What I wish I knew…part 2
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The Challenges and Opportunities
The Challenges and Opportunities that querying authors face at the moment
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July
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The Final Word
By Stuart White
What I wish I knew…part 2
I was overwhelmed with the responses to last week’s Final Word, rather unexpectedly as I often get no, or very little response to anything I write here, and that was so lovely - thanks to everyone who commented or emailed. It really does hearten me to know I’ve added value and hope and motivation and all the other things that were mentioned. It’s why I do this whole thing.
So THANK YOU!
You all said you wanted to hear more, so I shall continue on my path of highs and lows (more of the latter!) and we’ll dip back in with Book 4 (you can read last weeks’ newsletter to find out what happened with my first 3 books).
After the excitement of all the full requests on book 3 but then feeling like Bantha fodder when they all, ultimately, rejected me - including my phone call rejection - I did the only thing I could do - write another book!
At this point I had a few ideas and started writing a number of things - from my adult prison sci-fi, the 100 meets Shawshank, to my Scottish Mythology middle grade, I dabbled in loads of things but then I watched Frozen with my daughter and I started writing a darker frozen, designed for young adults, in a deeply zealous world.
And I kept writing it, and I was excited again about something new. As I finished, I put it out to a few competitions etc and it got a few placings, so I was happy it had some potential.
When I finally sent it out to agents, I got the same level of interest as I did with book 3, after many of those agents had asked to see my next thing. A flurry of full requests later, and the excitement grew a little - it cannot be helped or suppressed - but I was in better control this time.
I went on to sign with an agent for that book, and it went out on submission, but unfortunately there were no takers on the first round. We did, however, end up signing with a smaller press, and I was happy, if not ecstatic.
I am not sure why I wasn’t but something didn’t feel right for me.
I did all the fun things, like joining a 2019 debuts DM group on Twitter with a great bunch of authors, some of whom have gone onto be SUPER successful (like Netflix movies etc) and some who I am still very friendly with, but I think being in that group also made me realise that I wasn’t quite living the dream that I’d always wanted.
It wasn’t a comparison thing - I had these doubts before I joined the group - but being around them and listening to their experiences etc made me doubt if I had what I wanted.
So, after being a bit more diligent and asking a lot of questions of my publisher, I decided I wasn’t happy with their answers on things like marketing, distribution, royalties etc etc and I decided to pull out of my publishing deal.
When it doesn’t feel right, it’s probably not.
And I don’t regret it to this day. I never really think about it as a sliding door moment because I genuinely believe in my heart that I’d be worse off now if I’d gone through with it.
I also parted with my agent, not because of any issue with them at all, they were lovely, but because I don’t think their expectations and ambitions matched mine. I think even then I wanted something different.
I didn’t JUST want to be published.
If I was going to give up my hard earned rights to my work, I wanted it to be for a deal and situation that would be in my favour.
Too many authors are happy to just sign any old bit of paper that comes to them from agents and publishers (and I’m not throwing shade at anyone, publishing is a business etc and everyone wants paid), but rarely do I think any of these bits of paper are prioritising the author.
Not all agents are equal and some are outstanding - I have a list of 10 or 12 that I would always query my work to, if I ever do again, as I know they’d fight for the best deal for my intellectual property, as they have with so many of their current clients.
But a bad, or less competent, agent is worse than no agent at all.
So don’t be so quick to send your work to every agent in the W&A yearbook or on Query Tracker!
Be selective and be sure they’re going to do the very best for you and your work.
That same book had other offers from small presses, too, as I still shopped around looking for a home for it.
But again, on both occasions, the press wilted under the scrutiny of my questions on areas like marketing, royalties, distribution, creative control and a number of other things - I have a list of about 50 questions to ask if you’re in that situation - I might post them here one day.
I think it’s worth remembering that we are the creators of wonderful stories, we do not have to settle for mediocre - I’ve watched so many others just sign any old deal they are offered just so they can be published, and I guess I wanted to write about this to say it doesn’t have to be this way. It’s okay to say no to agents and publishers if it doesn’t feel right to you, or they can’t (or won’t) answer all and any of your questions.
It’s not rude, and it’s okay, to ask lots of questions, and any good agent/publisher will be willing to answer them all honestly and without any sign of irritation - if not, that’s your red flag and sign to say no.
Incidentally, I’ve also ended up saying no to a few more contracts since then, too, including an agent offer the last time I queried (I’ll talk more about that in the next part), so it wasn’t isolated to that part of my life - I’ll always advocate authors not signing away their rights for tiny advances (if any at all!) and miserable royalties.
All of this said, there has to be a compromise and maybe you’re not of the same mindset as me. Maybe you DO just want to be published and you don’t mind that you’ll get paid very little, you’ll get no marketing and eventually your book will go out of a print or worse, stay in print, selling minuscule numbers of copies. I’ve seen this for a lot of friends, unfortunately.
But the thrill of holding their book, of it being out in the world, of that external (and internal) validation that comes with being published - this has outweighed the negatives for them and that’s why they do it.
And I say, fair enough, and good for them.
But it’s not for me. And it doesn’t need to be for everyone.
Maybe you’re reading this and nodding, or maybe you’re tutting and thinking I’m an idealist with no grounding in reality, and I’m throwing away all of my chances of traditional publishing.
Perhaps - I’m very aware that I am a flawed human and perhaps we all think of these opportunities differently, but I wanted to share this experience - that not all bits of paper are worth signing.
The last thing for this week, and I’m happy to keep writing about other experiences next time, is to think long-term in any big decision - I have 2 children and many of my decisions prioritise them, which means I have to delay gratification more often than I’d like - the instant gratification dopamine hit has to be sidelined with cold, logical, long-term planning for the estate of all of my creative works.
I created a will recently, and it included what will happen with the rights for my creative work etc and how they will be passed onto my children so they will continue to collect all the profits from my work after my death. I have full control over how that happens.
When you sign away more and more rights, for a little short term gain perhaps, you’re potentially chipping away at the longer term returns that will not only benefit you, but your children long after you’re gone.
I could talk for ages about estate planning for creatives etc as I’ve just done a bunch of reading on it and integrated it into my will, but I’m not an expert and don’t want to say something I’m not qualified to.
But I will say this - with any decision as a writer, always think long-term and if you do delay gratification, you’ll make our life better in the long term.
I always see this phrase which I like, on this topic:
Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life.
I know what I’d rather.
I am not sure I would have said or been thinking any of the above when I first started out writing - most of it hadn’t occurred to me, or I hadn’t learned enough about the deal or the industry and I think for books 1 and 2, I would have signed absolutely any bit of paper in front of me, without too much scrutiny or worry.
Even on book 4, I was too eager to sign initially, thinking the thrill of being published was more important than being published RIGHT, the way that I wanted and would benefit me and my work. It’s a business after all, so nobody is as invested in your book as you (unless it’s making them loads of money), so keep that in your mind. I wish I had more awareness of this early on, but now I know my worth and it’s not determined by the size of advance or whether I am on a table in a bookshop, paid for by my publisher (although that would be nice, huh?).
Know your worth, it’s higher than you think!
Hold out for a better deal - you don’t have to take the first (or any) offer.
Without sounding too L’Oreal - you’re worth it!
If you want me to do a part 3 where I talk through the highs and lows of books 5, 6, 7 etc, then let me know with a quick comment or reply.
Writing can be lonely, but it doesn’t need to be
May the Force be with you!
Stuart, Florianne and Melissa
You make so many important and insightful points. Its like finding a marriage partner, waiting for the right one but also being afraid of never marrying if you say no to agents who agree to take you on.
Thank you, again, Stuart, for sharing the details of this part of your writing journey. It's really interesting and enlightening to learn more about it, as you've mentioned aspects of it in previous posts.