Quick summary:
Finished my fiction novel January and secured an agent.
A year prior to that I hired an editor who used to be an agent for Simon & Schuster. I paid him $5k, and he did a "global edit," meaning he modified the story somewhat, helped me trim the book from 200k+ words to $114k, but didn't do a line by line edit critiquing the prose. He offered to do that kind of edit for an additional $6k. I passed. I'm a former english major, current attorney, and have many friends whose opinions I trust. I didn't think another 6k was money well spent.
I self-edited with the help of several volunteer readers several times.
The agent sent the manuscript to 20 publishers. About 10 of them have rejected it, and the rest have yet to respond (she tells me they may never).
She and I had a very candid conversation today in which she told me she loves the story, but finds the writing only "adequate." She may be right, who knows? I'll readily admit that most (but not all), of the readers who read my manuscript are my friends or family, so perhaps they withheld honest criticism. She also told me she'd be willing to send a newly edited version of my work out to the same people who have already rejected it, and to those who still haven't responded. She said she has two people who work through her, though she says they're not her employees. She says they charge between 4-5k, and would ask for 5% of the book. She's taking 15% as it is. She told me the money should be paid through her, and she would generate a 1099 for the agents.
There are a lot of red flags here for me. But you know, it's a writer's ultimate dream, blah blah blah. I can afford it, though not without a good pinch. Is this normal, for her to accept money on behalf of editors she says aren't her employees? Is the 1099 thing normal? Is it customary for them to want a %? She says she thinks that a good thing because they have something invested, which I guess I can see. I asked whether I shouldn't just go back to the other editor, who's asking 6k but with no %, and she said, "well, he clearly didn't do a good enough job the first time."
The optimist in me says, "she's right, giving a percentage would motivate them. Plus, if they work with her, they likely know what sells and what doesn't. She does have a large number of published authors to her name, so she's clearly capable. And yes, by the time you sell it, you may have spent more than you'll ever get back, but it's not really about money right? It's about seeing your name in print, etc., etc."
The pessimist says, well, you all know what kinds of things he's saying, because you're probably getting ready to type those things right now.
Any advice?
Thanks
Finished my fiction novel January and secured an agent.
A year prior to that I hired an editor who used to be an agent for Simon & Schuster. I paid him $5k, and he did a "global edit," meaning he modified the story somewhat, helped me trim the book from 200k+ words to $114k, but didn't do a line by line edit critiquing the prose. He offered to do that kind of edit for an additional $6k. I passed. I'm a former english major, current attorney, and have many friends whose opinions I trust. I didn't think another 6k was money well spent.
I self-edited with the help of several volunteer readers several times.
The agent sent the manuscript to 20 publishers. About 10 of them have rejected it, and the rest have yet to respond (she tells me they may never).
She and I had a very candid conversation today in which she told me she loves the story, but finds the writing only "adequate." She may be right, who knows? I'll readily admit that most (but not all), of the readers who read my manuscript are my friends or family, so perhaps they withheld honest criticism. She also told me she'd be willing to send a newly edited version of my work out to the same people who have already rejected it, and to those who still haven't responded. She said she has two people who work through her, though she says they're not her employees. She says they charge between 4-5k, and would ask for 5% of the book. She's taking 15% as it is. She told me the money should be paid through her, and she would generate a 1099 for the agents.
There are a lot of red flags here for me. But you know, it's a writer's ultimate dream, blah blah blah. I can afford it, though not without a good pinch. Is this normal, for her to accept money on behalf of editors she says aren't her employees? Is the 1099 thing normal? Is it customary for them to want a %? She says she thinks that a good thing because they have something invested, which I guess I can see. I asked whether I shouldn't just go back to the other editor, who's asking 6k but with no %, and she said, "well, he clearly didn't do a good enough job the first time."
The optimist in me says, "she's right, giving a percentage would motivate them. Plus, if they work with her, they likely know what sells and what doesn't. She does have a large number of published authors to her name, so she's clearly capable. And yes, by the time you sell it, you may have spent more than you'll ever get back, but it's not really about money right? It's about seeing your name in print, etc., etc."
The pessimist says, well, you all know what kinds of things he's saying, because you're probably getting ready to type those things right now.
Any advice?
Thanks
bubbletuna73.
