How hard is it to get a book deal with a reputable publisher?

[Anonymous]

People making it seem easy(ish) are likely referring to examples of people who are higher profile already in some way.

It would seem a first time author of little to no notoriety, getting their murder mystery or spy novel published is about as easy as an unknown actor getting cast in a big budget new sitcom.

Sure it happens, but it’s not likely.

[Anonymous]

Very difficult to get one with good terms that will allow you to make more than minimum wage.

[Anonymous]

These days it seems like you need a built in-audience before they give you a book deal. Out of the people that I know who have published books, one had a blog and a post that turned viral, one was a speaker on the women's retreat church circuit, one was a DEI consultant for major corporations who had a niche expertise, another one also spoke at conferences and made news with a public controversy/firing. These are all nonfiction books.

I'm not sure about the fiction writers - I think one started with publishing short stories in literary magazines. The other attended some writing program or workshop and must have gotten good traction/support from those who read her manuscript.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These days it seems like you need a built in-audience before they give you a book deal. Out of the people that I know who have published books, one had a blog and a post that turned viral, one was a speaker on the women's retreat church circuit, one was a DEI consultant for major corporations who had a niche expertise, another one also spoke at conferences and made news with a public controversy/firing. These are all nonfiction books.

I'm not sure about the fiction writers - I think one started with publishing short stories in literary magazines. The other attended some writing program or workshop and must have gotten good traction/support from those who read her manuscript.

I mostly know fiction writers and publishing short stories is incredibly common for starting out; it gives authors practice with both querying and publishing in general, as well as offering some small income from writing. Getting an agent still can take ages, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These days it seems like you need a built in-audience before they give you a book deal. Out of the people that I know who have published books, one had a blog and a post that turned viral, one was a speaker on the women's retreat church circuit, one was a DEI consultant for major corporations who had a niche expertise, another one also spoke at conferences and made news with a public controversy/firing. These are all nonfiction books.

I'm not sure about the fiction writers - I think one started with publishing short stories in literary magazines. The other attended some writing program or workshop and must have gotten good traction/support from those who read her manuscript.

I mostly know fiction writers and publishing short stories is incredibly common for starting out; it gives authors practice with both querying and publishing in general, as well as offering some small income from writing. Getting an agent still can take ages, though.

Getting short stories published does not “offer some small income from writing,” even in most of the top tier lit mags.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Before you get published with a major, you need a good, reputable agent. So start there.

First communication with a potential agent needs to pop so they keep reading. Synopsis of the book. Chapter outlines. And roughly the first 50 pages.

Social media has changed things a lot. A large following is very helpful.

Also, advances are not what they used to be. Very, very few first time authors are getting six figures.

There's a lot of good advice on this thread, including this ^. It's pretty hard. Never out of the question.

[Anonymous]

There is a lot of not-great information in this thread. I'm published traditionally with multiple novels.

Most debut books have many years of work that went into them, and/or multiple books that were written that never sold (or never got the author an agent in the first place).

For nonfiction and memoir you need a platform of some kind. A zillion followers on TikTok, a podcast with a good following, etc.

For fiction that's much less important.

I'd recommend looking into the writing societies that exist for the type of writing you want to do--romance, mystery, children's books, etc. There should be many resources for you there. If you don't have a finished project, focus on that. Having critique partners is good if you can find people who are roughly at the same spot you are whose feedback you value.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Take one of Wendy Goldman Rohm’s workshops. She’s excellent.

Has she gotten any book deals for any of the many, many, writers she charges a fortune for workshops?

[Anonymous]

It depends on what kind of book you want to write. A well-written commercially viable book will sell to a publisher if you can find a good agent first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is my ultimate dream to have my memoirs (and then some novels!) published.

I ❤️ to read - I grew up on books & I also love to write.
And I think I have a good story to tell.

Yet I have heard that it is really hard to find a publisher + an agent so I find this info very very useful.

Thx!

Write them and self-publish them on Amazon. I am doing genealogical research and have purchased at least four self-published memoir books from Amazon. You may not have a huge audience but you are getting purchases from people who definitely want to hear what you have to say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't mean self-published. I mean the works.

Find a literary agent
You need this to even get in the door.

[Anonymous]

Hard, op. It's a lot of work.

[Anonymous]

There are people who send HUNDREDS of query letters to agents before they get a nibble. There are others who get asked to send manuscripts after just a few.

There's a lot of luck involved. What agents think is marketable with their contacts is a factor, too.

Plenty of books "die on submission," meaning the writer has an agent, but the book never gets through to publication process.