All of our agents have slipped out of the office to spend the holidays with their families. We’ve picked from previous posts “The Best of” for your reading pleasure and pondering. Our office opens on January 5, 2015, and we’ll have new posts waiting for you then. In the meantime, happy new year!
Blogger: Rachel Kent
When I first started working at Books & Such as an intern back in 2005, I knew close to nothing about the publishing process. I was able to quickly catch on to quite a bit because Janet allowed me to work closely with her. (Janet is amazing to work with and I’m blessed!) I am very confident now but am thankful that I can turn to Janet at any time if I do have questions.
Three things surprised me about publishing back then and I’d like to share them with you. Maybe they surprised you as well.
1) It’s amazing to me how long everything takes in the publishing world. Producing a book–from writing to print–can take years.
- Writing a book takes time. (Though I’m shocked with how quickly some authors write!)
- Agents take forever to read projects when authors submit them.
- An editor takes forever to get around to reading a project when the agent sends it in.
- The contract process can occasionally take months.
- It usually takes around 1-2 years before a contracted book is printed–even if the book was written before contract.
A lot of this delay is because everyone is so busy and there are lots of submissions being handled all the time. I’ve also seen books rushed through the publishing process in a matter of months, but it’s much more common for a book to be in the works for a very long time before it arrives on the bookstore shelf.
2) I never knew that authors wrote books on contract. Before I started working in the publishing industry I believed that all of those books I was reading were written before the publishing houses agreed to publish them. I was very naive about how contracting worked. Learning that books could be contracted before they were written did help to explain why some subsequent books weren’t as good as the first book in the series though. I think that writing books on contract can sometimes damage the quality of a published story. Something else that goes along with this surprise–I never knew that authors are pretty much expected to write more than one book. Being a one-book-wonder is extremely rare.
3) The last big surprise I had when I entered the publishing world was this: Good writing doesn’t always mean strong sales figures. Sometimes the books that are filled with errors and plot mishaps are the books that sell the best for one reason or another. And a book that wins awards for it’s beauty and clarity can sell very few copies. It is certainly not fair, but it’s the way publishing goes more frequently than I would have ever thought possible.
Were any of these a surprise to you when you first started seeking publication and became involved in the world of publishing?
And what was the biggest surprise for you about publishing?
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Three things that surprised Lit. Agent @rachellkent about publishing. Click to tweet.
“…. not fair, but it’s the way publishing goes.”
How is it that we continue to go through life thinking things will be fair and being surprised when they aren’t? And the person with the bonanza rarely comments, “I have all the luck; it just isn’t fair.”
Christ is all about grace and mercy–he isn’t fair, for which I am grateful. Now to turn that attitude toward my writing and say, “I will do my best, Lord, and leave the outcome in your hands.” Hmmm, that might make a good New Year’s resolution.
Lord, bless my Books & Such friends with grace and mercy this year. May their words be inspired by your Word. May we strive not so much for fairness, but rather for your glory–in our words and our deeds. Amen.
What was/is most surprising to me…how long it takes to learn to write at a publishable level. I’ve been writing since 1st grade, so I thought that in a few months I would be ready to jump in at a publishable level…wrong. Two different two year writing classes and nearly fourteen years of practice (writing 6 days a week) and I’m just getting there. Yikes! But this is my dream, and yeah, I think it is worth it.
Oh, also what you said about the beautifully written books not having good sales and the ones with all the mistakes selling tons…well, something I learned is that there is something about those best selling books that make them best sellers. There is always something that is charming readers. And there is something about those lovely books that is turning readers off. I wasn’t willing to look at that before. But now I am noticing the things that make a book beloved by so many even if the author is head hopping all the time. Good example, The Ranger’s Apprentice books, the author head hops… a lot. But the stories are so full of a boy’s journey, becoming a hero, looking out for friends, doing the right thing. Quests and learning and growing and loving and sacrifice. Gotta love the books, even with the head hopping. A friend wanted me to read The Lovely Bones, superbly written literary novel. I loved the language but simply could not read it. 1. I have small children and could not read about a child being abducted and killed. I simply could not do it. 2. The protagonist is dead, there was not hope for me in that and no plot. But wow the writing was beautiful…but it was not a book for me. So yeah, I am learning and growing and starting to be able to recognize the things that endear readers to a book and the things the might push them away from a lovely book. All be it, these are pretty easy examples that you all probably figured out long before me.
“The Lovely Bones” trips my triggers, because I’ve seen dead kids…in larger numbers, killed because heir parents went to the wrong church.
Personally, I think that piece of **** was published for the titillation value. People wanted to read about a young girl getting raped and murdered, and hope that they could vicariously share in the death of the villain.
Kind of why “Nightline” exists.
Yes, these things happen, Yes, we should know about it.
But it is NOT entertainment, and its existence shows that publishing is merely a business.
We have to find a way to be better than that.
I started learning about publishing in high school, so there have not been a lot of surprises.
As long as one realizes that while writing is an art, publishing is a business, one is inured – to some extent – against disappointment.
Books are not published to raise the moral or literary tone of the world. They’re published to make money. The quality of the writing really doesn’t matter all that much. Arthur C. Clarke – whose books I have loved for years – is a dreadful writer, but he can tell a story that resonates with a lot of people – people who buy books.
Asimov was, if anything worse as a writer, but again – he could make up a world that folks wanted to live in while they read.
I do work to improve my craft, but all the fine writing in the world will not get me an agent, let alone a contract.
Only a marketable story will do that.
Unfair? No, it’s just business.
And to validate the point – HarperCollins just wound up with egg on their face for omitting Israel from an atlas intended for sale in the Middle East…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/01/02/harpercollins-omits-israel-from-maps-for-mideast-schools-citing-local-preferences/
Having been in the business world in sales and marketing for my whole career, as well as create and run my own business, nothing is surprising about the Literary BUSINESS! Business is about money…and this idea that working is a noble occupation is a very liberal idea. Creating art whether painting, music, writing….are gifts that should be explored and shared. But making money with those gifts is hard work and a business. The two should not be confused. So, good writing is merely a gift and should continue and people will seek it at some level. But making money is about writing something to appeal to the masses and their pocketbook. I think you can do both. Good writers need to edit, cut, change to fit into the publishing world. I think this is my surprise…. or at least hardest thing to deal with. But bad writers writers with good stories…well, they should continue to create and hopefully get better. Good for them for finding something they can earn a living at. But writing for the sake of uplifting humanity? Well, that is all but a fantasy…
Great post! Here are some of the things that surprised me about the publishing industry:
1. A shocking number of people can put 100k words on paper. I am one of many.
2. Only a small percentage of those people spend the years it takes to master the craft. No true art comes without discipline.
3. Publishers and agents are looking for partners in the business of making books, not artists to patronize (in the old sense of the word). This one wasn’t really a surprise, but the realization that I need to learn the business side of making books was. 🙂
4. Even those authors whose voices, styles and genres are far afield from mine can teach me valuable lessons.
5. Editing can take as long or longer than writing the first draft.
6. Not only will I be expected to produce more than one book, now that I’ve caught the writing bug I can’t imagine doing anything else!
I can’t really say that I am surprised. Like many other art forms, writing is subjective. This means what I think is good and interesting may never appeal to you. Also, publishing, like the film and music industries, are in the business of making money, so they produce things (a lot of garbage, IMHO) because they know it will sell. How many times have you seen a brilliant film that failed to acquire distribution and lingered in the obscurity of direct-to-DVD (and no promo)? Or the latest pop star: trashy, can’t sing, nothing even remotely appealing, while some of the most talented singers/bands never “make it.”
All we can do is to continue to hone our craft and create what we believe to be our best work–at that moment in time. Because our writing will continue to evolve and improve with each piece.
My very best to all of you in 2015! Keep writing!