Blogger: Rachelle Gardner
Did you know that we—the agents at Books & Such—invented publishing? Yep. Book publishers, agents, querying, marketing, social media—the whole shebang, we thought of it, created the system and built it from the ground up.
Wait—what? We didn’t build the publishing industry? You mean we’re not responsible for the crazy query system, and the difficulty getting published, and the fact that authors have to market their books?
Phew! I was worried there—because I’ve noticed that we agents are often in the position of having to not only explain some aspect of publishing, but to defend it. A lot of times the questions directed to agents have a tone that says: “This system is broken—so fix it!”
Obviously we didn’t invent the system—we work inside the system, just like you do. Agents and editors are cogs in the machine and we have little control over how the wheel turns. We advocate for authors and partner with them to build the best possible writing career, and we make connections between authors and publishers. And we do have to explain the way things work. And sometimes that can be frustrating—for us and for you. Especially when we have news you don’t want to hear, such as:
- Agents can’t give feedback on every query that comes in.
- Certain books (and genres) are difficult to sell, no matter how much we love them.
- Once you get your first book contract, you may need to specialize in a genre for at least a few books.
- Writing for the Christian market requires you follow certain guidelines.
- Every genre, in fact, has guidelines.
- Yes, you do have write things like pitches, hooks, synopses, proposals, etc. (even if you’re self-publishing!)
- While I would prefer to allow all authors to do nothing but write their books, it doesn’t work that way and a platform is almost always required.
- All the marketing in the world can’t guarantee book sales.
- Success in publishing involves some serendipity.
When you hear an agent say these things, remember it’s because we know the system and we’re trying to help you work the system. We’re trying to get you published. So try not to hold the negative parts against us.
What are some things you’ve heard along this publishing journey that you don’t like?
B D MacCullough
Don’t like a lip-service expression by agents of the advocate/partnership
relation with an author.
Thanks for your blog… encouraging words for a birthday.
Mac
Shirlee Abbott
Birthday blessings!
Nicholas Faran
Words I don’t like hearing?:
“Thank you for your submission, but we feel this isn’t right for us.”
Well you did ask! 🙂
Shirlee Abbott
Oh, Rachelle, the whole platform thing makes me cringe. I spent so much time figuring out my website name, my brand, my unique social media presence. And it’s never done. I would have given up, except . . .
. . . I keep hearing God’s answer to whatever the problem.
Carol Ashby
Sometimes what you think you don’t like is actually fun after you get started. I thought I didn’t like the requirement of having a blog for platform . I was wrong.
*I started platform building by designing my author website as a historical information site. A more personal blog didn’t fit that format, but I discovered managing a website is so interesting that I was happy to start a second linked site for a blog. Both require constant attention, but writing both articles and blog posts is fun. I’m still looking for the best layout, but messing with that is fun, too. What I thought would be a burden is a pleasure instead!
Andrew Budek-Schmeisser
And it’s a please to read both, Carol.
Carol Ashby
As Elizabeth Bennet would have said, “I greatly esteem your opinion, Mr. Budek-Schmeisser.”
I’m about to add a writer’s tools page with super easy cut-and-paste ways to add features, like tables and open-a-new-window, that aren’t built-in simple clicks in the WordPress post-and-page editor. They should work at other blog hosts as well. I like sharing the fun with folks without HTML coding experience. I’ll let the folks here know when that’s up.
Sheila King
Rachelle,
In a future post could you please expand on your statement about rules for the Christian market? I am a little fuzzy on what that might actually be.
Different agents seem to approach it differently, and I am sure there is some variation between publishers…
Thanks!
Andrew Budek-Schmeisser
I’d be interested in knowing about the Christian publishing guidelines as well; I’ve seen some generalities, and made some assumptions, but I do wonder if there is a Code Of Conduct that’s been written somewhere?
Jeanne Takenaka
I love your beginning to this post, Rachelle. It puts everything in perspective. We are all a part of a bigger machine (for lack of a better way to express it).
*Hearing we had to create a big platform, was something I didn’t like hearing, but fact is? It needs to happen in this, so I am being intentional about doing this.
*As I’ve worked on the various aspects of building my platform, I’ve been figuring out how to do those things I enjoy. I dreaded starting a blog because I knew it would take time away from my stories. But, I’m finding blogging to be enjoyable, and I’m learning how to express myself creatively and honestly. Which helps me with my stories. And I’m figuring out the other social media that I enjoy.
Shelli Littleton
Yes, big platform is scary. Reminds me of the song … “I wish that I could be like the cool kids” … 🙂
Andrew Budek-Schmeisser
You ARE the coolest of the cool, Shelli. Would that our hearts were mirrors, and you could see yourself reflected as you are truly seen!
Andrew Budek-Schmeisser
Jeanne, your blog is stellar. You share your faith with such grace and transparency!
Andrew Budek-Schmeisser
Interesting post to read after an ‘interesting’ night – the latter as in the meaning of the traditional Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times.”
* I see things perhaps a bit differently:
– I’m grateful for a pool of writers so large and vibrant that agents are kept busy; there is so much splendid variety of books, and there are so many new writers whose talent is a delight to discover.
– I’m grateful for the advent of accessible self-publishing that gives a home to those hard-to-sell subjects. I’ve read a number of wonderful memoirs that would otherwise have gathered dust in family archives.
– I’m grateful for the need to specialize in a genre; it builds a foundation of competence for me, and a foundation of trust for my readers.
– I’m grateful for guidelines in genres, because readers have a right to know what to expect, and writers have the right to know what’s expected of them.
– I’m grateful for the need for pitches and hooks and synopses, because they sharpen my understanding of my own work.
– I’m grateful for the need for a platform, because it makes me place my writing in a wider context and allows precious engagement with my readers.
– I’m grateful for each individual sale, because in the end I am writing for one reader at a time. My treasure, from the appreciation of one heart, is beyond measure.
– Life is serendipity, and God made the world round so we could not see too far ahead.
– Most of all, Rachelle, I am grateful for people like you, professionals who have chosen to come to us with warmth and compassion, willing to take the time to help us along. You and the Books and Such team have turned what could be a lonely and puzzling journey into a community of love and growth and hope. We are truly blessed to be living in these times!
Shirlee Abbott
Amen, Andrew! Well said (as usual).
Andrew Budek-Schmeisser
Thanks so much, Shirlee. Your blog is always an inspiration to me, and I love that it hits my inbox in the evening. The perfect time for the soothing reflections you so graciously bring.
Shelli Littleton
Yes, this community keeps me going in so many ways. 🙂
Andrew Budek-Schmeisser
Shelli, amen. This community (and the guys at Five Minute Friday) are carrying me. Without all of you, I’d be lost. You’ve helped me hold onto my humanity and hope.
Sue Harrison
I love your gratitude attitude (sorry for that rhyme!) Andrew. I’m uplifted by your strength and wisdom.
Andrew Budek-Schmeisser
Sue, I don’t know what to say except, Thank You, from the bottom of my heart.
Robin Patchen
Well said!
Andrew Budek-Schmeisser
Robin, thank you so much!
Jeanne Takenaka
Andrew, I love your positive take on this post. Thanks for the reminder to look for the positives in a sometimes overwhelming business!
Andrew Budek-Schmeisser
Jeanne, thank you. One thing I am learning daily is that hope is a choice, and that while it may seem to recede in the ‘practical’, that need not kill the spirit, or weaken the heart. God is yet in control.
Samantha
The best way to respond–to anything! When we have a positive, thankful attitude, no task feels quite so daunting. Thanks for that reminder, Andrew!
Andrew Budek-Schmeisser
Thank you, Samantha!
Shelli Littleton
I think if anyone understands a writer, it’s an agent. Because you walk the road with clients, you walk a similar road as you present a project to publishers, you experience all the same emotions, I’m sure. Elation, disappointment …. I love the way this agency loves their clients.
*I don’t like hearing to just start writing, put your fanny in the chair. Though I completely agree with it, it still pains me. Because that’s me, yet it causes me to always have to learn the hard way. I jump both feet in and usually have to clean up the splash I made–water, mud. But one thing about it, I never forget. 🙂 So I have a like/dislike with that notion. 🙂
Norma Brumbaugh
“Your writing is that of an amateur.” Then she went on to say “You make some strong statements, though, that work.” I had finished my first manuscript after pouring two summers into it during my summer breaks from teaching (while also single parenting five kids, and farming a walnut orchard). The writing coach said, “It is better to begin a new manuscript than try to fix one that has problems.” She spent an hour explaining more about how good writers write and gave me some tangible advice that I could grasp and apply. I abandoned the book, all 100+ single-spaced pages. And I didn’t try writing again for another decade, but I never forgot her advice. I think there are many indie writers who assume, as I did, that because they write well, it is enough, when in fact it only means there is some undeveloped talent. It’s been an interesting journey.
P.S. I’ve never revisited that first manuscript. It still has merit, but…
Andrew Budek-Schmeisser
Whoever said that to you, Norma, was both cruel and arrogant. The label is (and I am sure was intended as) a put-down, coming from a Consummate Professional (as I’m sure the speaker viewed herself).
* In the world of restoring old aeroplanes, there is always the question of whether it wouldn’t be cheaper and simpler to simply build a new one, rather than use every possible part from a mangled wreck dragged from the Russian Steppe. Of course it would be cheaper, and quicker, but provenance, the reality of holding a piece of genuine history, would be lost.
* Don’t lose the provenance of that first manuscript, Norma. You can re-write it from scratch, but it’ll never be the same You who wrote it first.
Norma Brumbaugh
I believe she meant well, but her words devastated me. I had no idea. It left me stunned and in shock. My mistake was not going to her first … I was too insecure and unsure of myself. What I did believe in was my message of hope and healing.
Andrew Budek-Schmeisser
I believe in your message of hope and healing, Norma.
I believe in you.
Carol Ashby
Please go back and look at that manuscript, Norma. There might be something wonderful there that can be the framework for a rewrite using everything you’ve learned about the craft in the past decade. A sparkling jewel may be waiting for you to dig it out of the matrix.
*My first three novels were completed in omniscient narrator style before I learned from the Genesis contest that I need to rewrite as single-POV scenes. I’ve poured my energy into learning the craft since then, and I’m rewriting all three because I was told the plots are very strong. I’ve now been told by a professional editor that the first is ready for market, and I’m working on the second to get it ready to publish, too.
*If I’d given up on them, I’d always regret it because they convey a message I truly want to share. Your dormant manuscript might contain exactly what many would need and love to read.
Norma Brumbaugh
Thank you for your kind words, Carol. The manuscript is all about my personal journey from deep, hidden pain to healing, joy and freedom. At the time I felt it had much to offer because many of my sisters and brothers in the church are suffering in silence, the ‘silent suffering’ is what I call them. For twenty-one years I put a brave face forward but was dying on the inside. Then I went through emotional and spiritual triage to gain my healing … all to the glory of God.
Carol Ashby
That definitely needs to get out there to help others! Get that red pen and go for it!
Michael Emmanuel
‘While I would prefer to allow all authors to do nothing but write their books, it doesn’t work that way and a platform is almost always required.’
Tops the list on things I don’t like but have to deal with…
Andrew Budek-Schmeisser
Your heart is you platform, Michael. It’s a mighty tower in the landscape of faith.
Janet Ann Collins
Years ago, while I was a student working in a library, I became so good at mending books they had me mend a Gutenberg Bible. I later learned Gutenberg never made a living printing books. The few people who knew how to read already had handwritten Bibles so they didn’t need his. But he changed the world anyway. Even if our writing only influences people in our critique groups or family and friends who read the mss, our writing can make a difference. I hate getting rejections (or, even worse, getting no response to submissions,) but those show I’m a professional writer.
Sylvia A. Nash
Love your attitude and perspective, Carol: “Rejections…show I’m a professional writer.” I’m in! Including the “doesn’t meet our needs at this time” rejection. The one thing I’ve heard, Rachelle, that really drives me up that wall: Not ready for prime time. Whatever does that mean? Nothing! One extra word (like plot, arc, characterization, setting, or PUGS) would make me happy. I wouldn’t expect this on an initial query, but for a partial or whole submission request, I would be happy with that one extra word. Well, maybe not happy. 🙂 But it would give me a problem to focus on during the next edit.
Carol Ashby
We used to joke at work about how the upper managers would command, “Bring me a rock.” Then when you brought them one, they’d say, “Wrong rock,” with no explanation.
*I know I was abnormally fortunate with a romantic thriller set in 1925 when I was asked to send the full manuscript at a conference even though it was way outside their normal word limits.
*I got a rejection. I emailed the rejecting editor and asked if she could tell me if the problem was plot, length, or lack of platform. She had read the whole thing before rejecting it, and she actually sent me her annotated manuscript plus comments on how to make it better. She said it was too long for her imprint (as in cut 30K words!), the plot didn’t move fast enough in a few spots, and the heroine needed to be more self-confident in some parts. I was totally thrilled and grateful for so much info to help me improve it! I would have been content with even a single statement about even one thing I could have worked to improve.
*I never would have received what she sent me if I hadn’t emailed her after the rejection asking if she could tell me something specific about why it was rejected. I guess the message is to ask. You might not get a reply, but if you do, it might be a real treasure.
Sylvia A. Nash
Carol, you’re a brave soul! And that editor was a jewel! I’m going to park your experience at the back of my mind for future reference–and hope I don’t forget it!
Samantha
–I guess most writers don’t like the whole marketing thing. If only there was a 1-2-3 guide to platform success, but there’s no magical formula. You just got to find what works for you. And that’s a trial and error process, at least for me.
–With any job, you usually have to do something you don’t like. The best thing is, in writing, the benefits far outweigh any negative.
Elizabeth Torphy
My favorite line: “Success in publishing involves some serendipity.”