Or “What’s the last thing you read that made you say ‘Damn - I wish I’D written that!’?”
Setting is big with me. In fact all of my titles are place names. So usually I’ve already talked about it but am always happy to talk about it some more. I think in public Q&A settings people can ask anything; they’re supposed to. It’s only the emails or forced conversations that bug me. I mean, it’s not like I meet a dentist and say, “So I’ve been thinking about giving my wife a root canal… any tips?”
As a children’s book writer, the one that won the Newbery medal this year. I felt totally schooled. And every author I know who read it feels the same way. Schooled.
Since the thread seems to have morphed into “Ask the Published Author”…
… there are two different questions an aspiring author is likely to ask about getting published, and one thing that always frustrated me (as the ASKER of the question) that I would be asking Question Two and all the answers I got were pertinent to Question One which I had not asked:
Question One: I want to get published. What can I write that publishers will go for, and how do I present it / to whom do I present it / etc in order to get myself into print? <—— I am not asking this question
Question Two: I have written something already. I want to get this material published. These are the concepts & ideas I want to see get into print (+ or - editing of course). To whom do I present this specific material in order to get myself into print? <—— I am asking this question
My years in academia introduced me to the concept of a “call for papers”. I have often wondered if a similar “we would be interested in publishing this kind of content” missive goes out pertaining to nonfiction and fiction subject areas, such that one could read them until a description matches up decently closely with the works that one wishes to publish, and then submit it to that requestor. (?)
Then there’s the agent thing but I never learned much about it. Most of that seems to be about mainstream fiction, in well-established genres, am I right?
The “where do you get your ideas” question annoys me because it comes with the unspoken assumption that there are places where you don’t get ideas. If you’re separating the world into “inspirational” and “non-inspirational,” you’re unlikely to do well in a creative field.
I like the way you put that. I typically answer that they are like aluminum cans. If you look for them, they’re everywhere.
I guess if asked (2) I might veer to (1) because I don’t know what you’ve written and even if I did, I don’t know who would buy it. I know zero agents and editors outside of children’s books. But offhand, I’d say you have to find books remotely like the one you’ve written and see where they were published and find out who edited them (check the acknowledgments). If your book is completely different from anything else, let me put it a different way: who is going to buy your book, and what other books are they buying?
There are many ways to find out what agents/editors want… they put it on web pages, in the Literary Marketplace, etc. Most people do write their ms. first then find someone who wants it, BTW. But it helps to know the market.
You have to do research. Of course, that leads to the question of where do you go for that? The fact I have no idea what you write or the genre makes it difficult to point you in the proper direction. So I will draw on my own experience.
I have published a number of articles related to aviation. I found the markets by participating in aviation-related forums, and reading aviation-related magazines. I located those that focused on the area of aviation I wished to talk about, wrote to them (this was back in the 1990’s, before e-mail became the default), sometimes called them on the phone, asked for their submission guidelines, and submitted according to instructions.
I am currently attempting to get some fiction published. As suggested, I looked at similar works in the same genres and, again, asked for copies of their submission requirements and guidelines. I have also participated in several editing groups where I asked others if they had any ideas of where I should look (in a sense, you’re doing that one right now). Finally, I have actually spoken with an editor I happened to meet and have, in fact, submitted work to a publisher this week. Is that piece going to sell? Damn if I know - I think it’s fantastic, I wouldn’t have submitted it if I didn’t, but the decision to buy isn’t up to me.
I’ve used the Writer’s Market, which is updated yearly, websites, and, as I said, contacted publishers for their requirements. Without knowing your area of writing it’s hard to say more.
Many years ago, I was talking to British SF author Bob Shaw. He said the thing he dreaded most was people coming up to him and saying “I’ve got this brilliant idea for a novel!!”. He would silently think to himself “I hope to God it’s not a comedy, 'cause if you’ve only got a single idea, there’s a whole bunch of blank pages waiting for you”.
That’s why there are agents.
Publishers don’t send out calls on what they’re looking for; that would only get them inundated (plus, most editors, when asked, will just say, “Something good.”)
Agents meet with editors all the time. And over lunch they might ask a particular editor what they are looking for and what they’re tired of getting. That particular editor doesn’t have to say “Something good,” since she know the agent knows that. So she might say, “I’d really like a fantasy series like Jim Butcher.” And the agent will say, “I have something like that by one of my clients” (only if he actually has something like that – if he lies, he’ll never get this sort of info from that editor (or many others again).
That’s one main advantage of an agent – he knows what editors are interested in buying and in what trends are over,
A good agent can help you with any type of writing.
Oh YEAH !
Nothing less then what I expected, they want to keep all of the good stuff for themselves.
They try to put you off of writing in case you make more competition for them, or your stuffs better then theirs and they feel jealous.
And all that “people keep coming up to me and asking me to read their screenplays”,stuff.
We just know that you’re saying that so that we’ll all think that you’re really important.
“Oh I’m too BUSY to read your work” !
As though we all didn’t know that best selling authors spend most of their time doing lunch and hanging out in expensive hotels.
Well my eighty word outline of my fourteen volume Fantasy series is in the post …
So read it Bitch!
And then get me published or I’ll never, ever borrow one of your books to read again.
And I’m not bluffing mister!