What do new writers most want to know?

Philip64 · Mar 28, 2009

What do new writers most want to know about agents?

These days opportunities for new writers are getting smaller and fewer, at least where mainstream publishers are concerned. The recession has only accelerated a trend that has been well under way for years. Even palpably talented individuals with excellent work under their belts, can fail to get off the ground. Today, more than ever, informed guidance is essential.

If you're still looking for your first deal, which of these areas of advice would you find most useful? If you're already in print, which ones were or would have been most useful when you were starting out?

You can vote for more than one option. The most popular issues will be covered to the best of my ability - and, I hope discussed by people who know - on the blog below

http://thiswriterstale.blogspot.com/

hammerklavier · Mar 28, 2009

How to spend the millions they're going to make?

ChaosTitan · Mar 28, 2009

I voted for option two (How to present or describe their work so that agents will read it.) with the assumption that the writer has already written a polished, can't-put-down novel. Because even if a query letter manages to dress a dreadful novel up in a ballgown and get it asked out on a date, as soon as the agent reads the manuscript they'll see what's underneath.

But once your novel is as good as it can be, you need to know how to write a good query letter. One that is professional and also grabs an agent's attention and makes them want to read more. That was one of the most important things I learned here while submitting to agents.

maestrowork · Mar 28, 2009

A lot of it has to do with marketing and not writing. I think first and foremost, a new writer should focus on writing the BEST manuscript possible. Because, even if you have all the networking and get the agent or editor read your work, the work still has to sell itself.

Then, I think everything is important about researching an agent: who is good, has sold works in the last 6 months, has good reputation, is looking for stuff in your genre, etc. And then you need to learn how to make a good query and partial, and all that stuff. So they're all important.

PeeDee · Mar 28, 2009

I dunno what most new writers WANT to know. I know what they NEED to know, which is really simple stuff like "you seriously need to read so much if you want to be a writer" and so forth.

For the agentry stuff, I'd say learning about publishing options that don't involve agents -- and learning not to let the publishing world bear down too heavily and stop you from writing -- is probably good for young writers.

Maryn · Mar 28, 2009

I spend part of most days answering questions from beginning writers at another site. None of these options is the thing most of those writers ask about. They write two chapters and want to know how to get it published. Nothing about completion, editing, rewrites, agents. They cut to the chase. "I'm on page [anything in the double digits]--where do I find a publisher?" is the one I answer over and over.

Maryn, patient with young people

Kathleen42 · Mar 28, 2009

The poll seems to deal with questions about publication, rather than the writing itself. Therefore, I've slanted my response to deal just with that end of the process.

There are, I've observed, two kinds of new writers (and, being unpublished and only on my second ms, I count myself in that category).

There are those who realize that publishing is a business and that, like any business, you can learn about it. These people try to do as much of their homework as possible. They buy books, seek out blogs, and try to educate themselves as to the mechanics of writing and being published.

Then there are those who simply think that an idea is enough and that anyone can write and sell a book. They don't research and they ask questions which can easily be answered with very little effort.

Those in the first category will ask how to present or describe their work (in the form of asking for crits) and what makes a good agent (in the form of running background checks). These people have done their homework and now just need some help with the polishing and final presentation.

Those in the second category will ask which agents are hot and which are more likely to take them on.

KCathy · Mar 28, 2009

When I was a new writer, I wanted to know which lucky publisher I should approach so she could jump to give me a few hundred thousand dollars to write whatever I wanted to write without pesky revisions and advice. That's how the other authors seemed to do it, from my perspective at the time. Good thing I'm stubborn enough that I actually enjoyed the disillusionment. I prefer goals that are so hard that most people besides me wimp out--they're worth more.

maestrowork · Mar 28, 2009

It's similar to new actors who want to know how he/she can land a super agent and then a multimillion dollar deal working on a Stephen Spielberg movie staring him/her and Brad Pitt.

p.s. yes, I did contact Creative Artists once with my headshots. LOL. They politely declined, of course.

cbenoi1 · Mar 28, 2009

I'm curious about marketing stats on the industry. Is there any source of publication marketing data available? Things like genres sales distribution per market segments. Just to get a feel for what people are looking for.

-cb

Elidibus · Mar 28, 2009

hammerklavier said:
How to spend the millions they're going to make?

^^^

This.

But in all seriousness, anything about agent's likes, dislikes and the best and most appropriate ways to approach them. So I checked all of those boxes

Philip64 · Mar 29, 2009

stats on the market

cbenoi1 said:
I'm curious about marketing stats on the industry. Is there any source of publication marketing data available? Things like genres sales distribution per market segments. Just to get a feel for what people are looking for.

-cb

I think any such detailed stats are likely to be proprietorial - i.e. held by individual retailers and not shared (seeing as it's potentially useful to competitors). Part of the difficulty likes in defining what a market segment is, especially where fiction is concerned. We all know a cookery book when we see one, but in fiction so many books straddle different definitions, even if it may not look like that at your local bookshop. What is the exact definition of "classic literature"? What is and is not "women's fiction"? (Or, for that matter "gay fiction"?) When is a novel "historical"? And so on.
Occasionally publishers latch on to thematic trends (vampires, Scandinavian crime, Tudor historical etc.) but these tend to only cover a small number of titles at any one time.
Marketing people struggle with fiction for the very reason that there are so many perceived "segments", definable in so many different ways. But, of course, the joy (indeed the point) of fiction is that every book is (or should be) unique. The subordination of editors to marketing men (and women) in publishing companies has inevitably created pressure against diversity and towards homogeneity. Perhaps this would be all very well, if the result was an increase in the overall sales of fiction. But the exact opposite has happened. Since the marketing men took over in the 1980s and 1990s, sales of fiction (especially fiction aimed at adults) has steadily declined. Perhaps book buyers know more about fiction than they are given credit for.

http://thiswriterstale.blogspot.com/

cbenoi1 · Mar 29, 2009

> I think any such detailed stats are likely to be proprietorial

I'm not looking for detailed POS (Point-Of-Sale) data, but something more general that paints a broad fresque of the industry.

> Marketing people struggle with fiction for the very reason that
> there are so many perceived "segments", definable in so many
> different ways.

OK, maybe not customer market segments, but what about market segments along genres. I can't imagine publishers and retailers not agreeing on the same terminology and classification terms writers and agents use.

> These days opportunities for new writers are getting smaller and fewer,
> at least where mainstream publishers are concerned.

Going back to your original premise - the recession and new writers. I'm interested to know about the publisher's viewpoint in how they are looking at new writers nowadays.

-cb

What do new writers most want to know?

Agents: what do new writers most want to know?

How to identify which agents are most likely to take them on.

How to present or describe their work so that agents will read it.

How to present or describe themselves so that agents will want to read their work.

Which agents are hot right now.

What turns agents on and off.

What makes a good agent.

How to publish without an agent.

Philip64

sticking his oar in...

hammerklavier

It was a dark and stormy night

ChaosTitan

Around

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

PeeDee

Where's my tea, please...?

Maryn

I Tried

Kathleen42

crushing on fictional characters

KCathy

Writer when I grow up

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

cbenoi1

Elidibus

Over 9000!!!!!!!

Philip64

sticking his oar in...

cbenoi1