Concerned: Tate Publishing good to put or ditch in query?

KittenEV

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Hi,

I'm new to this site and publishing in general. That being said, I feel like I may have made a really bad decision last year.

I did get a book published with Tate Publishing (and yes you're probably all screaming at me for it but I really wanted to get my work out there and Tate was the only one that said yes.)

My question is, I've written a new book and I've been trying like crazy to submit to agents but everyone has said no, so is having Tate Publishing on my history, since its a vanity press, a red flag for them or is it okay to put?

Or is having a history better than none?
 

Unimportant

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Hi,

I'm new to this site and publishing in general. That being said, I feel like I may have made a really bad decision last year.

I did get a book published with Tate Publishing (and yes you're probably all screaming at me for it but I really wanted to get my work out there and Tate was the only one that said yes.)

My question is, I've written a new book and I've been trying like crazy to submit to agents but everyone has said no, so is having Tate Publishing on my history, since its a vanity press, a red flag for them or is it okay to put?

Or is having a history better than none?
Since Tate is not a 'real' publishing credit, it's much better to not include it.

A formal query letter with no publications mentioned tells the agent that you don't yet have a pub history, but you conduct yourself like a professional. That's fine. Including a vanity press publication is meaningless at best.
 

Sage

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Cheering you all on!
Having a history with a vanity press is exactly like having no publishing history. An agent doesn't consider it a publishing credit when you paid to publish the book. What a real publishing credit tells them is that a legitimate publisher considered something of yours worth publishing. That doesn't mean that this new book is necessarily going to be right for that agent, but it might make them take a second look at the query and writing or make an intern pass your query up to the agent. But a vanity press won't be viewed that way.

You're new (welcome, btw), so it's too early to post to Query Letter Hell, but stop on in there for some good information about what works and doesn't work in a query. Read critiques, and do(!) critiques to help you see what may not be working in your query letter. You don't need a publishing history to get an agent, I promise.
 
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Siri Kirpal

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

Echoing the others. Don't include it. Having it in the query will do you more harm than good.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal
 

Maryn

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(We're not screaming at you about Tate, BTW. People make mistakes and we're pretty sure you're human. Now you know better, so pass it on if the opportunity arises. Welcome to you!)
 

KittenEV

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So if I'm getting rid of the Tate Publishing in my query for my history. What do I put to replace it?


I've never been published by a traditional publisher before and I don't have any school accomplishments or job experience that would pertain to my story aka a doctor writing a medical mystery novel.

Do I just leave it completely blank and skip the history portion of the query all together?
 

gingerwoman

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You could always see if you could get a short story published with a paying website or magazine first if you want, but if you have nothing just skip any kind of bio and lead with your query.
 

KittenEV

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You're new (welcome, btw), so it's too early to post to Query Letter Hell, but stop on in there for some good information about what works and doesn't work in a query. Read critiques, and do(!) critiques to help you see what may not be working in your query letter. You don't need a publishing history to get an agent, I promise.


What's Query Letter Hell and when will I be able to post to it?
 

cornflake

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What's Query Letter Hell and when will I be able to post to it?

It's a section in SYW (Share Your Work), where people post queries they're working on and get feedback and help before sending them out.

You can only post your own work for feedback in SYW (there are sections for all genres, as well as for queries) once you've amassed 50 posts, however, you're welcome, and encouraged, to post critiques of work others have posted in SYW.

The password is: vista

The SYW section is password-protected so work is safe from spiders and bots and only visible to members of the community.