Modern Good Reads discussion

Everyone here already seems to have a feel for the market and seems to understand the role of an agent. I'll admit, I'm completely lost. I didn't even consider publishing anything I'd written until 2011. Other people told me I should, but that only made me want to do it less. Then I had an idea that I wanted to see in print, and I wanted to share it, so I wrote it, had it edited and I shared it via self-publishing. Now that trilogy is complete, and I've just finished my first draft of a novella that is completely separate. My question is this, what can an agent do for me that I can't do for myself? I honestly don't think I want to publish it through a traditional publisher because I don't want to lose any of the rights to my work. What I really need help with is marketing and promotion, but I've been told that agents don't do that, nor do most small publishers who would let me retain most of my rights. So what's the point? (No disrespect intended.)

Hi Seth, what's the best marketing tip you can offer a self published author?

S.L. wrote: "Everyone here already seems to have a feel for the market and seems to understand the role of an agent. I'll admit, I'm completely lost. I didn't even consider publishing anything I'd written until..."

I know you're asking Seth this, but I hope he won't mind if I jump in (on his toes). I can say that having an agent gets you all sorts of things you really do need as a writer. It's not about giving up rights. It's about getting some help. We want readers. Otherwise, we'd just stuff our work in a desk drawer. An agent gets your work in front of more people. For that, you give up no rights. You give up a percentage of an income you would otherwise not have. It's kind of the best deal there is.

Hi Alex! Excited to read you book, looks AWESOME! I was wondering if you could walk us through the process and timeline for you. I have a patience issue :) so it is nice to have clear understanding of how long some things can take... Once you signed with Seth, how long did the editing, selling, publishing process take?

Hi, Alex, so great of you to be our guest today. I hope you've enjoyed it, and will consider coming back tomorrow. Your offer to provide signed copies of your books was a great honor, and we thank you very much. We have hundreds of entries, so some very lucky people are in the wings. It's been very exciting working with both you and Seth, and I'm really looking forward to one more day of some inspiration and insight. Take care,

Chris

Hi, Kirstin! Thanks!

Let's see... I had the basic idea for The Yard when I met Seth. He encouraged me to write it as a novel, rather than as a graphic novel, which I'd originally thought I might do. It took me a year and a half to write The Yard. Then, a few days after I gave him the manuscript, Seth set up an auction. It took place two weeks later and the book (along with the first sequel) ultimately went to Putnam. It seemed like a whirlwind at the time and certainly exceeded any expectations I had at the time, but it wouldn't have gone that way without Seth's hard work. In reality, it took exactly eight years to the day from the time I quit my job in advertising to that book sale.

The Yard came out one year later. I had, if I remember correctly, about two months in there to revise the original manuscript after getting my editor's notes. (My house was being painted and I did most of the revisions at the local public library, at a table in the back room.)

Patience is more than a virtue in this line of work. It's a necessity. I honestly believe that anyone with talent can be published. But you have to stick it out. You have to wait and find the right people to help you and, while you're waiting, you have to keep writing.

If I didn't have two books already written when I met Seth, he might not have encouraged me to write a third.

Christopher wrote: "Hi, Alex, so great of you to be our guest today. I hope you've enjoyed it, and will consider coming back tomorrow. Your offer to provide signed copies of your books was a great honor, and we than..."

Thank you, Christopher! Very happy to have been invited to participate. (And I've learned a little about Seth.)

Alex wrote: "Travis wrote: "My questions for Alex Grecian starts with: Has your publisher been forcing you out into the flow of social media traffic?

I have heard of these scenarios where authors were previou..."

LOL Neil Gaiman once said "Writers may be solitary but they also tend to flock together: they like being solitary together."

The Twitter intimidated the hell out of me initially but it has proven rather liberating. I'm shy but pretty outgoing online...typical nerd, I guess. It helps having a strong community of writers to connect with and I kind of like to think of us as a horde or a swarm, not a flock. Makes us sound more exciting and dangerous - not just a bunch of word nerds swearing at ourselves in front of our keyboards every night.

I admit I do kind of resent having to expose myself to the tweeting floggers to "have a presence" but otherwise, Twitter is good. You obviously got over your Twitter aversion...I noticed you RT'd one of my plugs for your book the other day. ;)

Leigha wrote: "Alex wrote: "Travis wrote: "My questions for Alex Grecian starts with: Has your publisher been forcing you out into the flow of social media traffic?

I have heard of these scenarios where authors..."

Oh, well thank you for the plug in the first place!

LOL No worries, Alex. A RT is nice and sure beats those "buy my book" spammerific messages that are everywhere on Twitter.

I saw something in my email on your book and here you are! Its right up my alley of what I like to read. I love the era and I love Sherlock.(Although I write non-fiction true crime from the 1800s)

In your research Alex, did you find they weren't so forensicly backwards as we thought? That's what I'm discovering. When I was researching an 1850s crime I discovered they knew how to test for arsenic in 1850. I'm working now on an article for our history quarterly at work about an 1870 bank robbery. And they matched a the wagon wheels of the get away wagon to the tracks left in the mud by the bank. I had no idea they really thought of those things then.

Cindy wrote: "I saw something in my email on your book and here you are! Its right up my alley of what I like to read. I love the era and I love Sherlock.(Although I write non-fiction true crime from the 1800s)
..."

Yes, those Victorians weren't quite so backward as I'd like. I wanted to do a book that revolved around germs. I wanted a silent microscopic killer that confused everyone. But, of course, they knew perfectly well what germs were by then. Dr Snow and a handful of others had already paved the way for hand-washing as a procedural rule. That book became impossible as I researched it. But most disappointments lead to other interesting nuggets of research.

Just stopping by to say 'hi' before going back to writing. Glad to see Alex involved! Alex, thanks for the kind words! And to those wondering about agents, I think if you don't want one, no worries. Agents can do the following: get you better contracts, get you connected to a traditional publisher, get you connected with the correct editor at that publisher, be the bad cop to your good cop, get you deals in foreign territories, get you deals in tv/film, get you deals in periodicals, get you reviews and press coverage, get you blurbs, and, most importantly of all, get you awesome goodreads events...

Seth wrote: "Just stopping by to say 'hi' before going back to writing. Glad to see Alex involved! Alex, thanks for the kind words! And to those wondering about agents, I think if you don't want one, no worr..."

Thanks for the insight, Seth - much appreciated!

Toby wrote: "Seth wrote: "Just stopping by to say 'hi' before going back to writing. Glad to see Alex involved! Alex, thanks for the kind words! And to those wondering about agents, I think if you don't want..."

Yes, I had no idea! (kidding)

Good night, all. Thank you. Family time now.

Good morning, folks, welcome back, Seth and Alex. We've all enjoyed your visit so much, and looking forward to our last day together. Thank you again for your generosity, and I hope it's a fun day of questions and comments before we wrap up this afternoon.

Okay, group, the door's open! :)

Good morning. As writers, what can we do to support our agent, assuming we're fortunate to find the best one named Seth?

Peter wrote: "Good morning. As writers, what can we do to support our agent, assuming we're fortunate to find the best one named Seth?"

Hi Peter, and good morning all. As a bit of a warning, I'll be heading out of town around 1pm today, so that will have to end it for me! To your question: what can we do to support our agent, aside from fresh flowers every week (grin)? I think the answer is to, if you get there, trust that agent. If they need something, or ask something, they are doing it in your best interest. Stay connected, remember they are human, and (as Jerry McGuire says) help them help you.

Peter wrote: "Good morning. As writers, what can we do to support our agent, assuming we're fortunate to find the best one named Seth?"

Good morning, Peter! I'd be interested to see what Seth says about this. I think it's about communicating as clearly as possible when things are bothering me, when I need advice or help with something, when I'm grateful about something he's done for me. He can't know what's on my mind unless I tell him. At the same time, I try not to be high-maintenance (not sure I succeed). My job is to write things, so I concentrate on that. Seth already knows my strengths and weaknesses and goals.

I like to think that we've formed a friendship at this point

Alex wrote: "Peter wrote: "Good morning. As writers, what can we do to support our agent, assuming we're fortunate to find the best one named Seth?"

Good morning, Peter! I'd be interested to see what Seth say..."

Absolutely. I think Alex and I have a great working relationship!

Afternoon Alex, or morning where you are.

I read The Yard some while ago, so the people reading it as the BOM have a treat in store. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it's one I would heartily recommend. For me it's one of the books that will stay on my bookshelf as opposed to taking a trip down to the charity shop!

My question is this:- what percentage of time can you now devote to writing, compared to prior to being published?

hello alex,
i am from india and am a big fan of victorian novels,any plans of launching the book in india??

Abhishek wrote: "hello alex,
i am from india and am a big fan of victorian novels,any plans of launching the book in india??"

Abhishek, hi. Penguin UK publishes the book, and they control rights in India, and I'm fairly sure it can be found yonder. Is that not true?

Clive wrote: "Afternoon Alex, or morning where you are.

I read The Yard some while ago, so the people reading it as the BOM have a treat in store. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it's one I would heartily recommend..."

Good afternoon/morning, Clive!

I've actually been devoting the same amount of time each day to writing for a decade now. When I worked in advertising, the hours were long and the work was creatively exhausting. I quit that to become a stay-at-home dad when my son was born and I began to write fiction every day, getting up at three in the morning to be able to write before he woke up and dominated my day. He's almost ten now, so I don't have to get up quite so early.

I used to divide my time between writing spec novels, graphic novel pitches and scripts, short stories, and screenplays. I didn't know what kind of thing was most likely to lead to success for me. But now that I'm published, I definitely have a clear idea of what I need to write every day.

I can actually write for about four to six hours a day before my brain starts to feel like an empty balloon. The rest of the day is spent catching up with email and social media, researching elements of whatever story I'm working on, and mulling over the next day's chapter.

And thank you for the kind words!

Abhishek wrote: "hello alex,
i am from india and am a big fan of victorian novels,any plans of launching the book in india??"

Hi, Abhishek! (My wife has a friend named Abhishek.) I have received a handful of emails from readers in India, and I assume they've got the UK edition of The Yard. But I don't know how widely available it is there. You've prompted me to look into the matter.

Alex wrote: "Abhishek wrote: "hello alex,
i am from india and am a big fan of victorian novels,any plans of launching the book in india??"

Hi, Abhishek! (My wife has a friend named Abhishek.) I have received ..."

I'll ask my agent. :D

Alex wrote: "Alex wrote: "Abhishek wrote: "hello alex,
i am from india and am a big fan of victorian novels,any plans of launching the book in india??"

Hi, Abhishek! (My wife has a friend named Abhishek.) I h..."

Ha, checking now!

Hi, Seth and Alex,

Could you both say a little something about how your relationship began? Some authors come to agents by way of meetings at conferences, others by query, others by referral. It would be interesting to know how you both came together. Thanks so much for your time,

Chris

Christopher wrote: "Hi, Seth and Alex,

Could you both say a little something about how your relationship began? Some authors come to agents by way of meetings at conferences, others by query, others by referral. It..."

Chris, I met Seth through my graphic novel work on a series called Proof. He was interested in representing graphic novel properties. I had also written a couple of unpublished novels and he liked them (or said he did).

Christopher wrote: "Hi, Seth and Alex,

Could you both say a little something about how your relationship began? Some authors come to agents by way of meetings at conferences, others by query, others by referral. It..."

Chris, hi. Alex and I connected through his graphic novels, as he has been active in that sphere for a while, and he was referred to me. There are some crazy stories about how I found various clients, but Alex was a simple case of 'Seth, this guy's good' and then reading his pages and saying, 'huh, this guy's GREAT.'

OK, so I trust my agent. And to extend the Jerry McGuire analogy...show me the money.

The question is, Seth, with a great writer in your stable and producing a sizzling book one per year, what kind of revenue would you like to make that kinda writer?

Note: I'll take my answer in the form of a contract - joke! Have a great weekend and thanks for making us smarter writers. Best to ya.

Peter wrote: "OK, so I trust my agent. And to extend the Jerry McGuire analogy...show me the money.

The question is, Seth, with a great writer in your stable and producing a sizzling book one per year, what k..."

Peter, I wish I had answers for you in specifics, but don't want to give any details away. But if you're producing a bestseller every year, you'll be pretty setup financially.

Thanks. I can produce a best. But I need a great agent-partner to make it a best-seller. No worries - so long as we hit $1,000,000 once every three years, our kids can afford to be writers too. On'ya, sir.

Hi, Seth. Thanks so much for being kind with your time and advice. I have two questions. I believe you may have answered the first previously, but I'll post these questions anyhow:
1) Should a book definitely be complete before sending a query letter to an agent?
and
2) I noted what you said about not including photographs. One of my projects is an illustrated narrative poem. It seems that including at least one of my illustrations would be appropriate. But if not, would you mind commenting?

Thank you,
Marjie

Marjie wrote: "Hi, Seth. Thanks so much for being kind with your time and advice. I have two questions. I believe you may have answered the first previously, but I'll post these questions anyhow:
1) Should a book..."

Hi Marjie,

Good question. For number 1) Definitely be complete, yes. Imagine simply: you send me 80 pages, they are great, I read them and ask for more and you say... I guess I need to finish them. Then I wait 4 months for that to happen and we start again. Better in one smooth movement.
2) You should include relevant illustrations; I meant pictures of yourself or dogs or something irrelevant, which happens all the time, oddly.

Kristin wrote: "Seth wrote: "Let me ask YOU all a question. I have awful handwriting... My signature looks embarrassing. How do I prep for autographing!? Thankfully it's a YA book, so I can just pretend my main..."

Seth, I'm late in commenting on the signature question, but have you considered a little doodle as part of the signature? Kids seem to like that and then the scrawl of your name doesn't matter that much. I've seen other YA authors do that and thought it was quite clever. They doodled something that related to the book.

Seth wrote: "Christopher wrote: "Hi, Seth and Alex,

Could you both say a little something about how your relationship began? Some authors come to agents by way of meetings at conferences, others by query, oth..."

Hi, Seth, thanks so much for your answer. Do you get to spend much time with your authors in person? Can you tell us a little about how your author relationships flesh out as you work with them over time?

Alex wrote: "Christopher wrote: "Hi, Seth and Alex,

Could you both say a little something about how your relationship began? Some authors come to agents by way of meetings at conferences, others by query, oth..."

Hi, Alex, Seth did use the word GREAT! You mentioned that you had some unpublished novels. Were The Yard and The Black Country among those?

Maryann wrote: "Kristin wrote: "Seth wrote: "Let me ask YOU all a question. I have awful handwriting... My signature looks embarrassing. How do I prep for autographing!? Thankfully it's a YA book, so I can just..."

i have considered that, actually - we'll see; my artwork isn't too good either!

Christopher wrote: "Seth wrote: "Christopher wrote: "Hi, Seth and Alex,

Could you both say a little something about how your relationship began? Some authors come to agents by way of meetings at conferences, others ..."

Good question, Chris! Well, it is always easier when you live in the same city, but I tend to meet all my clients in person over time. If we're lucky, they have reason to come to NYC for tour or publisher meeting. Still, I spend a decent amount of time on the phone and in communication with my clients, and try hard to connect to them with trips to their areas or (like with Alex) at various conventions, etc. My relationship changes depending on the client, honestly. Some like to stay in touch often, others like to go into caves to write and return months later, and I try to accommodate them all. But in the end, I really love my clients and value them as friends, people I keep in touch with and WANT to keep in touch with, you know? It's much easier to defend the interest of someone you get along with, I'll tell you that!

Seth wrote: "Christopher wrote: "Hi, Seth and Alex,

Could you both say a little something about how your relationship began? Some authors come to agents by way of meetings at conferences, others by query, oth..."

Seth, I think your comment about Alex's work being great is important. If an agent cannot be that excited about a client's work, it will not be a good partnership no matter how good the writing is, or the agenting. (smile)

I want to thank Chris for setting this up, and to all of you for your great questions! Alex, very fun to see you here too! I'm heading out camping for the weekend; been SO long since I've done that. But I do hope to see all of y'all's writing soon! This has been great fun!
Seth

Hi, Seth. Thanks again for your time. One more question. What are your thoughts on Amazon White Glove? Any experience with it?

Maryann wrote: "Kristin wrote: "Seth wrote: "Let me ask YOU all a question. I have awful handwriting... My signature looks embarrassing. How do I prep for autographing!? Thankfully it's a YA book, so I can just..."

Hi Everyone,

I'm new starting in as well. I read through all the posts. Wow, there were some great questions. Maryann I think yours is a great answer. I used to be a junior high and high school science teacher before I started writing science fiction and kids that age do love doodles and if they can identify with something they like, you're sure to make them happy.

Seth and Alex, thanks so much for taking the time to help make sense of the writing/agent world for people like me starting out.

I hope that Seth is still around. I may be asking an obvious question here, but I know some large science fiction publishers will take unsolicited manuscripts. I have two novels that are just about ready to go off to said publishers. Can you tell me some of the advantages to having an agent before I send off as apposed to getting an agent after I've received (but not signed) some sort of contract?

Seth wrote: "I want to thank Chris for setting this up, and to all of you for your great questions! Alex, very fun to see you here too! I'm heading out camping for the weekend; been SO long since I've done th..."

Thanks Seth - and thanks Chris. Have fun camping.

Thank you Seth and Alex. This has been an extraordinary event, and we all thank you for your time and insight. I hope everyone enjoyed our guests, and look forward to many more similar events in the future. It was a great time, but sadly we'll have to bring this event to an end for discussions. All members, please don't forget to sign up for Seth's very generous offer to read the manuscript or self-published book of one lucky winner, and Alex's very generous giveaway of two signed copies of both The Yard and The Black Country. Let's give our guests a huge round of applause as we close this session of Ask An Agent. Take care,

Chris Shields
Modern Good Reads
Founder, Group Moderator,
Event Coordinator.