Chapter 32 - Finding A Publisher (Step Three)

To continue on with our "Idea to Bookshelf" series, I am excited to present our first guest blogger, Saundra Mitchell! Saundra will have her first book, "Shadowed Summer" released in February 2009, so be sure to keep an eye out for it. Also, Saundra Mitchell will be one of the debut authors featured in November and you won't want to miss our review of her book or our interview with her!

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Congratulations, You Have an Agent! (Now You Get to Wait Some More)

Hi, I'm Saundra Mitchell, and it's a pleasure to be guest-blogging at My Favorite Author! SpeedReader asked me to write a brief guide to what happens after you get the agent- and I'm sorry to say that it's a lot like what happens before you get the agent. Only now, with added mystery and paranoia!

(Okay, maybe the paranoia is just me.)

Now that you've gotten an offer from an agent, spoken to her to determine that you'll be an amazing fit, notified any other agent who may have a partial or full (you did notify the other agents who have partial or full manuscripts from you, right?) and accepted an offer of representation, you are so totally gonna sell a book, right?

Well... hopefully!

First things first- some agents work on a handshake. Some agents have a contract. Regardless, you should find out their terms for representation before you agree to be their client. The standard agent will ask for 15% commission on domestic sales, 15-25% commission on foreign sales, and may or may not ask for office expenses AFTER a sale. Publishing is one industry where you can still do business on a handshake- which means be careful when you agree to do something. A verbal contract is LEGAL AND BINDING.

And now that you're nervous, congratulations on your new representation! Depending on your agent, you may immediately go to market, or you may have revisions ahead of you. Every agent has his own temperament, and her own approach to the market. Personally, I like a revising agent because it's a chance to get notes from someone who sees a *lot* of manuscripts in your market, who also has a deeply vested interest in selling it for as much money as possible. Your agent doesn't get paid unless you do, so listen to her.

Once you and your agent are satisfied with your manuscript, she will generate a list of publishers for submission. She may ask for your input- if you know someone, speak up! If you've already had a weird experience with someone- speak up! She may ask you to write a blurb, or she may write her own blurb- in any case, your novel will probably go out to 4-8 editors in the first round. You don't want to blitz the entire market, because if you get rejections with consistent issues (if every editor says "This character is unlikable" for example,) you want to have editors left to query after you address the problem.

This is the part where mystery comes in. You're still in the query stage- it's just that your agent is doing the querying now. That means you have to chill and wait. Don't bother your agent every day- if there's news, you'll hear about it! Your agent may let you know when the submissions go out specifically; he may not. He may keep you updated as offers or rejections roll in- he may wait until he has them all gathered.

And I am sorry to bear the bad news- some houses like to ask for revisions before they make an offer. Whether you do depends entirely on you and your agent, and I'd do whatever your agent thinks best. Oh, and don't bother to check your e-mail forty million times am hour. If an offer comes in, you'll probably get a phone call!

So what can you expect after submissions begin? Well, if the response is quick and positive, your agent may hold an auction. She'll set the terms, times and dates, and all interested publishers will show up to put in bids. Auctions can take just a few hours, or a few weeks- and chances are, you'll get to talk to a few of the editors bidding to get a feel for their sensibility and plan for your book.

Remember- it's not always the most advance money that wins an auction- a really comprehensive marketing vision and a shared goal for the manuscript are also important factors.

If you're really, really, really lucky, some editor will love your manuscript so much, she'll offer a pre-empt. A pre-empt is a great offer with an expiration date- take it now or lose it forever- because the editor's goal is to prevent you from calling an auction. She's offering a premium for you to make a decision to join their house immediately.

Most writers, though, will have a mix of rejections and conservative offers- and here's the part I really hate to tell you. Sometimes, you can wait weeks, months, and sometimes even into a few years, to get there. Publishing has its seasons, like any market, sometimes you have to do multiple rounds of revisions. Multiple rounds of submissions. And sometimes, despite everybody's best effort, sometimes you may just have to start over with a new manuscript.

Your agent may automatically share useful rejections with you, or he may skip that entirely. You can always ask to see them, though really, all you'll learn from them is the same thing you learned from agent rejections: they said no, and you have no idea why. No matter how much writers enjoy trying to read the minds of editors by auguring the chicken guts of their rejections, all they really mean is no.

Sounds a lot like looking for an agent, doesn't it? That's because it's exactly like looking for an agent- but with one big difference. Once you have representation, you have somebody on your team- you're not doing this alone. You have someone who believes in your work, and someone you believe can champion it. And, actually... there's another big difference. When you're submitting with your agent, the next big yes means you're going to be published.

But until then, work on your next book, because there's no telling when that big yes might come. It could be right around the corner, or all the way across the calendar. Let your agent be your agent- sit back, and do what you were meant to do- write.

Because that's the greatest thing your agent gives you: the time to write instead of market. Don't blow it.

Up Next: Getting On the Bookshelf! (We are excited to have Michelle Zink guest-blogging this last post in the series.)

Happy Reading!