5 Myths of Writing and Publishing Success
Agent Kate McKean breaks down five common myths of writing and publishing success that many writers believe (and why they shouldn’t).
Publishing is an opaque and mysterious process, or so writers think. It’s actually pretty straightforward: Publishers publish books readers might want to read. The problem is there are 40 million different kinds of books and 40 million different kinds of readers, not to mention the writers.
This vacuum of information and knowledge, which I set out to demystify in my book Write Through It: An Insider’s Guide to Publishing and the Creative Life, sprouts all kinds of myths, conspiracies, and falsehoods. Let’s put a few of them to rest, shall we?
It’s Who You Know
I’ll tell you a secret. My first published book is not the first book my agent and I tried to sell. It’s not the second, third, or fourth. It’s the fifth! I have been a literary agent for 19 years and my own agent has been in the business longer. I knew every editor on my submission lists. And it still took me that many tries to get published. Maybe all my other books were bad. Or maybe it’s not who you know but what you write.
You Have to Be Published to Get Published
Like that entry level job where you need experience to get your foot in the door, it’s easy to think that you have to have a list of publishing credits a mile long before an agent or editor will consider your work. This is false. It can help, but I have never rejected a book I thought I could sell because the author wasn’t published elsewhere first.
You Have to Be Young
I am 46 years old. My first book comes out this June. I, too, thought I was going to write my first novel when I was 25. Boy am I glad that didn’t happen! No offense to young, successful authors. Please keep writing great books. But if you are not “young” anymore, don’t despair. You don’t have to flash your ID to get a book deal. There’s no bouncer at the door.
You Have to Write to Trends
Where are we with vampires these days? Are they out? In? Scary? Sparkly? I don’t know and when I’m reading query letters, it’s not top of mind. Because what’s a trend on bookstore shelves right this very minute was sold two years ago and written three or four or more years ago. The trends I’m thinking of when I read queries are the ones that haven’t even happened yet, the ones that feel new and fresh and different from what’s out there. So write what you want. Maybe you’ll be the next trend.
Your Book Has to Earn Out to Get Another Book Deal
A book earns out when it sells enough copies to earn the publisher back the advance they paid the author. If your advance was $10,000 and your sales after two years are only worth $6,328, you do not owe any money back to the publisher. You aren’t automatically barred from ever getting another book deal, either. Most books don’t earn out, and that’s ok. Publishers take on the financial risk of paying advances and see what happens. Now, if you get a $1,000,000 advance and sell $3 worth of books, it’s not going to look great for your next one. (But at least you still have that $1,000,000.) Not earning out is not an automatic red light for your next books.
I could go on and on. The main way to tell if something is a myth or a truism is a myth is ALWAYS true, and the truth applies sometimes. You’ll NEVER get a book deal if you don’t have an MFA. (False.) But sometimes authors are plucked out of the slush pile. (True.) Don’t let a myth get in the way of what could be true about your writing career.
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