Step 1: Understanding the role of agents, publishers and self-publishing platformsOkay. So. You’ve written your novel. You’ve edited, polished, redrafted and tweaked. You’ve sent it out to trusted friends and family for feedback, and you’re as sure as you can be that it’s ready to go. Now what? The world of publishing can seem like a confusing, forbidden landscape to emerging authors. It’s filled with bewildering terminology and an overwhelming set of rules that you’re just expected to know, on pain of instant rejection. But it doesn’t have to be intimidating. Over the next few posts, I’m going to go through some of the key steps involved in navigating the publishing process, and look at how you can give yourself the best chance of success. Like all industries, the publishing world has its own language, jargon, and vernacular. Getting to grips with the phraseology is the first step in finding your way through the process. Getting to grips with the language of publishingFirst things first: let’s get some terminology out of the way.
Like all industries, the publishing world has its own language, jargon, and vernacular. Getting to grips with the phraseology is the first step in finding your way through the process. Traditional publishing vs. self-publishingBefore you begin your publishing journey, you have a decision to make: what route do you want to take? Do you want to attract the interest of a publishing house (or an agent and then a publishing house) and go down the traditional publishing path? Or do you want to cut out the middleman and go it alone? It’s a significant decision, and not one you should rush. Traditional publishing involves submitting your manuscript to publishers, or to agents who then submit it to publishers, who then decide whether or not they feel your work has enough artistic merit and market appeal to invest in taking it to print. Self-publishing, on the other hand, puts the author in control of the publication process: from cover design to marketing and distribution. There’s no intermediary between writer and book, so it sells (or doesn’t sell) entirely on the author’s own efforts. Both approaches have their pros and cons. Before you decide which one is right for you, it’s worth familiarising yourself with what they both entail. There are some perfectly good books that are never going to attract a traditional publisher, not because they’re badly written or nobody’s likely to read them, but because they sit outside of market norms. Self-publishing: the positives and negativesOnce upon a time, self-publishing was seen as a vanity project, but the internet has put an end to that. These days, it’s a perfectly respectable way to bring your book to market, and many self-published authors are taking full advantage of the ability to connect directly with their readership. Since the advent of popular e-book platforms like Kindle, self-published novels have carved out a huge chunk of the market. In the last five years alone, the number of self-published books has increased by a whopping 264%. That works out to an average of 300 million self-published books per year. Self-publishing pros:
Self-publishing cons:
Traditional publishing: the positives and negatives[Full disclosure: I’m a traditionally published author. I have never self-published a novel, nor do I – at time of writing – have any plans to do so. That’s a choice I made, because it was the right choice for me. It may or may not be the right choice for you. I mention it only in the interests of being completely transparent.] Traditional publishing, as the name suggests, is the dominant historical model. It involves you, the person with the literary talent but no global marketing network, licensing publishing company to reproduce your words in book form and sell that book on your behalf. The key word here is licensing. The publisher does not own your work – you do. If you didn’t provide them with a license to print your work, they’d be in breach of copyright law. Any “publisher” that agrees to print your book in exchange for you relinquishing your copyright (i.e. your ownership of the work) is not a publisher, it’s a predator. The general rule of thumb is that if the publisher has contacted you unsolicited, it’s almost certainly a scam. Sorry. The specifics of the publishing company’s rights to reproduce your copyrighted material are governed by contract you and the company sign when they agree to publish your work. A publishing contract will, amongst other things, lay out the terms and conditions under which you grant that license, the countries in which it applies, and the remuneration they’ll pay to you in return for your permission to reproduce and sell your writing. These things tend to be utterly impenetrable to the uninitiated, so it’s worth getting professional advice to make sure you’re clear on what you’re agreeing to. If you’re in the UK, the Society of Authors offers help to new writers in possession of a contract; otherwise, you might want to get in touch with a lawyer who specializes in copyright law. Any “publisher” that agrees to print your book in exchange for you relinquishing your copyright (i.e. your ownership of the work) is not a publisher, it’s a predator. Trad publishing pros:
Trad publishing cons:
Do you need an agent?I’m biased here, because I’ve had the enormous good fortune in my writing career to be represented by two fantastic agents, whose support and advice has been invaluable. My default response is always going to be yes, you should look at getting yourself an agent if you want to be traditionally published. However, in the interests of complete honesty, the answer is no, you don’t need an agent necessarily. You can land a publishing contract without an agent. Many independent presses will consider unsolicited submissions. Seeking representation from a literary agency is not going to be the right path for every author, and it’s one that you should consider carefully as you start looking towards publication. Literary agent pros:
Literary agent cons:
So... what next?The thing to remember is that this is a marathon, not a sprint. Getting your novel published is a challenging process, no two ways about it, but it is absolutely worth the journey. Knowing what to expect from that journey is half the battle.
If you’ve decided that the self-publishing route is the right one for you, you’ll need to invest some time and energy into making sure you’re as well informed as possible about the process. There are some great resources online (though beware of apparently helpful websites that exist solely to persuade you to pay them to “self-publish” your book – and predatory presses often try to frame themselves as “self-publishing” service providers, so due diligence is a must). If traditional publishing is the way you want to go, your next step is to work out which agents or publishers are most likely to fall in love with your MS. In the next blog, I’ll look at how to find them and what to consider when you’re drawing up your list of targets for submission.
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