Many of the most successful indie published authors didn't even consider submitting to
an agent or editor at a Big 5 publisher because the math doesn't add up.
Address your letter to a specific
agent or editor at a specific agency or publisher.
You snagged one of those valuable 15 minute appointments with
an agent or an editor at the writers conference.
Planning to pitch to
an agent or editor at the Wyoming Writers Conference in Dubois?
Not exact matches
I tell my clients to (temporarily) disregard the feedback in literary
agent rejection letters, because, if I'm working with the author in a long - term program to help them get literary
agents reading their work, I know their writing is
at a high enough level that they should give the manuscript a chance before making radical revisions and /
or hiring an
editor.
Depending on what your publisher has planned for your book (which an
editor often shares with you and your
agent 6 months to a year before your book launches), and depending on your budget, a freelance publicist (who usually works on fewer books
at any time than an in - house publicist) can supplement
or enhance what your in - house publicist will be doing.
Many Powerful Connections vs. Not So Much: One reason some
agents only (
or primarily) pitch projects to smaller publishers (see Big vs. Small Publishers above) is they don't have connections with acquisition
editors and executives
at the big publishers.
At this point, you will spend a few years, if you are lucky, trying to get an
agent or editor to actually read some of your work.
There are many excellent free - lance developmental
editors out there... some are former
agents and /
or editors at the Big Six.
I've often blogged about the importance of conferences, but usually I've talked about the fact that you meet
editors and
agents there, you learn how to behave like a professional, you get great training, and eventually you meet exactly the right
agent or editor and make exactly the right pitch
at the right time and you get the break you need and suddenly you get published.
Those of us without
agents or editors barking
at us to finish the next ouvre can really benefit from having to crank out a chapter every (insert your schedule here).
Many authors make contact with an
editor or agent at a writing conference.
For newbies you are right as every new author needs to write, write, write for
at least four years, time it takes to get a PhD in Letters before even submitting material to an
agent or editor, but once any writer KNOWS intuitively that his
or her novel is as good
or better than James Patterson (pretty easy to better this guy) and he
or she has had the novel vetted by a good independent
editor / ghost writer like myself, the ebooks are the way to go, period.
Agents are not writers, agents can't help you rewrite, and they only know about six or seven editors and nothing at all about the new world of indie publi
Agents are not writers,
agents can't help you rewrite, and they only know about six or seven editors and nothing at all about the new world of indie publi
agents can't help you rewrite, and they only know about six
or seven
editors and nothing
at all about the new world of indie publishing.
In today's publishing world, more and more people are using freelance professional book
editors, people unencumbered by the responsibilities of selling your book like
agents and publishing house
editors — whether to book chains, sales teams,
or (in the case of
agents)
editors at publishing houses.
And,
at the same time, you just might attract the attention of an
agent or an
editor who loves that you already have a built - in audience for your message.
It seemed that the industry's gatekeepers
agents and
editors and publishers didn't even look
at your work unless you had amazing pedigree
or a publication list a mile long.
If you don't know the name of an
editor or a specific agent at an agency, address your envelope or email if that's what they prefer) to the Submissions Editor, and art samples to the Art Dir
editor or a specific
agent at an agency, address your envelope
or email if that's what they prefer) to the Submissions
Editor, and art samples to the Art Dir
Editor, and art samples to the Art Director.
Member -
At - Large Membership JOIN NOW Established literary
agents and
editors; heirs, executors
or trustees of the estates of deceased authors;
or attorneys and accountants representing authors;
or publicists
or other publishing professionals.
And finally, there were stories from aspiring authors who were
at the beginning stages of their writing project and had yet to develop a relationship with either an
agent or an
editor.
Constant rewriting my work according to what I'd read on an
agent's blog
or heard an
editor say
at a conference.
Agents or editors that can't get a book past their in - house review committees may see an opportunity to provide services to a project they like
at the e-book level.
Generally this teaser is the first step to conveying your novel idea to an
editor or agent, whether in a query letter, proposal,
or during a pitch session
at a conference.
Then, when the time comes for you to query literary
agents or submit your writing to literary journals, you'll have a substantial author platform built for
agents and
editors to look
at and admire.
If you're relatively new
at writing fiction for publication, whether you plan to publish your novel yourself
or query
agents, it's a good idea (essential, really) to get your manuscript edited by a respected freelance fiction
editor, preferably one who reads and edits your genre.
For each amazingly handled book that went through that process, there were probably 100 books of the same calibre that didn't make it past the initial stages of securing an
agent or getting their work looked
at by acquiring
editors.
However,
agents and
editors who seek authors with a platform do sometimes say quite pointedly, and even arbitrarily, «Well, we need to see
at least 10,000 Facebook likes and 100,000 blog visits every month,
or it's not worth us considering.»
When you sit down with an
editor or agent (
or ask to pitch them elsewhere
at the conference), the opening salvo is a single sentence (
or single breath) but after that — if the listener is interested in your work — there's going to be a conversation.
From misguided
agents to cruel
or absent
editors to the callous slashing of midlist authors and backlist titles, the longer a writer is in the publishing world, the more chance of encountering
at least one of these major (and sometimes career - freezing) hurdles.
Or worst of all, maybe the author drunkenly groped the
agent /
editor at a conference.
The ones with handwritten notes
or encouragement to resubmit from
editors and
agents, and I had 7 full requests out
at the time.
The key is sending the right
editor or the right
agent the right book idea
at the right time.
When I started writing A Promise of Fire over five years ago now, there was a good chance this manuscript would end up like my other works of fiction: perhaps unfinished, never seen by anyone but me, definitely never presented to
agents or editors and using up space on my hard drive in a folder with a misleading enough name that hopefully no one would ever open it and stumble upon my first (and sometimes hilarious) attempts
at writing a novel.
Because their script was plucked off Amazon by the professional readers for publishers /
agents, into the new slush pile and passed onto the senior
or junior
editor at an agency
or publishing house.
If you have a self - published work you want to pitch
or get critiqued but aren't sure whether the
agent (s) /
editor (s) you have in mind would be receptive, contact Atlanta Writers Conference Director George Weinstein
at [email protected] and he will ask for you.
Admittedly, fewer people are being published
at the moment in the same way as fewer houses
or automobiles are being sold but that doesn't mean that the days of
agents and publishers»
editors are numbered.
And if — as many amateur
or fraudulent
agents do — the
agent uses obviously unprofessional methods (submitting substandard
or inappropriate material, «blitz» submitting to a dozen
or more
editors at once, using form letters, using the client's own query letter, including a «marketing» plan with a novel submission, «bundling» several queries in a single submission... the list goes on) the
editor will immediately tag them as questionable and toss their submission aside.
At some conferences, you can even schedule time with an
agent or an
editor and get feedback on a few pages of your manuscript!
My first book is called «Dead and Buryd», and when I was writing it and had it
at the finished stage (by that I mean I was finished with it — I couldn't go any further without the input of an
editor or agent), I started looking around
at my options.
At Edit Resource, we can take feedback from a developmental
editor,
agent,
or in - house
editor and turn a book around so it meets a publisher's needs.
For the uninitiated, a pitch is an author's brief, face - to - face verbal presentation to an
agent or an
editor like me, (usually
at a writers conference) of what's wonderful, original, and saleable about your book and why you're the best person to write it.
It is much, much harder to get an
editor to look
at your book proposal
or manuscript if you don't have a book
agent.
For those writers seeking a traditional book deal, however, pitches may still be directed
at an
agent or acquisitions
editor, either in writing
or at face - to - face writers conferences with blind - date
or ask - the - pro sessions.
You will have difficulty in getting an
editor to look
at your manuscript
or book proposal if you don't have a literary
agent.
When an
agent,
editor or other user comes to your website for the first time, you have about 10 seconds of their time before they decide to look
at one of your links
or simply move on.
Once the final meeting is over, I recommend author's try to look
at their query letter and synopsis from the point of view of an
editor or agent who doesn't know anything about the piece.
«Look
at it from the viewpoint of a publishing consultant,» Ioannou says, «
or freelance
editor or designer
or agent who has an author with a great project.
According to Margaret Fortune, in an article
at Writer's Digest, the «synopsis [summary] is about one thing: Convincing an
agent [
or editor] to read your book.»
Midnight Publishing is an editing company based out of Phoenix, Arizona, and we've worked with writing clients around the country and internationally to assist in all manners of the writing and publication journey, from organizing your book's outline
at the very beginning to a final proofread before self - publishing
or querying
agents, Midnight Publishing's
editors and ghostwriters are here to help you in any way we can.
If you want your book to be published by a traditional publishing house, it is much, much harder to get an
editor to look
at your book proposal
or manuscript if you don't have an
agent.