Fantasy publishers/newbies

[SeverinR]

I found a websight that offered a list of twenty Scifi/fantasy publishers websights.
I went to each, 18 either did not accept submissions, their link didn't work, or they only accepted from an agent.
1 accepted only complete manuscripts(no return) no querry, no partial.
1 accepted only complete manuscripts online only.

Did I get a unique set?
No querry letters, and mostly only agent submissions?

 

[Kelise]

That's the same with most publishers I've ever looked in to. That's why I'll be getting an agent - once you find an agent who'll accept you, they do all the hard work of finding you a publisher, as they generally have worked with most of them already.

 

[Qfantasy]

That's the same with most publishers I've ever looked in to. That's why I'll be getting an agent - once you find an agent who'll accept you, they do all the hard work of finding you a publisher, as they generally have worked with most of them already.

Unfortunately, finding an agent to take you on can be just as difficult. They are inundated with submissions and many only take on 1-2 new authors a year (I live in the UK and this is my experience with lit agents/publishers in this country). Before you submit any work, I suggest you make sure the opening paragraphs of your book really grab the reader, and follow that through with a powerful first chapter to ensure your submission is more than glanced at.

 

[Kelise]

Quite aware of that When publishing houses don't accept MS otherwise most of the time it's not like there's many choices though. Here in Australia, you basically have to have an agent.

 

[SeverinR]

That's the same with most publishers I've ever looked in to. That's why I'll be getting an agent - once you find an agent who'll accept you, they do all the hard work of finding you a publisher, as they generally have worked with most of them already.

Next weeks class is on what an agent does, but they do alot of the work just from the little bit he shared.

One thing, someone on another forum noted,
Unsolicited-means they don't take mansuscripts, they are the ones that you send the querry letter too.

 

[KingArthur]

I've been shopping around both agents and publishers and have been denied across the board on the eastcoast here you pretty much need an agent but may get lucky without one. But i've been told by published authors that you would be better served career and finacially by getting an agent first.

 

[pskelding]

Some of us have chosen the self pub route especially since those editors who used to work at big publishers are now freelance and affordable. This puts me in the driver's seat as far as my career goes. Yes it's more work for me and some money out of my pocket but I also will make MORE money because I will retain a higher percentage of my sales.

Not to mention I have control of the cover art which is important to me.

I keep up with publishing and I think the agents are going to become the new publishers, many of them are already starting to turn on the BIG 6. Agents are increasingly handling editing because the BIG 6 don't want undeveloped authors coz the bean counters don't want to invest in a 5 or 6 book career before an author "hits". The agents have been upset about this for quite a while and ebooks gives them the perfect weapon to fight back and some very high profile ones are using it.

 

[TWErvin2]

Many fantasy/SF publishers accept non-agented submissions. Tor, Baen, DAW, Ace/Roc and the vast majority of the small publishing houses. It takes a lot longer to go through the slush pile than through an agent, but it can be difficult finding a quality agent to represent one's work. There's a lot of competition.

 

[Deleth]

Some of us have chosen the self pub route especially since those editors who used to work at big publishers are now freelance and affordable. This puts me in the driver's seat as far as my career goes. Yes it's more work for me and some money out of my pocket but I also will make MORE money because I will retain a higher percentage of my sales.

Not to mention I have control of the cover art which is important to me.

I keep up with publishing and I think the agents are going to become the new publishers, many of them are already starting to turn on the BIG 6. Agents are increasingly handling editing because the BIG 6 don't want undeveloped authors coz the bean counters don't want to invest in a 5 or 6 book career before an author "hits". The agents have been upset about this for quite a while and ebooks gives them the perfect weapon to fight back and some very high profile ones are using it.

This is what I will be doing when I finish my first.

 

[SeverinR]

From the class on Agents;

only12% of published works are done without an agent.

If you get a contract, the agent would be stupid not to represent you, 75% of the work is done, and the agent is
more adept in writing contracts then an ordinary lawyer, and this agent claimed that the agent will probably pay for his cost possibly even double his cost by negotiating on a level field with the publisher, the contract publishers send out is the low ball most of the time.

3 classes and this guy was the most informative, the other one spoke about writing a (book) sequel and basically shared his way of writing his book. One way, not the only way. It was interesting, he self published then went to the publishers and sold the original book and his sequel. He was the extreme exception. (published without an agent and published two books)

 

[Caged Maiden]

Did he mention who he went through to self-publish? Or what it cost him? Just wondering..... It almost sounds too good to be true, self-publishing, but i know there are down sides to it as well.

 

[Deleth]

Did he mention who he went through to self-publish? Or what it cost him? Just wondering..... It almost sounds too good to be true, self-publishing, but i know there are down sides to it as well.

One of the most glaring downsides to Self Publishing is that unless you hire someone to with your own money, you are the one marketing your book.

Most writers I've met are not sales persons.

 

[Benjamin Clayborne]

Well, sales and marketing are two different (but related) things. Sales is about convincing a single person to buy something. Marketing is about convincing a lot of people at once to buy something. Oddly enough, I find marketing a lot easier than sales. ;-)

 

[TWErvin2]

Even if a writer's work is picked up by a large or a small publisher, an author is going to have to promote their work.

Having a publisher that markets and supports an author is certainly helpful, but expecting 'to only write' and never make an effort otherwise is unlikely to result in success (gaining readers). Some level of author participation, especially starting off, is key to a novel's success...and key to an author being offered a contract for their next novel.

 

[Deleth]

Even if a writer's work is picked up by a large or a small publisher, an author is going to have to promote their work.

Having a publisher that markets and supports an author is certainly helpful, but expecting 'to only write' and never make an effort otherwise is unlikely to result in success (gaining readers). Some level of author participation, especially starting off, is key to a novel's success...and key to an author being offered a contract for their next novel.

I was never trying to imply that there was no effort on teh authors part requiered after the fact, merely suggesting that most people I know with a creative personality are not very personable themselves. But that is my own experience, and obviously it differs drastically from person to person. Just a little clairification

 

[Kevin O. McLaughlin]

From the class on Agents;

only12% of published works are done without an agent.

I'm really interested in his source; do you know where he got that data? A poll a few years back showed that among SF&F books, around 40% were unagented. Is that the norm across genres? No idea.

If you get a contract, the agent would be stupid not to represent you, 75% of the work is done, and the agent is
more adept in writing contracts then an ordinary lawyer, and this agent claimed that the agent will probably pay for his cost possibly even double his cost by negotiating on a level field with the publisher, the contract publishers send out is the low ball most of the time.

If you already have a contract, there's no longer very much that an agent can do for you. In fact, in most cases I'd recommend hiring a contracts lawyer instead. Flat fee, you pay less, and you're less likely to get scalded by a nasty contract clause if you've got someone who actually understands law reading the contract. I'm not slamming agents with that statement - they just don't have any real training with legal issues, and over the last couple of years we've seen many major publishers introducing clauses to many contracts which are extremely dangerous to the writer, even career ending in some cases.

Even if you have an agent, I'd recommend an attorney as well. Agent's job is to get the contract for you - attorney's job is to ensure the contract will leave you with your skin still intact.

 

[MichaelSullivan]

If you go the non-agented route and get some traction with a publisher my recommendation is immediately approach a few agents and get represented. The 'type and size' of a contract that will be sent to a non-agented author will be much different than one with an agent. I had something like this happen to me with my first foreign rights contract. The agent got the advanced increaesd by 50% and her commission was 20% (10% for her 10% for the co-agent in the other country) so I ended up getting 30% more.

But even more than the money are the terms in the contract. A "new" writer with no leverage will get a contract that is very slanted toward the publisher. Your agent will drag those terms back in favor of the author.

 

[myrddin173]

If you already have a contract, there's no longer very much that an agent can do for you. In fact, in most cases I'd recommend hiring a contracts lawyer instead. Flat fee, you pay less, and you're less likely to get scalded by a nasty contract clause if you've got someone who actually understands law reading the contract. I'm not slamming agents with that statement - they just don't have any real training with legal issues, and over the last couple of years we've seen many major publishers introducing clauses to many contracts which are extremely dangerous to the writer, even career ending in some cases.

I was listening to an episode of the Writing Excuses podcast yesterday where they mentioned just this. In many cases you would be more likely to get an agent if you already have a contract. In most cases they can renegotiate that contract to get you a better deal. It is this one, I think.

 

[monty]

Isn't the onus on advertising on the publisher rather than the author when it's not self-published? I have this vision of me going from bookstore to bookstore, kind of like a vacuum cleaner salesman, if I decide to self-publish.

 

[SeverinR]

If you go the non-agented route and get some traction with a publisher my recommendation is immediately approach a few agents and get represented. The 'type and size' of a contract that will be sent to a non-agented author will be much different than one with an agent. I had something like this happen to me with my first foreign rights contract. The agent got the advanced increaesd by 50% and her commission was 20% (10% for her 10% for the co-agent in the other country) so I ended up getting 30% more.

But even more than the money are the terms in the contract. A "new" writer with no leverage will get a contract that is very slanted toward the publisher. Your agent will drag those terms back in favor of the author.

You approach an agent with a contract in hand, they will be alot more inclined to listen to you.
The majority of work is done, the money is all but guaranteed. No selling, just negotiating. (to me sounds like the most fun about this job.)

This is what the agent in class said.