You Can't Get Something For Nothing

Good news! You finally receive the email that you've been waiting for: A publisher has offered to publish your book. Then your joy turns to apprehension when you actually read that contract:

Rights, sub-rights, territories, escalation, reserve? What’s that? You don’t know the rules, the customs, even the vocabulary. Should you accept the offer?

One of the provisions that causes the greatest angst among new authors, is the so-called option clause. The publishing-advice websites are abuzz with conspiracy theories and horror stories from inexperienced authors who feel they got robbed by it. Yet most publishing contracts have one, and it generally goes something like this:

THE REVOLUTION THAT WASN’T

When I was a child, my home had a 20-inch black-and-white television. We could tune in about nine channels; the signal was free, and the selection was more than enough. Today we have a 46-inch hi-def color flat screen with access to hundreds of channels, but we only watch about six of them. And I have to pay for it!

Back then, we looked forward to a future of supersonic flight. This wonderful machine, which we knew as the SST, would be able to take us anywhere on earth in just a couple of hours. But only about 20 were ever made, and the entire fleet was grounded after only 27 years of service.

Boasting

As a literary agent, I receive hundreds of submissions each month. From among this number, I might sign one or two new clients. Sometimes none. Generally, this is not because I can’t handle the added workload; if a story shows promise, I will find a way. Rather, far more often than not, I just don’t catch a vision for the stories before me.

Generally, I promise to render a verdict on each project within 30 days. This is because, as a writer, I know well the angst of waiting and waiting for an answer that might never come. I take no pleasure in giving bad news, but I often find that the writers set themselves up to fail. And it’s not my job to rescue them.

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Some people try to flatter me into accepting their work. Others (apparently) observed a few spiritual titles in my portfolio, so they bombard me in Jesus-speak. But I'm not here to be your BFF, and you didn’t come here to join my church; I still need to make a business decision.

How Not to Choose An Agent

The rise of the Internet has brought us dozens (maybe hundreds) of websites that attempt to give advice to aspiring authors. And then we have the countless chat rooms and message boards, where peer-to-peer counseling thrives. And after twelve years in the business, I’ve come to a conclusion:

There’s an awful lot of bad advice getting passed around out there.

Mind you, it’s not that reliable sources don’t exist. Writer groups, mentors, reference books, and conferences abound. But in my experience, most writers aren’t interested. They just want to write, and then take their chances in the fickle, unpredictable marketplace.

Three Year-Old Predictions About The Future of Self-Pub

Recently I discovered this online article from Forbes magazine, about the virtues of self-publishing. 

It’s more than three years old, but the commentary by contributor David Vinjamuri is still quite timely. Many new authors believe that they will find their salvation in self-pub; and in some very rare cases, they do. But overall, let’s just say that I’m skeptical.

First, a stat that no one can ignore: Over 95% of all self-pub books never sell 100 copies (Publisher’s Weekly). As a writer myself, I certainly understand the passion to get into print. But most writers I meet, have no interest in learning the business. They just want to write, and leave the rest to someone else. Not a good formula for success.

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GET REAL ABOUT WRITING CONTESTS

According to one oft-cited source, about 81% of all Americans say they want to write a book. That’s 243 million aspiring authors! And furthermore, there are about six million book proposals, queries, and manuscripts making the rounds among American publishers and literary agents at any one time.

Yikes!

What do these stats tell me? Well, it’s not rocket science: Almost everyone has a story inside them, and they want to share it with the world. Some kids grow up dreaming of a career in medicine, or law, or show business. Me, I wanted to write. Indeed, no matter their day job, about four-fifths of us want to write. It’s a passion. A calling. I know it well.

Authors Guild Demands More

The Authors Guild recently announced the launch of its Fair Contract Initiative. Essentially this means they believe that publishers are getting fat on the backs of struggling writers, and that said publishers should share the wealth more fairly.

But what, exactly, is fair?

This week, the issue has to do with e-book royalties. The standard publishing contract offers a 25% royalty for e-books, but the Guild believes it should be much higher. After all, it costs nothing to produce an e-book, and nothing for shipping. Why can’t they pay more?

But here's the thing: the process for producing an e-book is exactly the same as any other. They're not free to produce, and they never were.