Be Your Own Editor

Gia asks:

An author friend of mine asked me, a former English teacher and a current recluse: “After the editor’s tidying-up, then what? How do you get people to buy your book?”

Boy, Gia, if I had the answer to that question I’d be a very rich woman. It’s no easier to answer than “How do I get galleries to show my paintings” or “How do I get a record company to sign my band.” The best I can offer your reclusive writer friend is my advice on how to maximize her chances of getting a publisher to bite.

The first step, when you have a completed novel, is to get an agent. Unless you know one, that requires writing a query letter. You can read some of my advice on that here.

This broad question can be approached from a hundred complicated angles. Since your friend already has an edited manuscript, I won’t tell her what not to write. Unfortunately, sometimes an author’s choice of genre or plot, or simply their manuscript’s length, can severely diminish their chances in the book marketplace. (Those of you hard at work on 150,000-word fantasy novels: put down your No. 2 pencils. Immediately.)

Honestly, since book sales depend so much on timing, luck, and industry trends over which writers have no control, the best way to do everything right in promoting your book to agents and publishers is simply not to do anything wrong. How?

• Put your best foot forward. Many new authors with more than one manuscript insist upon trying to sell their personal favorite, or the one they wrote first, in the face of contrary advice from their agents or, in some cases, even when they admit that another manuscript is better or more likely to be published. First, your agency knows the market better than you do, and if you don’t believe that, you shouldn’t be working with them. Second, a bird in the hand often leads to two in the bush. For example, if you have a manuscript that’s more “literary” and thus a tougher sell, it’ll become much more attractive once you’re a published author.
• Have as many people as possible read it, and ask them to point out at least one specific good and bad element. I don’t care if it’s been professionally edited. Editors miss things, from minor typos to major plot inconsistencies. (A novel I worked on recently had already been copyedited typeset when we realized that Christmas happened before Thanksgiving.) You don’t have to take everyone’s advice, but why not cast a wide net for feedback?
• Target the right agents. I’ve said this before, but it’s important enough to bear repeating. Choosing an agent who’s right for your personality and your genre of writing can make or break your entire career. You often get only one shot with publishers, and if your agent sends your manuscript to the wrong editor at St. Martin’s Press or doesn’t know how to pitch a romance novel, you’re sunk. Don’t be so overjoyed and flattered that any agent wants to represent you that you jump at the first one who comes along. Research directories of agents, talk to them at length, ask questions.
• Try to develop a marketing platform. This is easier than ever today because of the Internet, and if your English-teacher-turned-recluse friend really stays at home a lot, she should be blogging away, joining online communities of writers and readers, or doing whatever else she can to build a potential audience to tell agents and publishers about. I’ve written a few tips on getting started here. If she’s a technophobe, perhaps she belongs to some organization through which she can help promote the book. Publishers hate to spend money on marketing, so they love authors who can help out.

Those tips are, well, the tip of the iceberg, Gia. Keep reading Be Your Own Editor for more advice on the subject, and if your friend runs into any specific issues or questions, please have her write me again! Best of luck to her.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 20th, 2007 at 9:50 pm and is filed under Literary Agents, Readers Q&A, The Book Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.