Dear Max: Debut, Rejection, and Self-Pub Woes

Welcome to our new "Dear Max" column, where writers can (anonymously) ask questions of a top editor from one of the "Big 5" publishing houses.

To learn more about Max and how to submit a question, read here.

Miss Max,

I would like to offer my advice on your sourdough starter; mine is kickin'!

I would also like to ask a question. Do agents not like to represent writers with no credentials? Why is my talent not enough?

~ Undaunted Debut

Dear Undaunted,

I’ve got a friend making cookies from her 200+-year-old starter, and yet my brand-new one languishes. I’ll never meet the Highlander this way, so any tips are welcome!

Being a debut author is wonderful and scary, because you only get one chance to make that first impression.

In my experience, agents love debut authors. It’s refreshing and exciting to deal with someone with a completely blank slate. Agents love discovering new voices, and are honestly relieved to not have to explain (or excuse) a low sales track, why there’s a 10-year gap between books, or why a publisher didn’t pick up the author’s next book. Editors are equally thrilled because they all want to be the person to spot the next big thing.

With a debut author, the work usually speaks for itself—unlike the baggage an established author brings with them. Your bio at this point is only a value-add. Your credential is that you wrote a whole entire book, congratulations! That makes you a professional writer! It’s great if you’ve got other qualifications (MFA, other publication credits—even short stories or NF articles), and even better if you’ve got a slew of followers on social media, but these are only secondary to the quality of your manuscript.

There are a bunch of agents out there looking just for debut work like yours. Maybe give a newer agent a chance, and you can grow together!

~ Max

Max:

I have a literary nonfiction manuscript—a memoir centered on rebuilding after severe disability—that was runner-up for the AWP Sue William Silverman Prize and has received an endorsement from Cheryl Strayed, among other award-winning authors. Despite that, I’m getting little traction with agents and publishers.

From your perspective as an editor, what are the most common reasons a project like this still fails to gain representation? How can a writer determine what the issue is?

Much thanks!

~ Prizes and Prejudice

Dear Prizes and Prejudice,

First, hey, that’s amazing, congratulations on the prize and endorsements! Also, love seeing disability representation in fiction and non-fiction, so thank you for putting your voice out there.

Without knowing the details, I have the sense that what you’ve written clearly resonates, but may be a rather niche topic. I’m wondering if you’re querying the right agents. All non-fiction agents are not made the same, and I definitely have seen some out there looking specifically for disability-themed topics.

You may be casting your net too wide, remember you want to attract the one right fish rather than lure in 100 that won’t end up biting. Here’s a resource you may want to try (note: I haven’t vetted it, so caveat emptor).

~ Max

Max,

Is it possible to self publish a YA book or children’s book and still attract a literary agent/publisher?

~ Young and Alone

Dear Young and Alone,

Absolutely! Have you not noticed how many of the big bestsellers coming from Big 5 publishers are re-releases of self-published successes? Particularly in the YA field (also: dark fantasy, dark romance … anything “dark”).

If your self-published work does well you can always sell various rights, even after you’ve published it (audio, print, ebook … generally, they’ll be knocking down your door). But also having a self-published book out there that works makes your next title extremely attractive to agents and publishers. However, that means your self-published work has to be a success.

You have to be strategic about it. You can’t just put whatever you finish on Amazon and let that speak for you. You have to do all the hard work of promoting and marketing all by your lonesome to make sure it gets in front of readers.

For it to be a “success” in these terms usually means something recent (last 2 years) that has maybe 1,000 reviews, and a solid social media presence for you (that shows me that you’ve got a built-in readership).

If your work wasn’t the resounding success you’d hoped, I’d actually take it down. There are a lot of reasons—life intervened, and you didn’t have the opportunity to market it—things happen. But, unfortunately, that’s only going to hurt your brand.

Better to erase it and start from scratch than have a faux pas follow you for your career.

Anyway, self-publishing well is a badge of courage, plus, bunches of agents are specializing in self-published authors these days, so find one of those and get some advice on what to do next!

~ Max

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