i’ve been doing my homework on how to break into a writing career and honestly. there’s a Lot that i didn’t know about thats critical to a writing career in this day and age, and on the one hand, its understandable because we’re experiencing a massive cultural shift, but on the other hand, writers who do not have formal training in school or don’t have the connections to learn more via social osmosis end up extremely out of loop and working at a disadvantage.
like, i didnt know about twitter pitch parties!! i didnt know about literary agents and publishers tweeting their manuscript wishlist, in hopes that some poor soul out there has written the book they really want to read and publish!! this isnt some shit you learn about in school! you really need to know the ins and outs of the writing community to be successful!
for anyone interested, here’s what i’ve learned so far in my quest for more writing knowledge:
1. Writer’s Market 2019 is a great place to start– it gives you a list of magazines and journals that you can send your work to depending on the genre as well as lists a shit ton of literary agents that specify what genres they represent, how you can get in contact with them and how they accept query letters. this is a book that updates every year and tbh i only bought it this year so i dont know how critical it is to have an updated version
2. do your research. mostly on literary agents because if you listed on your site that you like to represent fluffy YA novels and some asshole sends you a 80k manuscript about like…gritty viking culture, you will be severely pissed off. always go in finding someone who you know will actually like your work because they’re the ones who will try to advocate for you in getting published.
3. learn how to write a query letter. there are slightly varying formulas to how you can write an effective query letter. you’re also going to want to get feedback on your query letter because its the first thing the literary agent will read and based on how well you do it, it could be the difference between them rejecting you outright and giving your manuscript a quick read
4. unfortunately, you’re gonna want to get a twitter. Twitter is where a lot of literary agents are nowadays, and they host things like twitter pitch parties, where you pitch your manuscript in a few sentences and hashtag it with #Pitmad #Pitdark, some version of pit. a lot of literary agents and publishers will ALSO post their manuscript wishlists, which is just the kind of books they’d like to represent/publish, and they hashtag this with #MSWL (it is NOT for writers to use, only for agents/publishers)
5. connect with other writers, literary agents, publishers at book events. you will absolutely need the connections if you want to get ahead as a writer. thats just kind of the state of the world.
Important info is important -.-
UPDATE: so i just got signed by an agent bc of twitter pitch parties. for any aspiring writers, you dont HAVE to go the twitter pitch party route, its just another way to get noticed a bit faster
Rebloging for my own benefit, but anyone else who wants to be a writer needs to know this too.
this is good info to get you started!! some more things:
- check out agents on publishers marketplace because some agent might sound like the perfect fit for your project and then you find out they’ve sold like … four books in ten years which is a pretty big flag
- DO YOUR RESEARCH ON AGENCIES!!! it’s fine if a junior agent hasn’t sold much as long as they’re working with people who have a lot of experience in publishing/agenting specifically (NOT writing!!!) but if no one at the agency has a strong history of agenting experience it’s probably a smagency and is not going to help you actually get published. if someone decides to open their own agency because they like books but don’t have relevant experience run far away
- newer agents are more actively building lists but don’t have as much experience so it might be worth it for writers just trying to break in but make sure their agency has a lot of connections and not just to big five (big four now …. yikes)
- DO NOT PITCH AGENTS ON TWITTER
- get other friends in traditional publishing. like not to diss tumblr or fanfic writers or anything but it’s a whole different ballpark and you really need people who know what you’re going through and can give applicable feedback
- do not pitch your first draft. yes even if it’s line edited. i’m fucking begging. on average books need AT LEAST four significant drafts before theyre pitch ready and most debut authors write 3-5 books before they get one published so if you write one and it doesn’t get traction that’s FINE and NORMAL you’re still practicing. fanfiction, short stories, and long form original fiction are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT BEASTS and you have to practice those skills separately. the only way to get good at writing novels is to write multiple novels (AND EDIT THEM!! LEARN HOW TO EDIT ITS SO IMPORTANT)
- dont be discouraged if you don’t get any attention during a twitter pitch event. they’re growing so rapidly in popularity that most agents can’t keep up. plus agents are getting burned out on them. the last one i participated in had THOUSANDS of entries. it’s incredibly difficult to get noticed
- you absolutely do not need connections from conventions or in person events to make it. the most important thing is your submission package and manuscript. that said, they are really great places to make writing buddies
- IF AN AGENT CHARGES A READING FEE RUN AWAY ITS A SCAM
- IF A PUBLISHING HOUSE SAYS YOU DONT NEED AN AGENT AND THEY CHARGE TO PUBLISH RUN AWAY ITS 95% LIKELY ITS A SCAM
- you will probably need comparison titles in your query letter. these are books that have been published in your age group and genre in the last 2-3 years that have done well but not so well that they’re exceptions and the author cannot have ever had a tv or movie adaption. they need to have something in common with your book whether it’s theme or plot point or location or whatever. something to show you know your audience is already there. yes i hate these too. if you say hp or percy jackson you will be laughed out of the room don’t even try it
- if you’re doing a twitter pitch event, it’s the opposite. heading your tweet with two recognizable things will get it more attention. “ATLA x SPIRITED AWAY” “INDIGENOUS PJO” stuff like that. those always get way more likes
- your query letter has to be good. your query letter has to be good. if it’s not good the agent will not read your sample pages, if your first paragraphs/first pages are not good they will not finish your sample, if they don’t like your sample they will not request the manuscript, if they don’t request the manuscript they can’t sign you. a query, at its core, should be character + conflict + stakes. it should be very little besides the hook for your story. no big spoilers. ideally it doesn’t describe anything past act 1. if you have to go deeper into the story to find the hook you probably have a pacing problem and need to revise. your sample pages will ALWAYS be the first pages of your novel (often minus prologue agents often hate prologues). you probably need a 1-2 page summary too
- sci fi is really hard to pitch. it doesn’t sell well so less people want to buy it. i think this is tragic but just know that you will have a hard time with sci fi
- agents on average get THOUSANDS of queries per year. they are completely overwhelmed. they most likely have one or two other jobs because it’s incredibly difficult to support yourself in publishing. please be kind and patient
- the average number of queries that get signed is 0.2%. about 10 out of 5,000 (ive seen multiple agents give these numbers for an average year). you not getting an agent is not a sign you’re a bad writer. it’s a tough business and it IS a business. if you get signed it’s because the agent thinks they can sell it and that’s it
- that said, be prepared to make very little money as an author. number one piece of advice is DONT QUIT YOUR DAY JOB. the median for writing related profits is $6000usd a year. it’s almost impossible to support yourself off writing unless you get EXTREMELY lucky
- if you get an agent, most of them will expect you to publish a book at least every two years. i follow multiple authors who are putting out 2 or 3 books in 2021. an agent wants to sign a CAREER not a book. if you’re a slow writer then buckle up and probably have multiple manuscripts ahead of time
- PUBLISHING TAKES. A. LONG. TIME. don’t expect this to move quickly. youll wait weeks for responses to queries AT BEST. i got a rejection letter a full two years after the query once. if someone has your full manuscript the polite thing is to give 4-6 months before checking in
- this is so basic but make sure your manuscript is formatted correctly and is largely typo free. you should probably have at least three people reading and giving feedback before you pitch. preferably people who are writers involved in/also pitching trad pub
- unpublished writers+published mentors programs like pitch wars can be really helpful in getting an agent so definitely check those out. also sadly mostly on twitter
uuuuh yeah that’s all i can think of at the moment?? feel free to ask questions though my inbox is open!!
For those of you out there who want to learn more I would recommend Alexa Donne’s YouTube channel. She posts a lot of videos about trad pub and querying.
