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winning
the lottery...
Or Selling Straight to Single Title as an Unpublished Author
Recently, the Florida lotto was $85 million
dollars. Did I buy a ticket? Yep. Ten of ‘em.
Did I win? Nope. But someone did…someone who
bought the ticket in the same town where I bought mine.
A quick pick, no less. So close… I could almost
smell the leather interior of my brand new Porsche,
see how sharp my Manolo Blahniks would look leaning
on the accelerator, hear the engines of my private
jet revving up for a trip to Cannes. Did I mention
the gorgeous pilot? All right. You get the idea. Somebody
won. In my tiny burg of 6,000. How do you get that
lucky?
I know this feeling of envy and awe. I’ve had
it before.
I had it when I was trying to sell my single title manuscript to a major
publishing house. I would see in Romantic Times, or read on an e-loop
that someone sold a first book – a single title romance – to
a major publishing house. You’ve heard the stories…sold off
the slush pile to Jennifer Enderlin (No! Quick, query Jen E.)…Picked
up by Warner after winning a contest (Really? Enter every one this month.)…Taken
on by an überagent and sold to MIRA (She’s taking unpubbed
clients?) Why couldn’t that be me?
If you study the romance publishing industry closely enough, it might
seem that it would be easier to win the lottery than sell to a major,
mainstream publishing house. Statistics and sales figures show that the
vast majority of "first sales" to these houses are most often
made by talented writers who have had successfully sold into category.
And that makes sense. They are writers who have proven that they can
deliver a solid, complete manuscript; they have demonstrated an ability
to build a readership; and they have shown a talent for crafting a character-driven,
emotionally compelling story.
But what if your manuscript is 110,000 words and will simply never fit
any of the category lines? Must you follow the more common career path,
and "just get started" by writing category?
I say, emphatically, no. First of all, you must read, love and respect
category romance to understand, write and sell it. And, secondly, first
time sales are made into mainstream publishing houses…but the odds
are highly against it. Not 14 million to one. But high. However, there
are steps that reduce the odds in your favor. I took every one of them
before I received "the call" from Pocket Books.
STEP ONE: No
Tickey, No Money...
You gotta get in line and buy the ticket. And that means, write the whole
book. An unpubbed writer is not going to sell on proposal. Period. Write
the best damn book you’ve got in you and polish it until it shines
like that sports car you’ve been coveting. When you finish it,
stock up on tenacity, confidence, thick skin and supportive friends and
family. You’re going to need them.
STEP TWO: The Three C's"–
Critique, Contests and
Conferences
When I first started trying to sell my manuscript, I found a web site
featuring dozens of interviews with first-time romance authors, conducted
after they made their first sale. All of the writers were asked about
their route to publication. I made a list of responses, seeking the magic
formula, or at least a pattern for their success. I quickly found one.
To an author, they all mentioned the role that critiques, contests and
conferences – one or a combination of all three – played
in getting published.
Could you sell without one or all of the three C’s? Yes. But, I
recommend that you invest the time and money in all of them to increase
your chances.
Hundreds of articles and workshop tapes exist on the finer points of
the three C’s. There are a few specifics to consider when you are
focused on the goal of getting published in single title. With a critique
group, find partners who read the types of books you write – they
will know the market, the tone, the voice, the style that is selling.
Seek encouragement and suggestions, of course, but don’t let anyone
change your "voice" – it is the key element that ST editors
love. If yours is fresh, don’t let someone tell you it won’t
sell. Your voice is the number one talent that will sell your book.
When entering contests, start off with the goal of getting feedback.
Good, bad or painful, it will help you when you start to see a pattern
in the score sheets. Once you’ve honed your manuscript, then enter
only those contests that include one of your target houses or editors
as a final judge. It’s a great way to be read by an editor who
might otherwise never see your work.
For unpublished writers, conferences are one of the most direct routes
to publishing. Networking with editors and agents, either casually or
through an appointment, opens doors that are normally closed, if not
locked. Conferences offer the opportunity to learn, to hear other’s
stories, to practice your pitch and to associate faces with names. In
many cases, a conference will afford you the chance to send a completed
manuscript to an editor or agent bearing the two weightiest words in
the submission process: Requested Material.
STEP THREE: Get
Thee an Agent
Of course, some houses still
say you don’t need an agent. But I don’t
believe mere mortals can sell a single title without
one. Oh yes, you will hear the stories of slush pile
sales. Just like that guy who won the $100 million
Powerball. Do the math. Editors are inundated with
manuscripts. The agent acts as a trusted screening
process and editors will tell you, they read agented
submissions first. The key word in that statement is "they" not "first." The
editors who make buying decisions read agented submissions.
Unagented submissions at many (not all) houses are
most often read first by individuals who have no buying
authority. They may be perfectly capable assistants
and readers. But they do not have the authority to
march into the publisher and say, "This one sings." They
may not have the experience to recognize that the voice
is there, the story just needs some tweaking. This
is not to say an unagented submission will not sell…but
an agent drastically reduces the odds in your favor.
Again, the process of identifying, querying
and signing an agent is the subject of a mountain of
articles. My advise is this: Keep Five Alive. It will
take many, many queries and submissions, so I recommend
that you do your research, pick at least thirty you
would be happy to have, and get queries in the mail
five at a time. With each rejection that comes in,
send another out. Personalize your query, do your homework
on what clients they represent, respond to requests
for full manuscripts immediately and don’t hound
them. If your manuscript is publishable, you’ll
click with someone eventually and then you will be
ready for the next step.
STEP FOUR: Making
the Sale
Doesn’t the agent do
that? Well, yes. But the more you give him or her,
the easier the job. Discuss a plan and timeline with
your agent and then give her the tools to promote you
and the book. Make sure she knows your biography, what
other manuscripts you can offer and which editors’ work
you love. If you get a written rejection, have your
agent talk to the editor in person to get a more information
than is usually in the letter.
Then, while you are waiting for the sale…this is the most important
thing you can do…WRITE THE NEXT BOOK. That might be the one to
sell first, or it might be the difference between a single book contract
and a multi-book deal.
With the lottery, it’s all luck. With publishing, it’s all
you. So when that call comes in, be prepared. It’s nothing like
winning the lottery. It’s better.
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