I have not been a literary agent for over two-and-a-half years now. The main way strangers contact me is through my blog, through a link under my bio, which says I was “formerly a literary agent.”
I still. get. query letters.
Query letters are the zombies in my life. Just when I think it’s safe to open my e-mail, they sneak in and send a chill down my spine.
So from my vantage point, it sure seems like quite a few people out there are still pursuing traditional publication, no matter how popular self-publishing grows and how the publishing blogosphere has steadily morphed to serve the self-publishing community.
What about you? Are you planning to first pursue traditional publication? Do you see self-publishing as a first option? A fallback?
Poll below. If you’re reading this on a feed reader or via e-mail, please click this link to see it.
Lyn Fairchild Hawks says
After two years of querying and one year of working with a literary agent (you were the first I queried, Nathan), I decided to go self-pub. It's been a really fun ride so far. I've learned a ton and as someone who's made minimal royalties with my prior, traditionally-published books (education), it's really gratifying to make over 35% and up to 70% on sales. But of course, the marketing, the marketing…when what I really want to do is get back to writing. Trade-offs. In the meantime, all the advice you hear is true: don't skimp on edits (both developmental and copyedits) or on design. I got great help in all areas and also with my website. Let me say, Streetlight Graphics (designer), Anita B. on eLance (designer), Diane Bailey (editor), and Shaila Abdullah (web designer) are fantastic team members. I found these people via my self-pub colleagues and also my own sleuthing. I've also formed a writers' co-operative with two other self-pub authors, and by banding together, we've garnered book signings in our state. Very excited about the next steps.
Lyn Fairchild Hawks
Michael Pickett says
My thoughts on this are rapidly changing. I used to be a traditional or bust guy, but self-publishing is becoming more and more appealing to me. I've recently read articles like this one that argue that traditional publishers want you to come to them with a platform, but if you have a platform you can self-publish and sell directly to that audience.
I am about to launch a platform generation project (which I will tell you about, Nathan, because I think you will think it is cool) and I will do an experiment in self-publishing. If it goes well, I might be self-pub all the way.
Cody says
For my first novel, which is nearly complete, I plan on running a kickstarter campaign to raise a couple grand so I can self publish the right way. This way I can still get an editor and a designer.
If a publisher makes an offer, I don't know exactly what I'll do. It depends on how far along I am and the success of the novel. If ebooks are doing well and print isn't, then I might actively pursue a print only deal. But we'll have to see.
Emily Wenstrom says
What about the hybrid approach? I'm hoping my current manuscript will be traditionally published, but while I query it around I plan to write short stories that I can use to 1) beef up my credentials with journal publications and contest and 2) grow a readership following online via monthly releases. My long-term plan is more of a hybrid approach–some traditional, some online self-pub.
Anonymous says
There should be more discussion about the how the different genres fare with self-publishing, because this should be taken into account when a writer is figuring out what to do and which path to choose. Seems to me that, although you can find break away hits in all the genres including "book club" literary, far and away self-publishing is best suited for genre and or non-fiction. If you have written a literary novel (for all values of "literary") does self-publishing make sense?
Regina Richards says
Recently I sat next to an agent at a writers' conference. She asked what I was writing. I told her. She asked for the full. I was flattered, but I'm torn about sending it to her. I'm making money self-publishing and I love the artistic and financial freedom it gives me. So I'm still thinking about it.
MOV says
New reader here. I self-published (that's right, past-tense) three books. I started out trying to go the traditional route of finding an agent, but after the first few rejections (or being outright ignored), I began to get discouraged.
Fast forward to now (3 years later). My blog has over 600 followers, my books are on Amazon and at my local indie bookstore, and I had 100% creative control– this means cover design, content, everything.
The only area I struggle with is marketing. I wish I had Jen Lancaster's marketing team. My books are not making me a gazillion dollars, but I can officially say I am now an author (*holds book in air to prove it*).
If you happen to be curious, the name of my newest book is "Epic Mom" and you can find it on Amazon. It is not mommy lit, it is humor.
Great post.
LG O'Connor says
When I first finished my book, I was 100% set on Traditional publishing – until I started to learn more. As wonderful as it would be to have a mjor publisher select me, I'm not under any false illusions that I'd make more than my current career affords me. I write because I love it, and wanted to tell a story I wanted to read. The pressure of meeting publisher deadlines scare me, since writing won't be paying my mortgage. Therefore, I've become more and more enamoured with either partner publishing or pure self-publishing. I also don't want to wait years to make my work public. So… I'm now leaning away from Traditional publishing.
G. B. Miller says
I tried self-pubbing, but w/o the proper knowledge, failed miserably.
My first one came out with a traditional mid-sized publisher, and it looks my 2nd will eventually do the same.
I'll probably do self-publishing somewhere in the future, but this time I'll be armed with the knowledge on how to do it properly and successfully.
Heather Sunseri says
Funny: I self-published my novel this past Janaury. I have one book out there currently. I've never been a literary agent. I self-published which kind of means I don't have a lot of literary contacts one would think, yet I receive query letters. Hmmm.
k m mittan says
Nathan, you felt my first novel wasn't a good fit for you. Disappointing, yes, but I felt honored because you wanted to see more than the first five pages and, to me, that said I had the writing part down at least fairly well. (I still feel that way – honored that you asked for more.)
After your rejection and some serious consideration about my book's content, however, I ultimately decided to self-publish. Has it been a huge success? No. But I've sold more books without advertising than most titles sell, period, so I'm not upset about that, either. I know my book is carried by one specific bookstore that plans to continue carrying it. Why should I complain?
Would the book do better if I pushed it? I'm sure it would. It's a tongue-in-cheek biographical novel with a definite regional draw. But I don't like public appearances. I don't like the idea of standing before a group of people and saying, in essence, "I'm a wonderful author and I've written this fabulous book that you're absolutely going to love and your life won't be complete unless you buy it." So I don't push.
The jury is still out on whether I want to self-publish my current WIP – which is nearly ready to send out. This one is pure fantasy so I might choose to try an agent. But, I might not, too. For me, the ultimate triumph isn't in producing a NY Times bestseller, it's in producing a book that's cohesive, fun, interesting, and without a bazillion grammatical errors and typos. It's in having my friends loan their copies to relatives and having the relatives say, "Your FRIEND wrote this? Wow!" It's in having my teenaged grandchildren say, "I loved your book, Grandma." It's in having complete strangers message me, "When will you come out with another book? I want to read the next one." It's in having my cousin, who has her Masters in English, tell her husband I know how to write.
So whether I do traditional or whether I self-publish, I'll ultimately have already experienced my thrill. I'm just in this for the fun of writing something no one else has written. …And to prove to myself that old ladies can still be capable. 😀
MelissaClare says
Hi Nathan,
Your comment about still getting query letters was interesting to me, as I only recently discovered your blog via a 2008 post "How to find a Literary Agent" (I just started my own search for an agent). I should say, it took all of 4 seconds to find out you weren't still working as an agent (great post though, and your blog is very informative). I think that the problem comes from people who want to write a book and get it out there, but don't want to do ANY of the other stuff (research and marketing) that goes along with it. It's overwhelming, and being in it, I sympathize.
Still, not doing any research just wastes 1. our time 2. prospective agents (and ex-agents) time 3. gives us even more writer anxiety about radio silence and rejection letters we didn't need to have and 4. doesn't move us toward publication.
So to my fellow newbie writers I say: Google. It's your friend. Imagine the pre-internet era and feel grateful.
The misbegotten agent search sort of fits in with the dark side of the self-pubbing industry, in that (potentially offensive personal opinion coming) some writers don't uh, stop and think? It seems like some writers lack the ability to look at what they're doing from an objective or sensible standpoint, and subject inappropriate agents to their unfinished work, then throw it out into the world when the gatekeepers of the lit industry rejected it…
That said, I know that now, with self-pubbing so easy, there will probably be good books that go straight to ePub. As a reader I just want to know whether I'll ever find them. We used to have agents going through the slush pile for us.
For the record, I voted "Trad pub then ePub", like 40somthing percent of your readers, so I'm not above subjecting the world to my rejected literature. 🙂