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Debut Sales Still Happen

December 11, 2015 //  by Rachel Kent//  31 Comments

Blogger: Rachel Kent

I wrote a similar post to this one last December. In that post, I looked at how many debut projects our agency sold in 2014. I’d like to share our stats for 2015 (to date), today.

One of my favorite things to do is to call a debut client to tell him or her that we received an offer. It’s such a delight to share in the moment when that author’s dreams become a reality. All sales are extremely exciting, but there is something extra special about getting an offer on a debut. We discovered our debut clients and have believed in them from the beginning. We’ve often spent years working hard together to find just the right project to catch the editor’s eye.

Every year, at Books & Such, our book sales are comprised of three different kinds of books. We have the debut projects; the “renewables” (new projects sold to the publishing house of an established author); and the books by established authors who are either starting out at a new publishing house or who publish with multiple publishing houses.

This year at Books & Such, we sold projects for nine debut authors! Two of the debut sales were fiction and the other seven were nonfiction.  The two fiction authors have sold multiple projects this year. Nine projects is a small percentage of our total agency sales, but it is a wonderful number of new authors starting out in the publishing world. This year’s number of debut sales is only one less than we had in 2014. I hope hearing of these nine debut sales is an encouragement to those of you who have heard there is no room for debut authors. There are slots for debut authors, and many editors are excited to get books from new talent. And Books & Such is just one agency. I’m sure other agents are getting debut sales, too.

Finding the right project, agent, or editor takes time, so I hope you’ll stick with it and follow your dreams even when the publishing industry can seem so discouraging.

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Category: Business of writing, Success, Writing LifeTag: debut authors, debut fiction, debut nonfiction

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  1. Shirlee Abbott

    December 11, 2015 at 3:30 am

    Nine “Woo-hoos!” Nine high fives, nine happy dances, nine blessings on nine new journeys.

    Christmas is all about good news. Thank you for sharing the joy.

    Reply
    • Wendy L Macdonald

      December 11, 2015 at 9:39 am

      Nine amens, Shirlee. I love good news.

      Reply
  2. Andrew Budek-Schmeisser

    December 11, 2015 at 5:40 am

    What wonderful news! That’s really encouraging.
    * I’ve personally given up looking for representation; under my physical circumstances, it hardly seems fair to even approach through a query, and ask a very busy person to consider investing time in a writer who may not survive the process (and how do you put THAT in a query?). That said, if an agent discovered my blog and wanted to see more of my writing, I’d certainly oblige (while making clear possible limitations). The Lana Turner scenario; unlikely, but I assume it has happened before.

    Reply
    • Janet Ann Collins

      December 11, 2015 at 7:05 pm

      Andrew, maybe you should try writing for periodicals. They take short things, pay right away,and have lots of readers.

      Reply
      • Andrew Budek-Schmeisser

        December 11, 2015 at 8:07 pm

        Jan, thank you. I honestly never thought of this!

      • Janet Ann Collins

        December 11, 2015 at 8:19 pm

        Andrew, You’re welcome. You can find lots of them in market guides, or just google magazines and the topics you want to write about. I hope this works for you.

  3. Shelli Littleton

    December 11, 2015 at 6:49 am

    This is very encouraging news. Thank you! 🙂 And it blesses my heart that y’all get excited over debut authors and the sales, and esteem it a goal to reach higher and higher. Hope. What is the greatest hindrance of placing a debut author. that you believe in. over established authors? Is it solely finding that right project? The project that drew you to them isn’t selling? Or other issues?

    Reply
    • Rachel Kent

      December 11, 2015 at 2:34 pm

      Publishing houses like to take the low risk approach almost always, so it is easier for them to make an offer on an established author over a debut author.

      The debut author has to find the perfect project to grab the attention of the editors’ eyes.

      Reply
  4. Amber Schamel

    December 11, 2015 at 7:45 am

    That’s awesome! Congratulations to those debut authors. It’s always encouraging to hear of fresh voices being introduced. That’s one thing I appreciate about Books and Such. They have a willingness and expertise to help aspiring authors as well as seasoned ones.

    Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  5. Wendy L Macdonald

    December 11, 2015 at 9:37 am

    Thank you, Rachel, for the fabulous, feel-good-on-Friday post. Congratulations to all involved. 🙂
    I’m curious if any of those non-fiction were memoir?
    Blessings ~ Wendy

    Reply
    • Rachel Kent

      December 11, 2015 at 2:36 pm

      One of the nine was a memoir.

      Reply
  6. Andrew Budek-Schmeisser

    December 11, 2015 at 10:03 am

    A bit off-topic, perhaps, please forgive…just read something thing that might be a good motto for all Christian writers – In hoc signo vinces (in this sign you shall conquer).
    * Good for me, too, at the moment. Today is shaping grotesquely bad, and I ask your prayers. I’ll make it through the present crisis, but at the moment…I don’t see how. Guess I’ll just have to grab hold of Jesus’ sleeve.

    Reply
    • Jackie Layton

      December 11, 2015 at 5:39 pm

      Hold tight Andrew. I’m praying for you.

      Reply
      • Andrew Budek-Schmeisser

        December 11, 2015 at 6:23 pm

        Thanks, jackie. This is getting awfully tough.

  7. Kristen Joy Wilks

    December 11, 2015 at 10:10 am

    Thank you so much, Rachel. It is good to hear about the successes of other writers. Good to see dreams coming true. Interesting to hear that so many more debuts were non-fiction. I guess I rarely read non-fiction…well, my sons love it so I read to them and find out about history and astronomy and such…and I read writing books…but besides that, not so much. So perhaps I have a skewed view of the reading habits of others. What about the rest of you? Do you guys read more fiction or non-fiction?

    Reply
    • Andrew Budek-Schmeisser

      December 11, 2015 at 10:39 am

      I read a lot more non-fiction now, but my perspective may also be skewed…I’m reading that which helps my morale, gives me hope, and bolsters meaning, and a reason to go on.
      * Right now I’m reading “Inferno”, Joseph Springer’s account (mainly an oral history collection) of the ordeal of the USS Franklin after it was struck by a Japanese bomb in March 1945. One hit set off a tremendous conflagration, and the stories of the individual crewmen are both harrowing and inspiring. The faith, courage, and hope of those men, many in their teens…they give me hope, and strength for the fight.

      Reply
    • Wendy L Macdonald

      December 11, 2015 at 10:42 am

      Kristen, I read a lot of writing books too, but I’ve also gotten hooked on memoir reading between my forays into a wide selection of fiction (mostly inspirational). My favorite genre to read is mystery.

      Reply
    • Carol Ashby

      December 11, 2015 at 10:50 am

      Before I retired a year ago, I read about 90% nonfiction. Now that I’m writing novels, I read a lot of fiction, partly to study award-winning authors who write in the contporary style. Now I probably read about 60-70% fiction. The nonfiction is 80% related to a Sunday school class I lead and historical research for my novels.

      Reply
      • Shelli Littleton

        December 11, 2015 at 1:38 pm

        I’m the same as Carol … I used to read all non-fiction. But now … fiction. 🙂

    • Kristen Joy Wilks

      December 13, 2015 at 6:20 am

      Thanks you guys. It is interesting to hear what everyone is reading. I do love writing books, but the last memoir I tried was something written by a child soldier in SriLanka I think (sp) and it was very well written and compelling but just so terrible that I’ve pretty much abandoned memoir…I think that was 10 years ago…I read non-fiction for research and writing and my boys, but I’m looking at what I really enjoy and that would be fast paced fiction for teens that has a happy ending. So interesting, thanks guys.

      Reply
  8. Jenni Brummett

    December 11, 2015 at 11:02 am

    Wonderful news! It’s a joy to celebrate as a community. 🙂

    Reply
  9. Jennifer Zarifeh Major

    December 11, 2015 at 1:47 pm

    that’s awesome!

    Reply
  10. Leon Oziel

    December 11, 2015 at 1:50 pm

    Your posts are encouraging and delightful to read. Thank you for the inspiration.

    Reply
  11. Davalynn Spencer

    December 11, 2015 at 1:57 pm

    Yes, it’s all about following your dreams. Congratulations to those debut authors!

    Reply
  12. Phil Anderson

    December 11, 2015 at 1:59 pm

    That is good news. I’m glad there are opportunities for debut authors. I’ve been trying to figure out a way to skip my first book and get right into selling my second, but I haven’t found a way to make it work.

    Reply
  13. Karen Barnett

    December 11, 2015 at 2:03 pm

    I love this post, Rachel! Have all these projects been announced or are they still hush-hush? It would be fun to celebrate these debut authors by name, but I know that may not be possible.

    Reply
    • Rachel Kent

      December 11, 2015 at 3:36 pm

      I’m not sure if the authors would want that or not. It’s something we could do on the Books & Such Facebook group though!

      Reply
      • Karen Barnett

        December 12, 2015 at 11:03 am

        Good idea!

  14. Gayla Grace

    December 11, 2015 at 2:34 pm

    Thank you, Rachel, for an update on the debut projects for 2015. It’s refreshing to know you guys get excited for the author too!

    Reply
  15. Jack Orchison

    December 11, 2015 at 3:46 pm

    May I be controversial? First of all, writers discover themselves and then look for an agent. And if you work with someone for ages to find ‘just the right project’, how many vote with their feet because they are no longer using their own ideas?

    Reply
  16. Jackie Layton

    December 11, 2015 at 5:43 pm

    Congratulations to these authors!

    Rachel thanks for the encouraging post today!

    Reply

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