I write fanatasy humour because, as we all know, this is a licence to print money, particularly for Australian authors. Given the limited market for this genre, should I consider chasing local and international agents at the same time?
You should always query as many agents as you want to. Check out agents' submission guidelines to see whether they have a policy about simultaneous submissions, but generally speaking you should query your little heart out. It's a numbers game - the more people you submit to, the more responses you will get, and the faster you'll work out whether your novel is any good or not. Agents in the UK and US would not be surprised to receive a submission from an Australian. Good luck!
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
PhDs and publishing
Is it advisable to admit in cover letters to publishers/agents that one is completing postgraduate studies in writing (in my case, a PhD in Philosophy, writing a novel and exegesis)? Does this suggest a degree of dedication to the craft, or scream 'run for the hills'? Published and highly successful Australian writers have said (at least, privately) that a PhD is strongly advisable to ensure continuity of income from teaching — to supplement the money coming in from publishing. Yet I’ve heard from the publishing industry in the past that academia tends to produce uncommercial/unsellable writing. With more and more post-grad writing pupils winning big literary prizes, is this still the general feeling?
I can't imagine why anyone would think that postgraduate study is a bad thing - whether we like your novel or not is, of course, a different matter. But it would be a pretty bad state of affairs if you were to spend all that time working on your PhD and then feel you have to hide it! There are two separate issues here, though: the PhD and what is produced from it. The PhD will teach you patience and discipline to write a novel (as it takes years), and you shouldn't leave it off your CV. If, however, what you produce from it is uncommercial and unsellable, that's not the fault of your higher education. Certainly, PhDs don't usually produce cracker crime novels, but why shouldn't they? I don't know enough about PhDs in writing, but surely the idea of one (or part of the idea of one) is to produce writing that people - even just your supervisor - want to read.
As research is involved in completing the PhD, perhaps some of that research should look at bookbuyers. Lots of readers shy away from literary fiction because it's not telling them a story they want to read or they feel it's too much hard work. Lots of them flock towards 'commercial' fiction because it's entertaining, and they don't mind being made to think about serious stuff so long as it's easy to read. And creating writing that 'easy to read' is actually extremely difficult - just like writing a catchy pop song is harder than it looks. A PhD that produces a novel that can be entertaining while simultaneously addressing the issues the writer wants to address would take some skill but probably be a great read. Jodi Picoult does this sort of thing on an annual basis.
I can't imagine why anyone would think that postgraduate study is a bad thing - whether we like your novel or not is, of course, a different matter. But it would be a pretty bad state of affairs if you were to spend all that time working on your PhD and then feel you have to hide it! There are two separate issues here, though: the PhD and what is produced from it. The PhD will teach you patience and discipline to write a novel (as it takes years), and you shouldn't leave it off your CV. If, however, what you produce from it is uncommercial and unsellable, that's not the fault of your higher education. Certainly, PhDs don't usually produce cracker crime novels, but why shouldn't they? I don't know enough about PhDs in writing, but surely the idea of one (or part of the idea of one) is to produce writing that people - even just your supervisor - want to read.
As research is involved in completing the PhD, perhaps some of that research should look at bookbuyers. Lots of readers shy away from literary fiction because it's not telling them a story they want to read or they feel it's too much hard work. Lots of them flock towards 'commercial' fiction because it's entertaining, and they don't mind being made to think about serious stuff so long as it's easy to read. And creating writing that 'easy to read' is actually extremely difficult - just like writing a catchy pop song is harder than it looks. A PhD that produces a novel that can be entertaining while simultaneously addressing the issues the writer wants to address would take some skill but probably be a great read. Jodi Picoult does this sort of thing on an annual basis.
The non-fiction-to-fiction trajectory
How much easier is it to get agented for a work of fiction once you have a couple of published non-fiction titles to your name?
I won't lie - it certainly helps. Because it shows that you can write enough words to finish a book; because you've been through the publishing process before and will be more understanding of it; because you can, in all probability, write; because you'll already have a readership. However, some agents believe you should just pick one form of writing - either fiction or non-fiction or children's - and stick to it, so not every agent may agree with me on this one. But I'd certainly always read a submission, at least, from this sort of author and I'd usually make it a priority.
I won't lie - it certainly helps. Because it shows that you can write enough words to finish a book; because you've been through the publishing process before and will be more understanding of it; because you can, in all probability, write; because you'll already have a readership. However, some agents believe you should just pick one form of writing - either fiction or non-fiction or children's - and stick to it, so not every agent may agree with me on this one. But I'd certainly always read a submission, at least, from this sort of author and I'd usually make it a priority.
Non-fiction writers - no sales experience necessary
Is there a particular number of expected sales that an agent would have in mind before agenting a non-fiction writer?
Non-fiction writers don't need any sales at all to get an agent - in fact, they don't even need a manuscript. The hunger for good non-fiction is so great amongst publishers and, thus, agents that all you need is a good idea, a good proposal and some proof that you can write. It helps if you're a journalist - because you can point to a body of work, an ability to meet deadlines and an acceptance of the editing process - but it's not essential. It's also helpful if you're an expert in something if you're writing about health or science or gardening. If you're a previously published writer, that's nice too - but none of it guarantees you'll be considered by an agent or guarantees that you won't. It all comes down to what you're writing about and how you write it.
Non-fiction writers don't need any sales at all to get an agent - in fact, they don't even need a manuscript. The hunger for good non-fiction is so great amongst publishers and, thus, agents that all you need is a good idea, a good proposal and some proof that you can write. It helps if you're a journalist - because you can point to a body of work, an ability to meet deadlines and an acceptance of the editing process - but it's not essential. It's also helpful if you're an expert in something if you're writing about health or science or gardening. If you're a previously published writer, that's nice too - but none of it guarantees you'll be considered by an agent or guarantees that you won't. It all comes down to what you're writing about and how you write it.
Regional writers
Do you need to be based in Sydney or Melbourne to get and keep an agent? Does it disadvantage your chances of publication if you are a regional writer and can’t get to major writers festivals or meet industry professionals in metropolitan areas?
Due to the wondrous Internets, I don't (personally) believe it makes a fig of difference where writers live in this country. Meeting clients in person is lovely, but I - and, no doubt, all other agents - maintain relationships with writers who live all over the place, many of whom we have never met.
You don't need to go to writers' festivals to meet industry professionals - in fact, you're unlikely to meet them there as they're usually working and wary of being approached by hopeful writers. In fact, you don't really need to meet them at all to succeed as a writer, provided you have Internet access and a phone. Most agents do not want to meet writers before they decide to sign them up; the submission process is the same from anywhere in the country, so it doesn't matter where you live when you send something in. I've never discounted anyone because they don't live in Sydney or Melbourne - if anything, I'm more interested in their stories because they're likely to be different to what I usually see.
However, I do know that a lot of regional writers feel that there is a barrier of some sort between them and the prospect of publication. I wonder whether some of this isn't an entrenched belief that their stories are 'less than' - they're certainly not. If anything, living outside of metropolitan areas, in parts of the country where two hours a day aren't lost in getting to and from work, means that regional writers often have more time to give to their writing and can be more thoughtful about the whole process.
If you're a regional writer and feeling a bit disconnected, the first thing to do would be to make contact with your closest writers' centre, or the one in the capital city. You can even choose a writers' centre interstate if you like the look of their services better. The next thing - or maybe equal first thing - is to look into the LongLines program at Varuna (http://www.varuna.com.au/) as this is specifically tailored for regional writers. Peter Bishop and his team at Varuna are longtime champions of regional writing, and he regularly goes around the country meeting writers.
There is a lot of help out there for regional writers - the first step is to believe that people want to read your writing, and then be confident as you send it out into the world.
Due to the wondrous Internets, I don't (personally) believe it makes a fig of difference where writers live in this country. Meeting clients in person is lovely, but I - and, no doubt, all other agents - maintain relationships with writers who live all over the place, many of whom we have never met.
You don't need to go to writers' festivals to meet industry professionals - in fact, you're unlikely to meet them there as they're usually working and wary of being approached by hopeful writers. In fact, you don't really need to meet them at all to succeed as a writer, provided you have Internet access and a phone. Most agents do not want to meet writers before they decide to sign them up; the submission process is the same from anywhere in the country, so it doesn't matter where you live when you send something in. I've never discounted anyone because they don't live in Sydney or Melbourne - if anything, I'm more interested in their stories because they're likely to be different to what I usually see.
However, I do know that a lot of regional writers feel that there is a barrier of some sort between them and the prospect of publication. I wonder whether some of this isn't an entrenched belief that their stories are 'less than' - they're certainly not. If anything, living outside of metropolitan areas, in parts of the country where two hours a day aren't lost in getting to and from work, means that regional writers often have more time to give to their writing and can be more thoughtful about the whole process.
If you're a regional writer and feeling a bit disconnected, the first thing to do would be to make contact with your closest writers' centre, or the one in the capital city. You can even choose a writers' centre interstate if you like the look of their services better. The next thing - or maybe equal first thing - is to look into the LongLines program at Varuna (http://www.varuna.com.au/) as this is specifically tailored for regional writers. Peter Bishop and his team at Varuna are longtime champions of regional writing, and he regularly goes around the country meeting writers.
There is a lot of help out there for regional writers - the first step is to believe that people want to read your writing, and then be confident as you send it out into the world.
Can a new agent do the best job for me?
I just finished reading your answer to 'So many manuscripts, so few agents' - about the shortage of agents in Australia. I recently had the good fortune to sign with an agent. Her agency is new, so I was just wondering what effect that has to whether publishers will take work recommended by her, or will they be less inclined as she is yet to establish a reputation as an agent? I was hoping the fact that she was new would work in my favour, as she would be hungry to succeed.
Having a new agent isn't necessarily a concern (after all, we were all new agents once). It depends on the background of the agent in question. If she's been working in publishing for a while, then she should have the necessary contacts to do the best job for you, because a large part of being an agent is having the relationships with publishers that make the agent better able to place books. This is the major hurdle to succeeding as an agent - if you don't have the relationships, you have to make them from scratch, and that can take a considerable amount of time. If the agent has never worked in publishing before, it may be almost impossible to succeed as he or she will probably not understand the cultural quirks that make the book industry so different to other types of publishing. But I'm going to presume that your agent has worked in the industry, so none of this may apply.
As for being 'hungry to succeed' - this comes back to the aforementioned cultural quirks. Australian publishing is quite genteel - aggression is not welcome. In fact, it's not even welcome in the US. Everything takes time with books, and patience tends to pay off. People who push (whether it's prospective authors calling me to check on their submissions, or me pushing a publisher to make a decision) tend to find themselves on the end of a 'no'. So while I'm sure your agent will do her very best for you, give her some time to do it. By all means ask questions about the process and what's happening, but don't be surprised if it takes a while for her to answer - we spend most of our day doing stuff to place manuscripts, and it takes more time than most people think.
Having a new agent isn't necessarily a concern (after all, we were all new agents once). It depends on the background of the agent in question. If she's been working in publishing for a while, then she should have the necessary contacts to do the best job for you, because a large part of being an agent is having the relationships with publishers that make the agent better able to place books. This is the major hurdle to succeeding as an agent - if you don't have the relationships, you have to make them from scratch, and that can take a considerable amount of time. If the agent has never worked in publishing before, it may be almost impossible to succeed as he or she will probably not understand the cultural quirks that make the book industry so different to other types of publishing. But I'm going to presume that your agent has worked in the industry, so none of this may apply.
As for being 'hungry to succeed' - this comes back to the aforementioned cultural quirks. Australian publishing is quite genteel - aggression is not welcome. In fact, it's not even welcome in the US. Everything takes time with books, and patience tends to pay off. People who push (whether it's prospective authors calling me to check on their submissions, or me pushing a publisher to make a decision) tend to find themselves on the end of a 'no'. So while I'm sure your agent will do her very best for you, give her some time to do it. By all means ask questions about the process and what's happening, but don't be surprised if it takes a while for her to answer - we spend most of our day doing stuff to place manuscripts, and it takes more time than most people think.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
When do I need an agent?
At what stage should a new writer think about using an agent? If, hypothetically, a new writer has a paperback coming out in 2008 with a major publisher, and a YA novel contracted for 2009 with another major publisher, and several things about to be released by the Educational press, and two already published items in the US Chicken Soup for the Soul Series, should he/she have an agent? What if he/she currently has two other manuscripts being considered by said two publishers? Still speaking hypothetically, what can an agent give a beginner who has worked really hard on his/her own behalf so far, that he/she has not been able to achieve?
The first thing to deal with here is the term 'new writer', because it affects how the question is answered. The hypothetical author mentioned above isn't really a 'new' writer because s/he already has books heading for publication. But a really new writer - one who has had no contact or contract with publishers - is a different case, so I'll straight to the questions at the end: what can an agent give a beginner who has worked really hard on his/her own behalf so far, that he/she has not been able to achieve?
If the beginner is not the hypothetical author with the contracts - if s/he has been working hard on their own behalf but hasn't yet found a publisher - then an agent can offer them access to publishers, and to the right publisher (who is not necessarily the publisher with the biggest advance). About half of an agent's work is with publishers and half with authors. The half that is to do with publishers is often just staying in touch, finding out what they're up to and what they're looking for, so that when one of the authors has a manuscript to send out, it goes to the publishers most likely to consider it seriously. Each agent could send out a manuscript willy-nilly, but that's wasting everyone's time. The other aspects are the deal, the contract and the ongoing relationship with the publisher. An unagented author may not know what to ask for when they're made an offer by a publisher - which rights should they keep, for example? And they need to look carefully at the contract - sometimes I will look over contracts for authors who aren't clients but need another eye on the contract, and I'm always amazed by what's in those contracts. As to the relationship with the publisher - usually things go well, because publishers are well behaved in general, but when something goes wrong you may need a third party to help sort it out.
Which brings me to our hypothetical author with lots of contracts. This person is doing pretty well for themselves - they're obviously good at getting to the right people in a publishing company and at promoting their own work. That's fantastic - but atypical. Most authors, particularly when they are starting out, aren't sure how to do any of this. But if you're the author who does, then you may not need an agent. You'll probably only need an agent if you'd prefer to have someone else handling your contracts and making sure your subsidiary rights are being looked after, or - because there are multiple publishers - if you'd rather have someone else do all the talking for you. Ideally the agent frees up the author to concentrate on the creative work while we take care of the business (and also advise on the creative). If our hypothetical author likes the business side, though, and they're happy with their publisher/s, they don't really need an agent.
The first thing to deal with here is the term 'new writer', because it affects how the question is answered. The hypothetical author mentioned above isn't really a 'new' writer because s/he already has books heading for publication. But a really new writer - one who has had no contact or contract with publishers - is a different case, so I'll straight to the questions at the end: what can an agent give a beginner who has worked really hard on his/her own behalf so far, that he/she has not been able to achieve?
If the beginner is not the hypothetical author with the contracts - if s/he has been working hard on their own behalf but hasn't yet found a publisher - then an agent can offer them access to publishers, and to the right publisher (who is not necessarily the publisher with the biggest advance). About half of an agent's work is with publishers and half with authors. The half that is to do with publishers is often just staying in touch, finding out what they're up to and what they're looking for, so that when one of the authors has a manuscript to send out, it goes to the publishers most likely to consider it seriously. Each agent could send out a manuscript willy-nilly, but that's wasting everyone's time. The other aspects are the deal, the contract and the ongoing relationship with the publisher. An unagented author may not know what to ask for when they're made an offer by a publisher - which rights should they keep, for example? And they need to look carefully at the contract - sometimes I will look over contracts for authors who aren't clients but need another eye on the contract, and I'm always amazed by what's in those contracts. As to the relationship with the publisher - usually things go well, because publishers are well behaved in general, but when something goes wrong you may need a third party to help sort it out.
Which brings me to our hypothetical author with lots of contracts. This person is doing pretty well for themselves - they're obviously good at getting to the right people in a publishing company and at promoting their own work. That's fantastic - but atypical. Most authors, particularly when they are starting out, aren't sure how to do any of this. But if you're the author who does, then you may not need an agent. You'll probably only need an agent if you'd prefer to have someone else handling your contracts and making sure your subsidiary rights are being looked after, or - because there are multiple publishers - if you'd rather have someone else do all the talking for you. Ideally the agent frees up the author to concentrate on the creative work while we take care of the business (and also advise on the creative). If our hypothetical author likes the business side, though, and they're happy with their publisher/s, they don't really need an agent.
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