First of all, I'm still at least a few weeks away from sending anything out. But I figure I should ask here for some advice regarding that age old question now, so that when I am ready, I know what to do, and in the meantime I can do some research when I'm not working on my book.
For submitting purposes, should I try agents first, or simply send it to publishers? My WIP is an epic Sci-Fi/Fantasy novel (it's kind of like Star Wars in terms of size and if you're looking for something to compare it to), although I could probably pass it off as a YA book too (around ages 13-15, but I'd probably have to tone down some of the violence, but again, it's about as "bad" as Star Wars on that stuff too, and if it's okay for kids to watch people get severed limbs, I think I'm okay hehe) if I needed to.
Anyway, I was thinking about Baen and Tor for publishing, since they accept unsolicited MS's (but they don't accept simultaneous submissions either, which could work in my favor I suppose), but Del Rey produces a lot of books I like to read too (although they want it submitted via an agent). I'm still looking around my 2005 Writer's Market book for publishers and agents that accept Sci-Fi/Fantasy stories (doesn't seem to be many in there
, and to make it worse, many of them specifically state they don't want Sci-Fi/Fantasy stories).
I know that getting an agent is hard, and I've been reading warnings about the scammers, and that my book has to be good enough to sell itself, but at the same time, they probably couldn't do that much better than myself at this point (other than a few publishers who only accept agented MS's). But still, it would be nice to have one doing some of the legwork for me once I finish my novel.
So, in your opinion, would I be better off sending my MS to a publisher that accepts unsolicited MS's, agents, or both at the same time? And do I absolutely need one at this time either, or could I possibly bypass them for now, until an editor decides they want to buy my book (I'm sure an agent would certainly pick me up then if I tell them that I want them to negotiate the contract for me).
For submitting purposes, should I try agents first, or simply send it to publishers? My WIP is an epic Sci-Fi/Fantasy novel (it's kind of like Star Wars in terms of size and if you're looking for something to compare it to), although I could probably pass it off as a YA book too (around ages 13-15, but I'd probably have to tone down some of the violence, but again, it's about as "bad" as Star Wars on that stuff too, and if it's okay for kids to watch people get severed limbs, I think I'm okay hehe) if I needed to.
Anyway, I was thinking about Baen and Tor for publishing, since they accept unsolicited MS's (but they don't accept simultaneous submissions either, which could work in my favor I suppose), but Del Rey produces a lot of books I like to read too (although they want it submitted via an agent). I'm still looking around my 2005 Writer's Market book for publishers and agents that accept Sci-Fi/Fantasy stories (doesn't seem to be many in there
, and to make it worse, many of them specifically state they don't want Sci-Fi/Fantasy stories).I know that getting an agent is hard, and I've been reading warnings about the scammers, and that my book has to be good enough to sell itself, but at the same time, they probably couldn't do that much better than myself at this point (other than a few publishers who only accept agented MS's). But still, it would be nice to have one doing some of the legwork for me once I finish my novel.
So, in your opinion, would I be better off sending my MS to a publisher that accepts unsolicited MS's, agents, or both at the same time? And do I absolutely need one at this time either, or could I possibly bypass them for now, until an editor decides they want to buy my book (I'm sure an agent would certainly pick me up then if I tell them that I want them to negotiate the contract for me).
