Authors and people in publishing: At what point in book writing do you look for an agent/publisher?

[Anonymous]

I'm working on a book and would like to publish it. I think it's far enough along to present to "someone" somewhere. Who would that be? I'm not asking for names, just process guidance and recommendations.

[Anonymous]

Is it fiction or non fiction? If fiction, you should probably have the whole thing finished because an agent is going to want to read a complete manuscript. If non fiction, it’s sold on a proposal and you only need a few chapters.

[Anonymous]

Published author here. If you want to go the route of traditional publishing, you will definitely need an agent to sell it to a publishing house for you. Your manuscript should be completely edited and polished, which likely means multiple rounds of revision and hopefully help from a critique partner or beta reader (or several). Then you need to research agents who rep what you write, write a query letter, and start querying. Have lots of patience and thick skin.

Query Tracker and Publishers Marketplace are good resources.

[Anonymous]

What the PP said.

I am a published novelist and if you want to publish a novel traditionally it has to be in close to perfect condition before you send it to agents.

Non-fiction is different. Then you need a close to perfect proposal -- usually at least one sample chapter and an outline.

"Far enough along" does not sound anywhere near ready to send to an agent. You might consider hiring an editor to take a look at your book for you and see what it needs. Check out Reedsy.

[Anonymous]

I used to work in this field and publishers always said they want authors to send in their first 2 chapters as finished and polished as possible. But that if the writer is smart they will have finished the whole book to this level so when the publisher asks to see the rest - they can send it all immediately.

[Anonymous]

Second what all the published authors say. Listen to the Sh#t noone tells you about writing podcast to learn about the query letter and opening pages. It's not enough to write an amazing book, you have to write a killer query letter to even get agents to read your ms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Second what all the published authors say. Listen to the Sh#t noone tells you about writing podcast to learn about the query letter and opening pages. It's not enough to write an amazing book, you have to write a killer query letter to even get agents to read your ms.

that is not entirely true. I worked as an agent for 10+ years and I ignored most of the stuff in the letters, it was the manuscript that I focused on. If the letter was a long ramble dropping names and such, it was off putting. A simple "here's my script, thanks for reading" I'd breathe a sigh of relief.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Second what all the published authors say. Listen to the Sh#t noone tells you about writing podcast to learn about the query letter and opening pages. It's not enough to write an amazing book, you have to write a killer query letter to even get agents to read your ms.

that is not entirely true. I worked as an agent for 10+ years and I ignored most of the stuff in the letters, it was the manuscript that I focused on. If the letter was a long ramble dropping names and such, it was off putting. A simple "here's my script, thanks for reading" I'd breathe a sigh of relief.

While I appreciate you worked in the industry, you must understand that not everyone works exactly like you did and that the industry has evolved? Do you know how many agents don't allow you to submit pages now? Nobody wants name dropping. They want book jacket copy and comp titles.

Sure, OP. Go ahead and try what this former agent says, and please share the data on your success rate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Second what all the published authors say. Listen to the Sh#t noone tells you about writing podcast to learn about the query letter and opening pages. It's not enough to write an amazing book, you have to write a killer query letter to even get agents to read your ms.

that is not entirely true. I worked as an agent for 10+ years and I ignored most of the stuff in the letters, it was the manuscript that I focused on. If the letter was a long ramble dropping names and such, it was off putting. A simple "here's my script, thanks for reading" I'd breathe a sigh of relief.

While I appreciate you worked in the industry, you must understand that not everyone works exactly like you did and that the industry has evolved? Do you know how many agents don't allow you to submit pages now? Nobody wants name dropping. They want book jacket copy and comp titles.

Sure, OP. Go ahead and try what this former agent says, and please share the data on your success rate.

Jacket copy is written by the Marketing Dept.

[Anonymous]

The "someone" you show should be a critique partner. What type of book is it? There may be a writing group you can connect with for free feedback (ideally someone who you click with and you could also provide critique for them).

You could also look for a paid editor to review it, but I'd suggest finding a critique partner or group first. You'll learn a lot from it--just as much from critiquing others as you do from the critiques you'll get.

[Anonymous]

Great advice so far ... I concur.

[Anonymous]

Get in touch with Howard Norman. He teaches at UMD on the Fiction MFA but he takes private clients for editorial input.

[Anonymous]

^^ forgot to say, he charges a hefty fee

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Second what all the published authors say. Listen to the Sh#t noone tells you about writing podcast to learn about the query letter and opening pages. It's not enough to write an amazing book, you have to write a killer query letter to even get agents to read your ms.

that is not entirely true. I worked as an agent for 10+ years and I ignored most of the stuff in the letters, it was the manuscript that I focused on. If the letter was a long ramble dropping names and such, it was off putting. A simple "here's my script, thanks for reading" I'd breathe a sigh of relief.

While I appreciate you worked in the industry, you must understand that not everyone works exactly like you did and that the industry has evolved? Do you know how many agents don't allow you to submit pages now? Nobody wants name dropping. They want book jacket copy and comp titles.

Sure, OP. Go ahead and try what this former agent says, and please share the data on your success rate.

Jacket copy is written by the Marketing Dept.

Nope! I am published by Macmillan and I write my own copy -- what goes on Amazon, the back cover etc. You're lucky if marketing has even read the book!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The "someone" you show should be a critique partner. What type of book is it? There may be a writing group you can connect with for free feedback (ideally someone who you click with and you could also provide critique for them).

You could also look for a paid editor to review it, but I'd suggest finding a critique partner or group first. You'll learn a lot from it--just as much from critiquing others as you do from the critiques you'll get.

Published novelist here. No offense, but this is a waste of your time. Your critique partner has no idea what is selling today, what is hot, what is not, what agents are looking for etc.

Hire an editor. Almost every writer I know who has gotten a book deal in the past five years has done this. Myself included. It's a dirty little secret that no one likes to talk about or admit to.

My editor was a former acquisitions editor at a major publishing house IN MY GENRE. There is simply no way your critique partner's input will be any where close to as valuable as a seasoned editor's.

I wish it weren't like this, but it is.

Also, the PP who said query letters don't matter is in a tiny minority. For most agents, they matter -- a lot.

Traditional publishing is brutally competitive -- and is even more brutal today than it was when I started only six years ago!

The podcast a PP mentioned is a great place to start.