If you're currently pursuing traditional publishing or have in the past, let me know what some of your challenges and frustrations have been. This is a safe space!
I wrote a memoir about getting out of poverty and can’t afford PR. (I find this hilarious.) Agents continue telling me my platform is too small/no one’s heard of me. I work full time but continue to blog, and last year became a national trainer. Doing the leg work. Any tips?
After going through 12 drafts on the computer, I printed the thing out, all 600 pages. I read and marked up the hard copy, and I learned a lot from that. It also felt good working with actual pages, so I think that doing that is a good practice at points in the process.
I write shorter books, fiction for young readers, but reading each chapter aloud can also be a real eye-opener. (Ear-opener?) You will catch some mistakes and misreads that you've previously missed, I promise,
I only wonder what if something went wrong in the mailing process, like a missing post package 😂 I hope the editor scanned each page before mailing it out
My pet peeve with traditional publishing is the loss of artistic control. My friend had a book accepted by a publisher called death in the garden. The premise was that the reader wouldn’t know until the end whether the death was caused by natural causes or made. When she got the galleys back from the publisher, they had changed the title to murder in the garden which destroyed the purpose of the story. They had also changed the cover.
Just found your channel after months of a weird process: I put in the work to research, contact and meet editors and advisors who could help on my journey, only for almost all of them to pitch me the self-publishing or hybrid publishing model for thousands of dollars. I was clear that I'm interested in traditional publishing or no publishing, the latter is fine but I'm not going to do the alternatives for very good reasons. Still, I had to sit through half and full hour pitches that resembled MLM pitches, and each had their own "people" to do the other parts of the process that they didn't. I said to one woman who was one of the last that I met that it seems like a self-feeding ecosystem, and after the "we support the little guy who is ignored by the big 5" speech she asked what I'm willing to put into it, suggesting I'm not fully bought in to being published. It's a mind warp these people are selling.
I was interested in being traditionally published, but what you said at the 7:33 mark about a limited number of perspectives became quickly apparent to me. I noticed that all of the agents I was submitting to had one of two different types of backgrounds. I felt this created a very narrow type of novel that they were looking for, and mine was not that type. My route now is through self-publishing.
Funny that your biggest pet peeves never mentioned the sheer exploitation of authors with slave wages/royalties/advances and minuscule marketing budgets/campaigns. They take 90% of your book revenue snd you had to write, edit, re-edit, and market your book yourself. It’s robbery
Thanks! I started querying my first novel last year and got lots of full requests, then paused querying to do another round of revisions. In that time I’ve also started drafting my 2nd novel which is flowing! I know I’m gonna make it.
This is a very well put together video. I thought about publishing my novel traditionally, but I ended up deciding to just self-publishing it and hiring an editor to help out. I feel like that's a much better way to go about it for someone like me with the stories I have :)
Thank you, I'm so glad you liked it! Publishing is definitely a personal decision that depends on so many factors. I'm glad to hear you found the right path for your project!
I've been told by three hybrid's that I have a top book, but per your advise, I'm cautiously optimistic that my new situation should work out. Really like your videos, they help me understand the business and the kind of problems I may see occur and how to better handle them.
@@hbsupreme1499 And I see too many conflicting opinions about who to trust and who to ignore, their too quick to blame you while not willing to acknowledge their own mistakes in working with you.
It’s a very strange world. I was recently rejected by a literary agent who said my writing, world-building and originality were amazing, but he wasn’t happy with footnotes and a first-person narrative. After ghosting and boilerplate rejections, it was actually a big step forward, but it shows how good your work has to be just for the agent to ask for your full manuscript!
It sounds like your novel has a lot going for it! It could be that this agent's personal taste doesn't go for footnotes, so hopefully you'll positively hear back from others soon!
@@AlyssaMatesic Thank you! Your response touches on an interesting question: how many agents do I contact at any one time? How long do I wait for one agent to sign me up before moving on to the next? Apologies if these questions are answered in another of your videos! 🙂
@@adrianswriting I actually have a video coming up talking about this! For now I'll say it's great to send out queries in batches (around 8-12 agents at a time), and waiting for about a month to two months for responses before sending out new queries.
What a garbage reason for a rejection though. This tells me that agents want something that 100% fits their comfort zone or they won’t take you on which is a fundamentally broken way of acquiring a new writer.
Thank you for your efforts in educating us with you knowledge and insights. I personally am gaining a wonderful understanding of the invisible and daunting publishing industry.
Yep! I’m out to get traditionally published. Have a debut novel coming out this year and I’m not impressed with my experience at an indie press. So I’m currently working on my tenth novel in hopes of finally getting a literary agent
As a former English Language Arts teacher, I am in AWE at the editor that would print every manuscript and edit with a red pen. MY HEAVENS. That is so laborious. I'm uncomfortably laughing. THOUGH I WILL SAY as an avid student and aspiring author, I would love to get something so tangible and digestible back. Working through my manuscript page by page would be much preferred over endless scrolling, I think.
Haha yes, it's definitely laborious! But I do agree that the visual satisfaction (or possibly dread!) of seeing a page with direct messages on it must be satisfying.... Thanks for the comment!
@@AlyssaMatesic Generally doing things your self and paying so much on editing, is just not worth the hassle. Also, I keep on thinking how much I hate my retail job and are more willing to be traditionally published.
Best of luck. Never give up, but don't make it your identity. I'm going on submission today and frankly, I'm glad I have other things going on in my life that are meaningful.
@@hardnewstakenharder Thanks. It's not that I ignore everything around me. I'm just tired having so much money invested in self-publishing with hardly any results.
@@rowan7929 I think it depends. If you're 30 or below with a sizeable platform, it's probably worth it to self-publish. But I wouldn't recommend it if you have like 10 followers and someone who's older.
Great video! Do you have any videos discussing whether you'd be able to self-publish first and then if your book sells well can go traditional afterwards?
#4 for sure! I've been cutting my teeth for about 16 years of serious writing and am at the "personalized rejection letters" stage of querying. Thanks for the time stamps on this one! DRM
Personalized rejections are great - it means you're piquing the agents' interest enough for them to seriously consider it, and you can use that feedback to refine your query and/or manuscript. Keep going!
When looking for literary agent they try push to self publishing agency. I have put in words that what I'm looking for in query. Then also told them not looking vanity publisher, said they weren't but they were.
It has been over 10 years since I've been in the query trenches. I'm trying to get myself up-to-date on how much the industry has changed during that time. Are there any resources you can provide as to getting started again seeking traditional publishing? Perhaps, where to find and research agents?
Welcome back to the publishing scene! I have a video where I go over five ways to find literary agents, here!: ruclips.net/video/kP-zWzugpUE/видео.html Best of luck!
Bless the algorithms for answering the question I asked for you! Your channel is a huge help in navigating the publishing industry. One of my biggest concerns at the moment is if traditional publishing allows for partial publishing especially if I know it's going to be a longer manuscript and I definitely don't want it to go a different route. Would you recommend sending it to literary agents in parts or finishing the manuscript entirely before sending it?
I enjoyed that a great deal. I am a traditionally published author at a small publishing house. Dr. Mary Hill-Wagner, author of "Girlz 'N the Hood: A Memoir of Mama in South Central Los Angeles" Are there any resources for traditionally published authors who are with small houses? Everything seems to be either for the Big 5 (nee 4) or self published authors.
I think you're performing a wonderful service, Alyssa. I had my 'Big Five" experience in 2007-8. I did get a six-fig advance, but everything thing else about it was a balls-up disaster. I'm currently up for more abuse, have a new agent, but he only does Non-fiction. I'm wondering if you could do a piece on getting a new life for your novel after a bungled publication.. Cheers.
Do you have a video about the length of time it takes once a publisher shows interest in a book? When I had a story accepted by a major literary journal, two years passed between acceptance and publication, and that didn't even involve any edits, just backlog.
Hey! I have been binging your videos and you have really helped my writing process. I have in the process of cutting my darlings and polishing my manuscript (currently 110k words) after a few rounds of rejections. My story is a fantasy centered around nearly 14 year old twin boys (maturity in their world), but the subject matter is appending war. The supporting characters are 12-16 year olds and adult characters. The story is not overly graphic but the problems are serious, like the later books in the Harry Potter series. What age should I pitch this to? I've heard MG all the way to Adult Fantasy. The audience will ultimately determine my target word count.
Should I send my manuscript once finished to an editor before the agent ? How do I tell agents editors and publishers that the book I’m writing has a co writer ( my boyfriend) ?
I would recommend editing your manuscript in any way, including sending it to a book editor if it suits your project and budget. There's no issue with saying your manuscript has a co-writer, just mentioning them in your introductory letter should be enough!
Sure I want to be published by a traditional publisher. But being broke is an enormous handicap - so much so that publishing seems like a middle class pursuit.
Absolutely. There's nowhere in the world from which you can't get representation. While a lot of literary agencies are based in New York, USA, they represent clients from all over the world.
If no one wants to read your story, there's no difference whatsoever between self published and traditional. If a self published book gets traction, believe me, you'll have traditional houses coming to you. My suggestion is keep writing. Content is king. Not the cover, not the title, but content. Of course, a good title is helpful. And by the way, it'll be an ever bigger blow to your self esteem when your traditional published book bombs in the real market. Last, there's only one brick and mortar bookstore left anyway right? Are you betting the farm on Barnes & Noble? Traditional sounds good in theory but for me it's too much trouble and I don't have it in me to kiss a lot of asses to get traditionally published.
I saw a video earlier ruclips.net/video/rYqZjCsAJeg/видео.html Much of what she was says, I’ve heard it before many times, particularly about most writers first book being “garbage”. However, her tone is so assumptive and discouraging that I think it results in terribly discouraging advice. As someone who thinks positive, I think that maybe she believes because her, and most authors she knows, first attempts were horrible that now she feels the needs preach a gospel that all new authors must experience the same failure. By her “harsh advice,” many will be defeated before they even try. Since everyone says the first is usually not as good as s/he thinks, it’s better to give “harsh” advice on the importance of not rushing the process, not put it out and to continue to revamp it until it’s up to par by the standard of real professions. Her approach was simply that you are guaranteed to waste 1-3 attempts. Anyways, I said all that to say this, I can tell that you have seen some bitter sides of the business, but you give off the energy as if to say, “despite it all, I still strongly believe it can be done.” Lastly, I don’t care how many have failed in their first attempt, and just like them all, I do believe that “my novel is different.” Lol. But, unlike those before me, I don’t think that I’ll be the next JK Rowling, because novel is much better than hers and it will sell more copies. What she wrote was made up. What’s in my novel, “you can’t make this up.” I like your videos. I may seek your help once I feel my novel is ready for a closer eye.
If you're currently pursuing traditional publishing or have in the past, let me know what some of your challenges and frustrations have been. This is a safe space!
I wrote a memoir about getting out of poverty and can’t afford PR. (I find this hilarious.) Agents continue telling me my platform is too small/no one’s heard of me. I work full time but continue to blog, and last year became a national trainer. Doing the leg work. Any tips?
The issue with self-publishing is marketing and distribution
After going through 12 drafts on the computer, I printed the thing out, all 600 pages. I read and marked up the hard copy, and I learned a lot from that. It also felt good working with actual pages, so I think that doing that is a good practice at points in the process.
I write shorter books, fiction for young readers, but reading each chapter aloud can also be a real eye-opener. (Ear-opener?) You will catch some mistakes and misreads that you've previously missed, I promise,
I also like/get the hardcopy style... But maybe we're just 'traditionalists' ...
I only wonder what if something went wrong in the mailing process, like a missing post package 😂 I hope the editor scanned each page before mailing it out
My pet peeve with traditional publishing is the loss of artistic control. My friend had a book accepted by a publisher called death in the garden. The premise was that the reader wouldn’t know until the end whether the death was caused by natural causes or made. When she got the galleys back from the publisher, they had changed the title to murder in the garden which destroyed the purpose of the story. They had also changed the cover.
Just found your channel after months of a weird process: I put in the work to research, contact and meet editors and advisors who could help on my journey, only for almost all of them to pitch me the self-publishing or hybrid publishing model for thousands of dollars. I was clear that I'm interested in traditional publishing or no publishing, the latter is fine but I'm not going to do the alternatives for very good reasons. Still, I had to sit through half and full hour pitches that resembled MLM pitches, and each had their own "people" to do the other parts of the process that they didn't. I said to one woman who was one of the last that I met that it seems like a self-feeding ecosystem, and after the "we support the little guy who is ignored by the big 5" speech she asked what I'm willing to put into it, suggesting I'm not fully bought in to being published. It's a mind warp these people are selling.
I was interested in being traditionally published, but what you said at the 7:33 mark about a limited number of perspectives became quickly apparent to me. I noticed that all of the agents I was submitting to had one of two different types of backgrounds. I felt this created a very narrow type of novel that they were looking for, and mine was not that type. My route now is through self-publishing.
I'm glad that you were open to self-publishing! It's definitely a viable publishing path these days; I wish you the best of luck with your projects!
Funny that your biggest pet peeves never mentioned the sheer exploitation of authors with slave wages/royalties/advances and minuscule marketing budgets/campaigns. They take 90% of your book revenue snd you had to write, edit, re-edit, and market your book yourself. It’s robbery
Thanks! I started querying my first novel last year and got lots of full requests, then paused querying to do another round of revisions. In that time I’ve also started drafting my 2nd novel which is flowing! I know I’m gonna make it.
Wonderful! I wish you a smooth publishing journey!
any updates?
This is a very well put together video.
I thought about publishing my novel traditionally, but I ended up deciding to just self-publishing it and hiring an editor to help out.
I feel like that's a much better way to go about it for someone like me with the stories I have :)
Thank you, I'm so glad you liked it! Publishing is definitely a personal decision that depends on so many factors. I'm glad to hear you found the right path for your project!
@@AlyssaMatesic no problem! Glad to see your channel is growing :) I've shared your videos with a few writing friends! They find it helpful :)
@@JayceWasHereMC which is cheaper ?
@@andreasanchez3557 self publishing is much cheaper.
@@JayceWasHereMC thanks 😊
I've been told by three hybrid's that I have a top book, but per your advise, I'm cautiously optimistic that my new situation should work out. Really like your videos, they help me understand the business and the kind of problems I may see occur and how to better handle them.
Congrats on hearing back from some publishers--but I'm also glad you're approaching them cautiously. I hope they work out!
Smae here but I leaned that you shouldn't pay money up front unless ur self publishing
@@hbsupreme1499 And I see too many conflicting opinions about who to trust and who to ignore, their too quick to blame you while not willing to acknowledge their own mistakes in working with you.
It’s a very strange world. I was recently rejected by a literary agent who said my writing, world-building and originality were amazing, but he wasn’t happy with footnotes and a first-person narrative. After ghosting and boilerplate rejections, it was actually a big step forward, but it shows how good your work has to be just for the agent to ask for your full manuscript!
It sounds like your novel has a lot going for it! It could be that this agent's personal taste doesn't go for footnotes, so hopefully you'll positively hear back from others soon!
@@AlyssaMatesic Thank you! Your response touches on an interesting question: how many agents do I contact at any one time? How long do I wait for one agent to sign me up before moving on to the next? Apologies if these questions are answered in another of your videos! 🙂
@@adrianswriting I actually have a video coming up talking about this! For now I'll say it's great to send out queries in batches (around 8-12 agents at a time), and waiting for about a month to two months for responses before sending out new queries.
@@AlyssaMatesic Thank you again for that very helpful response. I guess I'm still very English old-school. I only send out one every two weeks!
What a garbage reason for a rejection though. This tells me that agents want something that 100% fits their comfort zone or they won’t take you on which is a fundamentally broken way of acquiring a new writer.
Love the new setting, background and music, looks more professional now
I appreciate your honesty and insight. Your videos have helped me to be more prepared to pursue publishing.
Thank you for your efforts in educating us with you knowledge and insights. I personally am gaining a wonderful understanding of the invisible and daunting publishing industry.
Yep! I’m out to get traditionally published. Have a debut novel coming out this year and I’m not impressed with my experience at an indie press. So I’m currently working on my tenth novel in hopes of finally getting a literary agent
As a former English Language Arts teacher, I am in AWE at the editor that would print every manuscript and edit with a red pen. MY HEAVENS. That is so laborious. I'm uncomfortably laughing. THOUGH I WILL SAY as an avid student and aspiring author, I would love to get something so tangible and digestible back. Working through my manuscript page by page would be much preferred over endless scrolling, I think.
Haha yes, it's definitely laborious! But I do agree that the visual satisfaction (or possibly dread!) of seeing a page with direct messages on it must be satisfying.... Thanks for the comment!
@@AlyssaMatesic Of course. Thank you for sharing such thorough and helpful content!
Very good video. I'm not giving up on becoming a traditional author. Regardless the cons, it still sounds better than being an indie.
Thanks so much! I encourage you to keep going if this is your dream!
@@AlyssaMatesic
Generally doing things your self and paying so much on editing, is just not worth the hassle. Also, I keep on thinking how much I hate my retail job and are more willing to be traditionally published.
Best of luck. Never give up, but don't make it your identity. I'm going on submission today and frankly, I'm glad I have other things going on in my life that are meaningful.
@@hardnewstakenharder Thanks.
It's not that I ignore everything around me. I'm just tired having so much money invested in self-publishing with hardly any results.
@@rowan7929 I think it depends. If you're 30 or below with a sizeable platform, it's probably worth it to self-publish. But I wouldn't recommend it if you have like 10 followers and someone who's older.
Great video! Do you have any videos discussing whether you'd be able to self-publish first and then if your book sells well can go traditional afterwards?
#4 for sure! I've been cutting my teeth for about 16 years of serious writing and am at the "personalized rejection letters" stage of querying.
Thanks for the time stamps on this one!
DRM
Personalized rejections are great - it means you're piquing the agents' interest enough for them to seriously consider it, and you can use that feedback to refine your query and/or manuscript. Keep going!
When looking for literary agent they try push to self publishing agency. I have put in words that what I'm looking for in query.
Then also told them not looking vanity publisher, said they weren't but they were.
Excellent, thanks for sharing.
It has been over 10 years since I've been in the query trenches. I'm trying to get myself up-to-date on how much the industry has changed during that time. Are there any resources you can provide as to getting started again seeking traditional publishing? Perhaps, where to find and research agents?
Welcome back to the publishing scene! I have a video where I go over five ways to find literary agents, here!: ruclips.net/video/kP-zWzugpUE/видео.html
Best of luck!
Bless the algorithms for answering the question I asked for you! Your channel is a huge help in navigating the publishing industry. One of my biggest concerns at the moment is if traditional publishing allows for partial publishing especially if I know it's going to be a longer manuscript and I definitely don't want it to go a different route. Would you recommend sending it to literary agents in parts or finishing the manuscript entirely before sending it?
I enjoyed that a great deal. I am a traditionally published author at a small publishing house. Dr. Mary Hill-Wagner, author of "Girlz 'N the Hood: A Memoir of Mama in South Central Los Angeles" Are there any resources for traditionally published authors who are with small houses? Everything seems to be either for the Big 5 (nee 4) or self published authors.
I think you're performing a wonderful service, Alyssa. I had my 'Big Five" experience in 2007-8. I did get a six-fig advance, but everything thing else about it was a balls-up disaster. I'm currently up for more abuse, have a new agent, but he only does Non-fiction. I'm wondering if you could do a piece on getting a new life for your novel after a bungled publication.. Cheers.
I'm glad you got yourself a new agent! I will definitely add that to my list. Thanks for commenting!
Do you have a video about the length of time it takes once a publisher shows interest in a book? When I had a story accepted by a major literary journal, two years passed between acceptance and publication, and that didn't even involve any edits, just backlog.
It’s the same problem here in the UK. The industry is a London bubble.
However, it’s easier to meet an agent in London, simply because the UK is so much smaller than the US.
Hey! I have been binging your videos and you have really helped my writing process. I have in the process of cutting my darlings and polishing my manuscript (currently 110k words) after a few rounds of rejections. My story is a fantasy centered around nearly 14 year old twin boys (maturity in their world), but the subject matter is appending war. The supporting characters are 12-16 year olds and adult characters. The story is not overly graphic but the problems are serious, like the later books in the Harry Potter series. What age should I pitch this to? I've heard MG all the way to Adult Fantasy. The audience will ultimately determine my target word count.
Traditional publishing is the way I will try to take as soon as I am done drafting my novel.
Should I send my manuscript once finished to an editor before the agent ? How do I tell agents editors and publishers that the book I’m writing has a co writer ( my boyfriend) ?
I would recommend editing your manuscript in any way, including sending it to a book editor if it suits your project and budget. There's no issue with saying your manuscript has a co-writer, just mentioning them in your introductory letter should be enough!
@@AlyssaMatesic thanks 😊
Do you ever think of becoming a literary agent given your history with traditional publishing and experience navigating the industry?
I definitely considered going down the agenting path in the past, but have found the flexibility of freelancing suits me for now!
So who does 'get their foot in the door' ?
Sure I want to be published by a traditional publisher. But being broke is an enormous handicap - so much so that publishing seems like a middle class pursuit.
do you think i can get an agent while leaving in Africa
Absolutely. There's nowhere in the world from which you can't get representation. While a lot of literary agencies are based in New York, USA, they represent clients from all over the world.
If no one wants to read your story, there's no difference whatsoever between self published and traditional. If a self published book gets traction, believe me, you'll have traditional houses coming to you. My suggestion is keep writing. Content is king. Not the cover, not the title, but content. Of course, a good title is helpful. And by the way, it'll be an ever bigger blow to your self esteem when your traditional published book bombs in the real market. Last, there's only one brick and mortar bookstore left anyway right? Are you betting the farm on Barnes & Noble? Traditional sounds good in theory but for me it's too much trouble and I don't have it in me to kiss a lot of asses to get traditionally published.
I saw a video earlier ruclips.net/video/rYqZjCsAJeg/видео.html
Much of what she was says, I’ve heard it before many times, particularly about most writers first book being “garbage”. However, her tone is so assumptive and discouraging that I think it results in terribly discouraging advice. As someone who thinks positive, I think that maybe she believes because her, and most authors she knows, first attempts were horrible that now she feels the needs preach a gospel that all new authors must experience the same failure. By her “harsh advice,” many will be defeated before they even try. Since everyone says the first is usually not as good as s/he thinks, it’s better to give “harsh” advice on the importance of not rushing the process, not put it out and to continue to revamp it until it’s up to par by the standard of real professions. Her approach was simply that you are guaranteed to waste 1-3 attempts.
Anyways, I said all that to say this, I can tell that you have seen some bitter sides of the business, but you give off the energy as if to say, “despite it all, I still strongly believe it can be done.”
Lastly, I don’t care how many have failed in their first attempt, and just like them all, I do believe that “my novel is different.” Lol. But, unlike those before me, I don’t think that I’ll be the next JK Rowling, because novel is much better than hers and it will sell more copies. What she wrote was made up. What’s in my novel, “you can’t make this up.”
I like your videos. I may seek your help once I feel my novel is ready for a closer eye.
Omg yes! I stopped watching her videos because I got a “bitter teacher” vibe.