Agented, Direct to Publisher, or Traditional Self-published?

[MikeAngel]

Since I'm a year away from the completion of a 900-1000 page reference book on Mark Twain, I have time to contemplate the various ways to publish. Also, I'm a published short story writer and novelist, but have never been able to obtain an agent. No matter what approach I've used for my PI mystery novels (4) I get compliments on the writing but am told those are a hard sell now. Whatever.

For the past year or so I've been working on this reference book, Mark Twain Day-by-Day, which assembles dates from 11 volumes of letters, notebooks, speeches, bios, etc. to track the man's life as closely as possible. Think of it as an expanded and annotated chronology, with paraphrases and excerpts of Sam's humor and insights whenever possible. I thoroughly researched the market and there is nothing of this nature and comprehensiveness available. I'm a member of a Twain list-serv, visited by many scholars and professors, and have confirmed the need and desireability of such a book with these folks.

Since Twain traveled the world and wrote from 50-100,000 letters in his lifetime, not to mention hundreds of lectures and speeches, it's truly an Everest labor of love. I'm learning more about the man and his times than I could have by reading all the biographies. Plus, my library has swollen quite large.

My question is this: Should I follow a traditional self-publishing route, or approach publishers directly, or try to find an agent? Some other information is relevant:

Self publish? I have self-published and sold enough of a short story collection to break even. It took a couple of years, but the book turned out well. I hired every function, from cover design to copy-edit and did the marketing myself (sales background.) Of course, that was fiction, and this is a historical reference book, but designed to be read by the researcher and layman alike. I can handle the cost of an intial 2-500 book print run, cover design, copyedit and the like. I don't care for the idea of POD--I'd give up too much control on the final product and perhaps stigmatize the work.

Find an agent? Agents for historical works want someone with a "platform"--that is, credentials to help sell the book. Though I've taught college writing and have a masters in education, and am a life-long twain scholar, I have no formal "platform" for such a work beyond the interest and desire and persistence. Also, I grew weary chasing agents around for my mystery novels, and concluded that few good agents care to even read new works these days. You might argue, but to me it's who you know, and I don't know influential sorts in the publishing industry.

Approach publishers directly? This is one possibility I haven't thought too much about, although I know it's sometimes done with smaller publishers.

What would you advise? I have another hard year of research and entry to do anyway, but I'm trying to think ahead. Reference books of this nature often sell for $50 or more. I just paid $70 for the last printed UofCal volume of Twain's letters. I'd like to keep my cover price under $40, however, if I self pub, to aid in sales.

Thanks in advance for any advice offered.

[Tish Davidson]

Since you have a year before completion, you might want to query some university presses to see if they are interested. They tend to be receptive to unagented works. You also could try querying some agents known to handle nonfiction. I think you need to test the waters a bit and gather more information before you make a firm decision.

[popmuze]

Just wondering if anything like this has been done about anyone else? If so, you could see if that book had an agent.

I've had some success in the reference field without an agent, but I might have gotten a better deal if I had one.Then again, I doubt I would have gotten an agent for that book.

[Lauri B]

You shouldn't self publish this unless it's an absolute last resort. I think your best bet will be to approach university presses directly, at first, and especially those located in Connecticut (and Missouri?). Uni presses usually have some kind of written or unwritten mandate to publish books of regional interest. If you submit to them, you have Twain's regional component to pitch. Even though the book isn't scholarly in nature, you'd be surprised how flexible many uni presses are about publishing aficionados' work without the uni affiliation or PhD. These kinds of presses also know how to market books such as yours, since they do it all the time.
Good luck

[aka eraser]

Count me among the direct-to-publisher advocates. Agents are (obviously) interested in works that have the potential to generate sizeable advances and sales figures. They won't see your work as falling into that category. Self-pubbing severely limits your ability to reach your markets, not to mention putting a considerable dent in your bank balance for a tome of that heft. I think it's a no-brainer. Start studying the uni and small-medium nonfic publishers.

[ritinrider]

I agree with the direct to publisher route. Also, as has been said, small regional publishers and/or university presses are probably your best bet. I know the OU Press (University of Oklahoma) publishes a variety of book types, fiction, nonfiction, scholarly,and just plain interesting. And, yes now is the time to query editors. Good luck.
Nita

[Medievalist]

UC Press is still publishing Twain material; I'd start there. I'd also think about using the raw data in anciliary projects, like calendars or day books.

[MikeAngel]

Thanks for the comments. I'll start compiling a list of potential publishers. I do know one or two university presses where publication amounts to vanity press, so I'll need to cull those out. The regional idea is a good one, although Twain is claimed by several regions. Missouri, Connecticut, San Francisco, Nevada especially. Then I'll do an initial query letter, and perhaps later a full proposal. I've not been able to find a day-by-day chronology for anyone's entire lifetime, although this must have been done. Twain is rather unique in that so many of his letters, speeches, articles and works have survived.

As a reward, here's a snippet of description about the 5th wet-nurse Sam & Livy engaged for their 3rd child, Clara (who lived to be 88). It gave me a few heehaws and reflects Sam's muscular pen:

No. 5 was apparently Irish, with a powerful strain of Egyptian in her….She stood six feet in her stockings, she was perfect in form & contour, raven-haired, dark as an Indian, stately, carrying her head like an empress, she had the martial port & stride of a grenadier, & the pluck & strength of a battalion of them. In professional capacity the cow was a poor thing compared to her, & not even the pump was qualified to take on airs where she was. She was as independent as the flag, she was indifferent to morals & principles, she disdained company, & marched in a procession by herself. She was as healthy as iron, she had the appetite of a crocodile, the stomach of a cellar, & the digestion of a quartz-mill. Scorning the adamantine law that a wet-nurse must partake of delicate things only, she devoured anything & everything she could get her hands on, shoveling into her person fiendish combinations of fresh pork, lemon pie, boiled cabbage, ice cream, green apples, pickled tripe, raw turnips, & washing the cargo down with freshets of coffee, tea, brandy, whisky, turpentine, kerosene--anything that was liquid; she smoked pipes, cigars, cigarettes, she whooped like a Pawnee & swore like a demon; & then she would go up stairs loaded as described & perfectly delight the baby with a boquet which ought to have killed it at thirty yards, but which only made it happy & fat & contented & boozy. No child but this one ever had such grand & wholesome service. The giantess raided my tobacco & cigar department every day; no drinkable thing was safe from her if you turned your back a moment. [1f,p415-6n6]

[Medievalist]

I'd suggest going to a couple of Twain conferences and submitting papers, or getting published on a couple of the peer reviewed academic journals. Academic presses will want more than a statement regarding your research; you need to be very well known to the Twain community, even before an academic press will pass the ms. on to anonymous readers or the editorial board.

[MikeAngel]

I'd suggest going to a couple of Twain conferences and submitting papers, or getting published on a couple of the peer reviewed academic journals. Academic presses will want more than a statement regarding your research; you need to be very well known to the Twain community, even before an academic press will pass the ms. on to anonymous readers or the editorial board.

While your suggestion is a practical one, becoming "well known" in the Twain community is a rather vague and ephemeral goal for a guy my age. I have tried to find someone with the platform credentials to collaborate, even though I would do 99% of the work, but so far no go. I do belong to the Twain Listserv, which includes many PhD's and Twainophiles. There is some interest within the group but I haven't yet made a specific request for help there. I may soon do this, but the group of approx 300 knows of my project. Some are skeptical that it can be completed. Only ignorance convinces me otherwise. That and persistence. Though I have a masters in Ed. and have done original research in composition theory and have had 15 short stories and a novel published, these are not the sort of credentials academia would want to see. So, I may keep trying to find a mentor--either that or spent my next 20 years nailing down the PhD in history or English and publishing Twain papers, then letting my estate publish the book. hah.

[Medievalist]

Though I have a masters in Ed. and have done original research in composition theory and have had 15 short stories and a novel published, these are not the sort of credentials academia would want to see. So, I may keep trying to find a mentor--either that or spent my next 20 years nailing down the PhD in history or English and publishing Twain papers, then letting my estate publish the book. hah.

Nonsense. I was one of the people selecting papers for the Huntington conference, and we didn't look at the names or the credentials until after we accepted a paper. Write a good paper, and no one will care. You need to use the standard academic citations, but you know how to do that. As for journals, and academic presses, again, more often than not the readers don't have names on the mss.

[MikeAngel]

Nonsense. I was one of the people selecting papers for the Huntington conference, and we didn't look at the names or the credentials until after we accepted a paper. Write a good paper, and no one will care. You need to use the standard academic citations, but you know how to do that. As for journals, and academic presses, again, more often than not the readers don't have names on the mss.

Ah, for papers, this may be so. But I don't have the time or inclination to write position papers on Twain trivia. Much less to "puff" them in the proper circles, or fly off across the country to Twain events.

So, I will poke around a bit for a publisher, but am fully prepared to self-publish. Money is no object. Neither is marketing, something I enjoy. I have the printer, the artwork, and will have to find a cover designer since mine has moved out of state. But all that's a year away, and it gives me time to dangle this in front of a few small publishers.

thanks for all the help.