more marketable in terms of career (knowing that I could still get into an MFA program).

Why?

Because becoming a writer is a marathon, not a sprint. If you think you're going to crank out a book and BANG, be able to live off those funds solely "in no time," then it's just about the same as me walking up to Steven Spielberg and saying, "Hey, I'm going to win an Oscar next year."

Maybe you're the one in a billion that can pull it off. Are those odds you want to take?

99.9999999999999% of writers work their butts off. It is their life. It is toiling and scraping. And some of it isn't even the writing itself--it's the business of writing.

I know a guy who's sold 50 novel-length books. And he still has to piece together workshops and writing conferences and events to keep incoming steady.

Most writers will be working while they write. A full-time job. Not in the writing field.

If I were to offer any advice, it would be: Slow down. Take a deep breath and consider that so many writers are their own worst enemy. I can't tell you the number of times I've seen this:

1. Finish book. YAY!
2. Half-ass edit it.
3. Write a query letter in 25 minutes (using some form template they get online). Proofread it once.
4. Send it out to 80 agents.
5. Get 80 rejections.
6. Give up because, "They just don't get my brilliance" and you've burned all your bridges.

Consider this publication path instead:

1. Finish book. YAY!
2. Edit the holy living hell out of it.
3. Sit on it for a month (or two or three).
4. Edit it again.
5. Revise it some more
6. Get some beta readers
7. Revise again

Somewhere between step 1 and 7, get your query letter perfect. I mean, you research queries. You read other peoples' queries who have sold. You take a workshop or two on queries. You submit your query to "Query Letter Hell" here on AW. Get feedback. Revise. Get feedback. Revise.

Then, after #7 is complete, revisit your query letter. Get it perfect. Like, every single letter in place.

Somewhere between step 1 and 7, you're also researching agents, right? Follow them on Twitter, read their blogs, read their websites. Make sure they represent your genre. Make sure they're not "Sick of X_thing you might have in your story." (Trends change.)

Is your manuscript done?
Completely done?
As in, you could summon Edgar Allen Poe from the dead just to hand him your story and feel 100% proud and awesome that you've done your absolute best? Ever?

Is your query letter done?
Like, so good you almost pee yourself? That good?

Pick 10 agents on your list.
Send 10 queries.

Wait.

If you get no hits, your query letter sucks. Do it again.

And send out 10 more.

And if no hits.

Do again, and sent out 10 more.

And how much time do you think has passed since you started step 1? (Just the finishing of the book)

Do you know how many people go route #1 and give up? Because they are SO FREAKIN EXCITED OMG I NEED TO SHOW THIS TO THE WORLD RIGHT NOooooOOOwwwWWW!!111!!!

Lots. And Lots. And Lots.

So, yeah. Consider all of that.

And also? Make sure you research your agents. I know an agent who rejects about 60% of queries because people send in genres that she does NOT represent (like horror, for instance). Easy way into the recycle bin.

CrastersBabies said:

As someone with a BA in
Most writers will be working while they write. A full-time job. Not in the writing field.

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A disproportionate number of the writers I know work as technical writers for a day job. Me included. It's a way to keep your detailed chops sharp during the day while working on the creative stuff at night.

Hip-Hop-a-potamus said:

A disproportionate number of the writers I know work as technical writers for a day job. Me included. It's a way to keep your detailed chops sharp during the day while working on the creative stuff at night.

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You're right. I do know some folks who do technical writing of some kind, but a good number of them absolutely hate it and struggle to switch between the two "mindframes."

That, and so many technical writing jobs are being outsourced to crap-paying bid sites where you compete against 50 others to get that job that pays 1-cent a word. I see fewer and fewer jobs available in this market. When I hear of someone who is in that business, it seems they've been in it a while, or, managed to find that magical portal in. (This could also be my area as well.)

CrastersBabies said:

You're right. I do know some folks who do technical writing of some kind, but a good number of them absolutely hate it and struggle to switch between the two "mindframes."

That, and so many technical writing jobs are being outsourced to crap-paying bid sites where you compete against 50 others to get that job that pays 1-cent a word. I see fewer and fewer jobs available in this market. When I hear of someone who is in that business, it seems they've been in it a while, or, managed to find that magical portal in. (This could also be my area as well.)

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That's definitely true. I got in around 1998, and I'm hanging on by my fingernails at a full-time permanent job that I expect won't be around much longer.

That said, as much as I wish I could write creatively full-time, I need the structure. I need the "writing before work/writing at lunch" moments to keep me sane. And I've generally been more productive while working full-time than I have during my jobless periods (except for the first 8 months I was in Canada, when I couldn't work and got motivated to finish something for the first time).

BrandonKOrner said:

That makes sense. Self publishing is like a last resort.

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Weeeeeell, I wouldn't say last resort in a general sense because some authors decide to self publish and not try to go the trade publishing route first. They (hopefully and in many cases usually) have done their homework in what's involved to make a go of it.

If you mean as a last resort for yourself, then...well, the advice I guess still holds. Make sure you understand what's involved in the undertaking before you follow that avenue of publishing.

Good luck to you!

To call self-publishing a "last resort" is a little eyebrow-raising, imho. But it's a hard stigma to break.

If people dropped the notion that publishing happens overnight, they might find more success in traditional publishing. (See previous post of mine about rushing through and burning all your bridges.)

That said, many people choose self-publishing from the get-go because they want that control. They want a better share of the profits. They feel like they can handle the marketing aspect of it, the business end, etc.

I think the stigma of self-published writers using that means as a last resort will continue to deteriorate as more quality works make their way to Kindle and other self-publishing sites.

CrastersBabies said:

6. Give up because, "They just don't get my brilliance" and you've burned all your bridges.

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Really? Are all bridges burned after that? Can't do a re-write and try again in year or something?

Hip-Hop-a-potamus said:

A disproportionate number of the writers I know work as technical writers for a day job. Me included. It's a way to keep your detailed chops sharp during the day while working on the creative stuff at night.

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My day job is editing technical manuals. I get paid to stomp out creativity and force writers to Write House Style.

I go home and tell myself that by ruthlessly thwarting their creativity at work, I am encouraging them to go home and drink inordinate amounts of tequila let their creative muses run free at night.

phantasy said:

Really? Are all bridges burned after that? Can't do a re-write and try again in year or something?

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If they have the mentality that the world "doesn't get their brilliance" (instead of learning how to take critique, revise, and remaster), then you can place a million bridges in front of them and it really won't matter, will it?