I have a lovely agent, she couldn’t be nicer, she’s stuck by me for more than one book and tried hard to get a contract for me. I know rejections are disappointing for her like they are for me. But even good agents are finding it difficult to place books.
Some writers are of course successful and plenty of books make it. If you’re keen to get an agent and want to know more about how, then I suggest you read the advice here at Mslexia – it’s direct from the horse’s mouth and you can’t get better than that. But don’t make the mistake of thinking agent = publication.
Literary Agent Bill Hamilton, points to some of the current difficulties when he says of publishers – They’re wary of taking on a new author unless there’s some obvious commercial hook; and are dumping some existing authors who haven’t been selling well enough. Some established authors with considerable literary reputations are finding it very difficult to get published. So we simply can’t afford to take on someone new unless we’re very confident we can sell them. Mslexia
Getting an agent is a great step forward but be aware it may mean lots of revisions to your manuscript then months of waiting to hear anything, months in which you are glued to your e mail waiting for that elusive message which doesn’t come, or when you contact your agent for an update, results in bad news. Be prepared, as this is what can happen, be prepared even for good news coming through that gets you very, very excited and then turns bad.
Some people cope with all this better than others – I’ve decided I’m not one of them. So what to do if you can’t or don’t want to find an agent? Or have decided for the time being like me to go it alone?
My simple, cost –free, answer is publish with Amazon on Kindle Direct – it will mean some more hard work especially in the editing and copy editing stakes but who minds hard work when there is a certain outcome in sight.
I am currently working towards this, now only weeks away, and making this decision (fully supported by my agent) has been one of the most empowering experiences of my writing life. I’m really excited and enthusiastic about the whole thing and can’t wait to get my title out there and I’m learning lots along the way which I will share with you here.
Next post: Why Kindle?
Very helpful post Avril. Persistence and self belief are so necessary and a good agent can support you in this even in these pressured times. The worst thing is the feeling of helplessness but, as my mother used to say, the Lord helps those who help themselves so Kindling could be a good direction. wx
As you say Wendy feeling helpless is the worst thing so I’m very excited about the new direction and I think it could be exciting for lots of other writers like me too.
And great for established writers like yourself for the backlist or previously unpublished work
I’m with you all the way Avril – beautifully put! Like you I feel mauled by the process and depressed by fact that, even if you’re accepted, it can take a year to 18 months for a book to see the light of day. Knowing you can do it yourself is such a liberation!
Thanks Kathleen – I think one of the great things about this venture is the amount of support that I’ve had from everyone- especially readers and writers but really everybody! What’s fantastic is that the snobbery that in the past has surrounded self publishing seems to have disappeared.
Ax
Avril,
I’m happy to see you posting again and I love the new look of avriljoy.com. I have copied the url to add to my blogroll in addition to On the White Page, which has been quiet lately. I have missed you…
Another coincidence in our activity: I am preparing a poetry manuscript for submission to a contest for authors over age 60. I have no hopes of winning the contest but I had intended to self publish my poems once I had a body of work, and see it as motivation to put the manuscript together. It’s work but fun!
I wish you success in your new venture and look forward to reading another of your books.
Anne, thank you – its good to be back. As I said on my first post I just had to do some thinking and get my writing life in balance. I love the idea of you putting a poetry collection together – good luck with the competition – but how wonderful to have another motivation too. I think like all creative people we should be able to offer our work to the world – artists and craftspeople do it all the time – so why not writers? E publishing has brought us a great revolution in that respect and I look forward to reading your collection on my Kindle!
As you know from our telephone conversation, I’m still at the helpless stage!! An agent but no success in placing my book.
But we writers must stay positive. You are – by publishing yourself, and I am by working hard on my second novel. A writer writes for the love of it, no matter if they are published or not. That would be the icing on the cake!
Good luck and happy publishing! Ange xx
Thanks Ange – you are so right when you say that we write for the love of it and that is what we have to always keep in our minds. Congratulations to you though on your recent short stort success – you deserve it!
A x