The
Magic Bullet: Q&A for Writers
Posted: March 29, 2007
© Jane Friedman
In my last column, I attempted to give
just a little evidence that a writer can sell two novels without
an agent or previous connections. Since I wasn't entirely successful
in meeting all of the requirements (I had to resort to nonfiction
and short fiction works), I put out a call to readers to help put
an end to the urban myth that one cannot publish two novels without
securing an agent first.
Here is just a small sampling of the response I received.
* Michel Faber (THE CRIMSON PETAL AND THE WHITE) sold his first
books without an agent. He still doesn't have an agent.
* Lisa Lee sold her first two novels (MILLICENT MIN, GIRL GENIUS)
without an agent. She was pulled out of the slush pile by Arthur
Levine.
* Donis Casey published her first two novels with Poisoned Pen
Press. She represented herself, and Poisoned Pen was the first house
she queried.
Now that the evidence is clear that you do NOT need an agent to
get your novel published, I'll close with a few words from Identity
Theory editor Christian Bauman, who DOES have an agent.
[From C. Bauman]
While it is possible to sell a book without an agent, and there
may be those who have their reasons for selling without an agent,
there are many reasons TO have an agent.
It is a common misperception that all an agent does is take 15%
of your money in exchange for placing your book somewhere. But this
is not true. In fact, the selling of the book is somewhat lower
on the list of things an agent does for you. Anyone with determination
and some savvy could sell the book eventually (although only to
those presses who take unagented submissions), but what happens
AFTER the book is released? Who is going to go back year after year
and audit Simon & Schuster to ensure they paid you correctly?
Who is going to follow-up with all those various foreign presses?
The business details are endless, and authors left to do them on
their own would have no time for writing.
And as for Steve Almond's comment about a perfect world in which
authors and editors are left alone ... my experience is that the
days of the great, long-lasting editor/author relationships are
pretty much over. There are exceptions, of course, and some famous
ones, but for the most part editors move rapidly from house to house,
have little time to devote to authors, and even when you end up
with a great editor (which I have been lucky enough to have done,
twice) the odds that that person will edit your next book are slim.
For those of us lucky enough to have found a great one, it is the
agent who is our modern-day Perkins. My agent Diana Finch is my
first and most trusted read, my friend, and the person who is there
not just for an individual book, but throughout my career. She has
my back, so I can concentrate on writing.
Christian Bauman (http://www.christianbauman.com)
is author of the novels Voodoo Lounge and The Ice Beneath
You. His third novel, In Hoboken, will be published
Spring 2008. He is an editor at IdentityTheory.com, and a contributor
to NPR's All Things Considered.
Past Q&A Columns:
March 8, 2007
February 6, 2007
January 12, 2007
December 21, 2006
December 13, 2006
November 30, 2006
November 20, 2006
September 7, 2006
August 31, 2006
August 25, 2006
August 18, 2006
August 9, 2006
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