Need serious advice!!!

Christyp · Oct 19, 2011

Many of you have read and responded to a post about getting an editor. Here's teh deal, and I need some major advice. I wrote a book, self-published it without even attempting to look for an agent or publisher (going on the bad advice of some writer "friends") and never really bothered to promote or market it.

I'm currently working on a new book, and I've queried for the aforementioned novel recently (it's only been available for a short period of time). My problem is, whether I should wait to see if any agents bite, make the effort to market and promote teh novel....what?

ACK! I hate this part. THe first time I quried I was getting responses as early as the same day. This time...nothing yet. It's been since October 7, and I know most agents take weeks, so it's the whole waiting, or move on thing.

Let me try to sum up this entirely too long post....should I wait to see if an agent is interested, or spend the time and effort on promoting the novel as a sp?

rainsmom · Oct 19, 2011

I would not wait for agents for the first novel. Too many won't touch it because you've already published it. If you want to continue with that novel, start marketing it yourself. If you can sell a bunch of copies, THEN agents may be interested.

In the meantime, keep working on the next novel and plan to shop that one to agents.

FabricatedParadise · Oct 19, 2011

rainsmom said:
I would not wait for agents for the first novel. Too many won't touch it because you've already published it. If you want to continue with that novel, start marketing it yourself. If you can sell a bunch of copies, THEN agents may be interested.

In the meantime, keep working on the next novel and plan to shop that one to agents.

I agree with this suggestion. I understand not wanting to scrap something you've put so much work into, but you probably won't get any bites from agents unless it's widely successul (and if it's that successful, you wouldn't need an agent for it

). There are a lot of ways you can market it on your own, it just takes more effort, but you're obviously passionate about your story, so you're probably already familiar with putting in effort.

Little Ming · Oct 19, 2011

I'm going to disagree slightly with the above two posters. We just had one agent in the Ask the Agent forum who said he didn't have a huge problem taking a look at self-published novels, even if the novel did not sell well initially.

Of course, this was only one agent so I can't generalize it to others. But there's still some hope.

geardrops · Oct 19, 2011

The main thing you will need to know and be able to answer is what rights have been consumed by you self-publishing the novel. I understand many publishers are not interested in books once certain rights are no longer on the table, and that may limit which agents will take on your book. But this is only from what I have heard, and not from personal knowledge.

Good luck! I'm sorry you got bad advice in the first place.

FabricatedParadise · Oct 19, 2011

Little Ming said:
I'm going to disagree slightly with the above two posters. We just had one agent in the Ask the Agent forum who said he didn't have a huge problem taking a look at self-published novels, even if the novel did not sell well initially.

Of course, this was only one agent so I can't generalize it to others. But there's still some hope.

I didn't see this, but I don't spend a lot of time in the AtA forum.

Well this is good news! And more to think about. The important thing to remember is that ultimately, you have to do what feels right for you. We can give advice until we turn blue, but we're not the ones who have live with whatever choice is made.

James D. Macdonald · Oct 19, 2011

The real question is whether you want to have a book that isn't ready for Prime Time out where people can find it.

Little Ming · Oct 19, 2011

Here's the relevant thread.

See if you can guess who the agent is.

Polenth · Oct 20, 2011

Some people read certain sub-forums and not others, so without giving all the details, you're not going to get the best advice. You can't assume people know about all the other things you've posted.

People need to know you've been rewriting it and considering paying for an editor you can't really afford. It's not simply a case of the book being ready to sell and out there, so you may as well promote it. You'd have a lot of work to do before you could promote it, because you don't really want to promote something that isn't your best work.

So my earlier advice stands. I think you should take it down rather than spend so much more time and money on it. You can always come back to it later.

Soccer Mom · Oct 20, 2011

Polenth said:
Some people read certain sub-forums and not others, so without giving all the details, you're not going to get the best advice. You can't assume people know about all the other things you've posted.

People need to know you've been rewriting it and considering paying for an editor you can't really afford. It's not simply a case of the book being ready to sell and out there, so you may as well promote it. You'd have a lot of work to do before you could promote it, because you don't really want to promote something that isn't your best work.

So my earlier advice stands. I think you should take it down rather than spend so much more time and money on it. You can always come back to it later.

This. Honestly, I'm glad push-button self-publishing wasn't available when I wrote my first novels. I might have been tempted to put them out there.

At least those inferior (okay, pretty embarassing) attempts are safely stuck in my desk drawer and not out there for people to see.

Pull down a book that has issues. Write your next project. Revisit the other book later and rewrite it heavily.

happywritermom · Oct 20, 2011

I would take it down.
If it hasn't been on the market long and you revise and retitle it, you might be able to erase that attempt at self-publication from your writing history.
I don't have anything again self-publishing (though it's not for me), but I would never recommend self-publishing anything unless you are absolutely certain it is ready and that self-publishing is the route you want to go.

Determination · Oct 20, 2011

If I were you I would pull the book and forget about it. You all ready posted that you think it needs an editor and as I'm sure you know, agents like your book to be the best it can possibly be before you query them. Plus, the fact that it is all ready out there for people to read in this less than pristine shape doesn't bode well for building a solid readership. If I read a book and it has a lot of errors, I'm not likely to pick up another one from that author.

Focus on making your next book bigger and better. Take what you've learned from your mistakes and use them to grow as a writer. We all have books we've had to shelve for one reason or another. Sometimes you just have to move on to the next one

Christyp · Oct 21, 2011

Thank you all for the advice. I think I'm going to keep it shelved for the time being and work on my current WIP.

Again, thank you all for your advice and opinions!

Need serious advice!!!

Christyp

Lizard Lady

rainsmom

Feeling like an old timer

FabricatedParadise

Can be bribed with circus peanuts

Little Ming

geardrops

Good thing I like my day job

FabricatedParadise

Can be bribed with circus peanuts

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle

Little Ming

Polenth

Mushroom

Soccer Mom

Crypto-fascist

happywritermom

Determination

Is watching you

Christyp

Lizard Lady