I’m sensing a theme
Agents Kristin Nelson and Jessica Faust both referenced a New York Observer article on publishing in their current blog posts.
To make a long story short, it states that publishing is going cold and it will be even harder than ever for books to be published.
Really? I mean, truly? Is this supposed to be news? I do understand why the article was published and why someone working in the publishing industry would reference it. It’s good information and the more info the better.
But…
I think this just means we need to up our game. And I don’t just mean that determined, good writers have to write even better and be even more patient. I think it means that agents who obviously believe in the books they’re trying to sell may also have to change-it-up a bit, pull out the stops, and find new and different ways to do their job. Yes, just like they ask writers to do.
I’m not saying they don’t already — just like many writers do everything they can do. But if you’re not on-board as a team, it’s all going to be even harder than it was before. Just remember, this is cyclical. There will be an upswing and I’d hate to think what bookshelves would look like if only the bottom of the barrel got into agents’ and editors’ slush piles because good writers were scared off.
I have two friends with books on submission to publishers. Tap fingers. Whistle. Tap fingers again. Glance at watch. It’s a long and winding road, as they say. It’s a waiting game. And I will admit that sometimes I wonder (based on what I know) if their agents are doing all they can, or if they’re deterred by the economy. If they’re put off by the rejections as much as the writers are. I do also wonder if the writers have done everything they could have done – while working with their agent – to make their book saleable. Only time will tell. More and more and more time.
I have another friend who has agents who want her manuscript, yet she sits on it because she thinks it’s unlikely she will be published. Hellooooo? Agents want to read your book!
I don’t fancy myself a patsy but people are published EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
Why not her? Why not you?
Tell me your the state of your union with the publishing world as it stands today.
Hmm . . . I’ve been at this 20 years. I’ve heard the death knell before. E-books were going to be the end of everything. Self-pubbing was going to impact us. Houses gobbling up smaller houses. Now, yes, it’s the most uncertain financial time in our lifetimes.
BUT . . . we still have to push hard, work hard and bring the A-game. What’s the alternative?
That said, I will share this . . . I started out as a comedy writer. It’s what I do. It’s what I think I do really well. When I submitted Spanish Disco, I called it a “comic novel.” LATER it was christened “chick lit.” I went with it. The market was hot. But all along, I have still told people, “I write comedy.” When chick lit’s death knell tolled . . . I was grateful that I had diversified. That I wrote YA and middle grade, and could write darker books and paranormals. I didn’t do it to diversify. It wasn’t a marketing thing, but more that I love writing and like challenging myself and some things (like middle grade) I had ALWAYS wanted to do. But I definitely knew I couldn’t sit and wait five years for chick lit to bloom again. I had to be smart and savvy and give my agent stuff to work with. I had to keep writing.
Again. What choice do I have? Write. Bring your A-game.
E
Well, I just read that Tina Fey got a $6 million advance for a book of humorous essays. I know, she’s a celebrity, we’re not. But clearly, the publishing industry can’t stay in business unless it publishes books, and keeps the door open to new voices and new trends.
I don’t remember a time when it was easy to publish, do any of you?
I saw Kristin’s post too. It all depends on what spin you want to put on things. Like I commented on K’s blog, in tough times, people want the most for their money. $20-$25 buys many hours of entertainment in a book, without getting in the car, fueling the gas tank, buying food, etc. So books seem like a great value to me. As for the writer, as always, you have to submit only your best, and as you say, change-it-up, work together with agents, etc.
Writers–keep writing, keep trying, and believe in what you do. Also, check out this link:
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/14-best-selling-books-repeatedly-rejected-by-publishers.htm/printable
Grand discussion, as always! I read that same post, but it didn’t put me off. Just more jumping on the doom-and-gloom band wagon like so many other industries b/c of these tough economic times.
Nearly every publisher out there has a policy of not accepting unsolicited manuscripts. Most of them won’t deal with someone without an agent. Agents are the middle men of publishing who filter material for large publishers. I don’t like it. I’ve never liked it. It smacks of corporate control of an art form as if it’s a product like laundry soap. Publishers are going to have to change. The internet and the advent of self publishing will make them change. It’s no longer that horror, the vanity press. The stink has been off that cow for a long time now and more and more authors are taking this route of total control and giving the large publishing houses a black eye.
It’s always been amazing to me that a small press, with significantly less staff and resources will accept unsolicited material, while monster like Random House won’t. Somethings more than a bit wrong with that.
Well, as you know Bob, I’m all persnickity and have to do things the hard way, so this isn’t totally on my radar (though oddly I also blogged about this article haha). BUT…I do recognize that this stuff will impact my sales, so it means my “reasonable goals” have been scaled down a little and while I’d LOVE to turn a profit, my first year’s goal is really going to be to sell enough copies to break even.
Val:
I don’t mean to be rude, but WHAT black eye? I mean . . . a lot of self-pubbed stuff, in fact the majority of it, is dreck. I know there have been a couple of major successes (M.J. Rose comes to mind) who THEN entered mainstream publishing . . . but what black eye are you talking about?
Having read through slush piles, I can tell you that mountains of it stink. Agents are the middlemen . . . they can wade through and HOPEFULLY find the better quality–still can’t guarantee a sale of any of the rest of it. But I really just have to wonder, in all sincerity, where you are coming from?
E
Hi Erica,
you aren’t being rude at all! I completely respect your point of view. I agree that a great deal of self published is garbage. Unfortunately, respected publishing houses are also churning out a significant amount of trash. My intention was to address the concern of many emerging talented writers, that there is a monopoly in the industry that is not healthy or fair. The black eye remark was meant to illustrate that larger publishers are feeling a bit of damage from some very talented people taking their art directly to the reader. It’s only my opinion and in the larger picture means nothing. At any rate Erica, I would like to tell you that a friend of mine passed away with breast cancer a year ago this February and before she died I gave her couple of your books to read. We never know where our words will go.
Hi Val:
I do think anyone can put out beautiful words (and wow . . . on the books for your friend). I can think of some self-published poets who are amazing. I love their stuff. I know a photographer and one children’s book illustrator who put out their own stuff–really great stuff. I guess my point was more . . . I DON’T think the publishers have a “black eye”–i.e., I don’t think they are being hit by this. Maybe someday they will. But it hasn’t advanced to that point yet, in my opinion. I.e., your point, to me, is well-taken, I just don’t see the publishing houses yet being hit by this reality. There’s too much talent in the pool they get to pick from, I suppose. Again, in my opinion.
E
Couldn’t agree with you more – LOVE your attitude!
Re — a self-publishing revolution? I think the real self-publishing revolution turned out to be blogging. I know just a few years ago the word on the street was — move over, traditional publishing, self-publishing, Print on Demand and e-books are taking over. But it didn’t happen. Partly because of the schlock-factor, discussed above. Agreed — much of the published stuff out there is also dreck. But it’s dreck edited to the conventions of the marketplace.
Public acceptance is another issue. When a third-party publisher gives imprateur to a writer’s work, the world listens — at least to an extent. A few years ago a friend of mine, an excellent writer who’d published often in literary magazines, frustrated that she couldn’t get her novel published despite working with agents and have many glowing rejections from publishers, finally self-published. I thought it was a wonderful book — it’s called Boob: A Story of Sex, Cancer & Stupidity, and an author interview with my friend Karen de Balbian Verster is on my eponymously named web site. The problem — I couldn’t get my interview published anywhere, not even in a little feminist magazine, because it was a self-published book. Most newspapers do not review them, nor libraries carry them. I couldn’t get my local second-hand and specialty bookstore to take a copy on consignment.
On the other hand, when another friend published a memoir — which was no better than the above novel (both are excellent reads) he got immediate press, and the first pitch I sent out got a clammering call for an author interview, which is already out. He has a story in USA Today coming out soon. So press coverage is one thing, distribution another. Book stores will order a self-published book if requested, Self-publishers must distribute themselves, do it all on their own.
And another thing — we all need editors, a professional hand, the benefits of working in an ensemble group. Every one in the process adds something to the mix.