How to approach a publishing agent

[GaryKelly]

Subject line: Green Room

 

Publishers give me the horrors so I published my work on the internet for free. I'm constantly getting feedback about how awesome the book is from professors to regular folk. Today's response was from a bloke who read the whole 400+ pages in one sitting..."I couldn't stop reading". I'm always getting comments such as "one of the best books I've ever read". What's the matter with you guys? www.kellytrader.com

Gary Kelly

[Lugh]

Gary,

 

There are a lot of things involved with selling a book to an agent / editor. Have you done your home work? I think the key issue here is to find the right publishing house/ agent. Who publishes stories like yours? How often do they publish a book like yours? Do they solicit novels from the public or do you need an agent? When is their 'open season'? Which agent represent stories like yours? How many books have they had published? What are their submission guidelines?

 

Once you can answer those questions then you have to be prepared to pitch your novel to the person you chose this usually involves a short (no more than 2 page) letter with the 'hook' (usually not more than a couple paragraphs). (The synopsis you include in the story IS NOT A HOOK... in fact I wouldn't read the story based on the synopsis alone... if you want to know why ask privately.) Conversely, it may involve a cover letter and the first 3 chapters, or it may involve a cover letter and the entire novel.

 

Obviously the key is the cover letter, because if they never read that then they WILL NOT read your story, period the end.

 

Finally, most publishers generally will not touch any story that has been (1) self-published, (2) electronically published in its final form, (3) previously sold in any manner, shape, or form. Therefore by self publishing on lulu and giving away full copies on your website to the general public you are telling the editors / publishing houses that you are not interested in financial reward for your hard work.

 

I'm sorry to inform you that they do not have a problem... you do... by not doing your homework first if your intention was to eventually sell "The Green Room".

 

Lugh

[Graeme]

In Gary's defense, breaking into the publishing market here in Australia is more difficult than in the USA or Europe. We don't have a lot of publishing houses and the smaller independent ones that are likely to pick up new authors obviously get more submissions than they can handle. Selling a story to a publishing house that is based overseas is possible, but you can appreciate the difficulties that this can present.

 

Lugh's points about prior publication are valid. I believe most stories that were published online and then in print have had substantial re-workings before the print edition was released. Keith Morrissette's Valley stories are a good example. The print edition is not the same as the (now withdrawn) internet-posted versions. As for the problem with Nifty and it's perpetual license, I believe some authors don't post the last chapter of stories they are hoping to publish at Nifty. They'll post them elsewhere, at sites where they can be withdrawn if the story is published (withdrawal of early versions, except maybe for a teaser for the print edition, is usually a requirement if a publishing house picks up the story).

 

Good luck to anyone who tries to get their stories published! From what I've heard it isn't easy, and it isn't likely to make you rich....

[GaryKelly]

Thanks Graeme and Lugh for your thoughts. I think Lugh has reiterated all the reasons I've given up on publishers/agents. As they say in the vernacular, IT'S TOO BLOODY HARD! Besides, gimme a rule and I'll break it. I know this sounds arrogant, but I'll try the back door trick. If a publisher is interested, he can come and get me. Meantime, I'll keep pumping and grinding out the pages.

 

The primary reason I self-published Green Room is because I felt a duty to my best friend to provide the only kind of immortality I know how. He was killed by a lunatic driver at age 19. A few days beforehand he'd been accepted into university to study marine biology. And so in this way, he lives on to tell his story and to influence people as he did in life. He ain't dead, mate, and he has a current role in Horace Fink using his real name, Cody.

 

A publishing agent contacted me by phone last year, just 15 minutes after I emailed him. He was thrilled to bits. "...and I hope I made your day too," he said. He ran with the ball for a while, super confident, but eventually dropped it and faded away. Disappointed? Cynical? Me? Just a teensy iddy biddy bit.

 

However, the show must go on! And I reckon any audience is better than none. :2hands:

[Razor]

Nifty will take down your story if it is published... for a nominal percentage, of course.

 

The key is in the agent, y'know, finding a good one. Like all professions, some suck majorly. Eventually I'll be heading toward an agent going "Look it look it look it look it!!!!!", but that's a while off.

 

There are a few sites on the intarweb if you take the time to look around that give some really great tips on finding a decent agent and avoiding scammers and incompetent agents. There's even some with agent listings, but I'd be very, very careful with those.

 

So yeah... AGENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

By the way, a majority of reputable publishing houses refuse to accept submissions of manuscripts not submitted by an agent.

[GaryKelly]

....and, lemme tellya something...the whole damn world deserves to have a friend like Kyle (Cody). Needless to say, I was devastated by the news of his death and wouldn't have survived the heartbreak if it weren't for the keyboard. Onya, Codeman!

[JamesSavik]

How to approach a publishing agent?

 

 

From upwind with a brick is best from what I hear...

[GaryKelly]

How to approach a publishing agent?

 

 

From upwind with a brick is best from what I hear...

 

I like a man with a sharp sense of humor!

[Camy]

I like a man with a sharp sense of humor!

But surely approaching from 'upwind with a brick' would make his humour blunt?

 

Might I humbly recommend this blog - recently ended, but very well worth reading through.

 

http://misssnark.blogspot.com/