Hello all, glad you are here on my introduction - this means my clickbait (or is it???) title worked. Almost done with my first book, I will NOT be self-publishing since that's like throwing your book of a cliff. I found that for my 'process' in writing fiction it's easier to write the "exciting bits" first, sort of like a book trailer for your book, then keep filling in more and more details, and then massage the whole thing to iron out the inconsistencies. and voila!
Welcome. Have you had unfortunate experiences with self-publishing that lead you to the cliff analogy?
Yes, allbeit in the world of mobile games, so I have low expectations of the writing world's self-publishing scene. I wrote my first (non-fiction) book some years ago, and the publisher helped me with the grammar/editing/did lots of back and forth, but that didn't sell either, so this time will be trying a different publisher.
Glory, eh? *steeples his fingers, à la Mr. Burns* Welcome, Yuri. I'm not so sure that the 'writing world's self-publishing scene' is comparable to the 'mobile-game world's self-publishing scene', but I've little experience with either. Can you elaborate, please? This sounds interesting. Also, what was your book about? Which publisher did you go with? I thought that having an agent was de rigueur before approaching a publisher. Or has that changed? Welcome again!
It never has been de rigueur across the world of publishers. Some publishers accept only agented work. Other perfectly legitimate publishers accept queries directly from writers.
Thank you, Catriona. Maybe it's only the publishers I've seen. Does having an agent help, regardless of whether you need one or not? You weren't. I wasn't sure what to expect. I've never been so happy to see nothing inappropriate.
I am very fond of my agent. He sold two of my books to Kensington Publishing Corp. within six months of reading the first one himself. Kensington accepts unagented queries, but a query from me wouldn't have carried the same weight as a recommendation from this agent. Dear Agent negotiated a very good advance and dealt with the business of hammering out a favorable contract. Yes, I am very fond of my agent, and I'm glad I put my effort into finding him instead of putting that effort into finding a publisher on my own.
Thank you again, Catriona. I wasn't sure. The more I've looked into publishing, the more pitfalls I saw, and the more reluctant I became about taking that step. The unanswerable question, I suppose, is finding the right agent. That's something that only I can answer. Thank you!
