The Long Road to Publication - Part 4

By Andy Smith

All quiet on the western front at the moment as I am in ‘waiting to hear back from agents’ mode. Again. Had some rejections, sent it off to some others, still waiting to hear back from others. Have also sent it off to some publishers. Yes, there are still some who will accept un-agented submissions, but it takes them just as long to get back to you.

At this point we should insert Standard Rant Number 642, including “why does it take so long?”, “every agent and publisher wants things in a slightly different format”, “the whole process is completely demoralising”, etc. I doubt there’s much I could add which everyone in the same boat hasn’t already thought!

I’ve also been looking at some of the submissions I sent off a while back (before the First Page competition). I can see that some of my earlier submissions are basically not as good as the things I’m sending out now, in terms of the cover letter, the synopsis and getting the novel as polished as it can be.

The obvious question is: “If what you’re sending now is better than what you sent originally, how come you’re still not getting anywhere?” To which I would reply that I’m getting more agents considering what I send now rather than rejecting me out of hand, and some agents are asking to see the whole MS; but that still doesn’t properly answer the question. (Doesn’t answer it for me either.)

There might be a bit of a problem with running out of agents who deal in the sort of stuff I’m writing. I started off sending it to those agents who I thought were most likely to be interested, but that means they got the not-so-good submission. Now I’ve refined and improved everything, I’m having to send it off to agents who might not be into my sort of writing. So they get this wonderful submission which isn’t really for them.

Obviously my current situation doesn’t put me in any position to comment, but I’m going to anyway. I’ve seen lots of articles and posts saying things like ‘when you’ve got your novel finished, don’t submit it straight away. Leave it for a while. Then go back to it, re-edit it, get it proof read, re-edit it again; and make sure it’s as good as it can be.’ I think I would add ‘make sure the rest of your submission package is as good as it can be too.’ We live and learn.

I will press on. Having realised that I may have shot myself in the foot early on, I’m still hoping to find an agent who does appreciate what I’m writing, and will also get the benefit of the new improved submission. We shall see.


WWJ NOTE: Andy has agreed to let The WWJ Clinic look at and suggest improvements to his cover letter and synopsis - stand by for next time.

The Long Road to Publication #2

By Andy Smith

Since last time I’ve been trying to figure out how to get my novel into readers’ hands. For the moment I’ve been sticking with the ‘submitting to agents’ route. (Other routes into publication are available, but you’ve got to try sending a submission letter which includes “and I won the First Page competition”, haven’t you?) I said I’d tell you how I was getting on. I also promised to tell you a bit more about how I’ve got a comic fantasy novel which mixes a few other things together. So let’s do them both at once, shall we?

Breaking the Lore is a fantasy comedy which follows the events of a very strange police investigation. In modern-day Britain, a policeman discovers the body of a crucified fairy. There’s an army of demons on the way, but before he can stop them the policeman must overcome one major problem: he doesn’t actually believe in magic. Unfortunately for him, this is a detective story with elves, dwarves, mystical beings, cigarettes, alcohol and lots of jokes. Think Inspector Morse, as written by Tolkien – after several plates of magic mushrooms.

Because it’s a comedy, you can get away with things that you couldn’t otherwise; and you can mix things up. So there are sci-fi references, which are thrown in as comedy pastiches. There’s love interest, which is there to give Inspector Paris a bit more character, and to make him uncomfortable for comedy purposes. There’s explanations of the world I’ve created so the reader knows that everything does hang together. (Because fantasy fans – me included – are big on coherent world building, even silly worlds. And the explanations are usually deflated with some more comedy anyway.) The detective story is what enables events to move along and provides a plot around which everything else takes place. But, basically, it’s a comedy, which just happens to involve lots of fantasy elements.

Also because it’s a comedy, you can sneak in things under the radar. Things like how people who are different from yourself are not necessarily bad, and can actually make a valuable contribution. I don’t beat anyone over the head with it, but that’s the underlying theme of the story really; something which I think is a very important message for the times we’re living in.

Now that’s how I see it. That’s how everyone who has read the whole story sees it too, and they’ve all enjoyed it. (Including Alison Morton, judge of the First Page competition, and a proper author with actual published books!) A few months ago I was a finalist in the Writing on the Wall ‘Pulp Idol’ competition, where I had to read out the first chapter to the judges and audience. Afterwards, I received feedback from numerous members of the audience who said “I’d buy that book.” They were people of both sexes, all ages, and readers of various genres. Recently I took part in the Sheffield Novel Slam, similarly involving reading out to the audience and getting their feedback, and I received a similar reaction: people telling me they liked it and wanted to hear more.

But, when I send it off to agents – slightly different response.

Like most people who try to get something published, I’ve got a growing pile of rejection emails. I’ve found that most of the time you either get no reply at all, or you get a variant on the “thanks but no thanks” message. I’m building a fair sized collection of a different type of rejection; one which basically says “your writing’s good, the story’s great, but I can’t sell it.” AARRGGHH!

Deep breath.

Conceivably I’ve got too many things going on in the book. Maybe I’m being too ambitious. However, I’ve got people telling me they want to buy my novel. I know for a fact that I’ve got a potential audience out there. I just need an agent who can help me to reach them. So if there are any of you reading this blog and want to be that one – please get in touch! My potential readers are waiting for you!

Know Your Rights

Alex Hardy, Harbottle and Lewis

Alex Hardy, of law firm Harbottle and Lewis, ran a workshop at London Book Fair’s Author HQ on how best to exploit your Intellectual Property Rights.

An excellent session for a maximum of eight participants, she tailored the session to our specific questions and shared her experience of publishing law. After ascertaining that seven out of eight of us were authors, she began by outlining the key pitfalls for authors when negotiating rights contracts.

The Whole Farm

One of the authors asked about the term ‘rights grab’. Alex explained the term is used to describe a publishing contract in which an author assigns or licenses much more than just the book or ebook rights in their work. For example, an author may license or assign to a publisher the copyright and related rights in their work “in all media and formats now known or hereafter invented”. Authors should instead license those rights that the publisher is committing or expecting to use.

Ask yourself why a digital-only publisher need the rights to a paperback/cartoon/film version? At best, they might sub-license the rights to your work to another party but at worst the rights will remain unexploited. And if you’ve sold the rights for merchandising to a publisher and you are offered a film deal at a later stage and the film producer wants the merchandising rights, it will be very difficult to get those rights back.

Sheep and Goats

These negotiations are very commercial so get hard-headed. Think everything through first. Publishing contracts can be quite general; spell out exactly what you are selling and specify that anything else not mentioned is excluded – this is a reservation of rights clause. Check everything is on paper. Insist on getting precise definitions such as what ‘enhanced ebooks’ actually means.

Understand Time Terminology

‘Legal term of copyright’ means your lifetime plus 70 years. Always try for shorter licence period if appropriate and ensure you can get out of the contract (terminate) if something goes wrong. A termination of contract clause, with an acceptable notice period for both sides is essential.

Get Them Back

In such case as the publisher’s routes are no longer selling your work, you may want to get your rights back. You will likely need a reversion of rights clause in your contract: in an electronic era, the phrase ‘out of print’ may no longer be relevant. It may be better to negotiate a sales figure to trigger reversion of your rights: such as how many (or how few) copies are sold in a year.

And what happens if the publisher goes bust/gets taken over or merges? Have a clause covering those eventualities, aiming to put the control back in your hands.

See You In Court

One of the party enquired about libel. His book refers to real figures in a fictional context, so is the disclaimer at the beginning enough? Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Disclaimers may make no difference whatsoever. If the person is recognisable (even if not named), a claim may still be brought against you for damage to their reputation.

Most large publishing companies have media liability insurance in the event of these kind of claims – check yours does. If you are a small publisher, consider consulting a broker. Some of Alex’s clients have used La Playa.

Accusations of plagiarism can arise, particularly in non-fiction or ‘How To’ books. They rarely reach court but it is vital to document and acknowledge your sources to show how you have created your material. The Society of Authors provides helpful advice on quoting copyrighted material, but there are grey areas. One area which is clear is claiming false association with another author’s work. Avoid that or face the consequences.

Options and exclusivity

If you are writing in various genres, be careful with granting your publisher an automatic option to your next work. Publishers may add an option clause to the contract, entitling them to buy or at least have the first option to negotiate for the next work in your canon. One idea is to reword this clause so it includes only the same kind of work, ie, the next in the series of your romance novels, but not the collection of erotic short stories.

Agent or lawyer

I asked Alex whether an author actually needs an agent at all. If you have a foreign publisher interested in translation or a production company keen to purchase TV/film rights, would it make sense to hire a lawyer to deal with the contract instead? Acknowledging her bias, she said there are many differences between the two roles, the main one being legal training. Agents’ expertise offers contacts and experience. A lawyer will charge a one-off fee, as opposed to the ongoing commission charged by agents.

She also mentioned working with foreign rights. If it is important to the author, you should ask for approval of the translator – see their CV, get samples of their work – and where possible, make sure the copyright of their translation belongs to you as originator of the material.

A fascinating, thought-provoking session with a genuinely knowledgeable expert.

By JJ Marsh – author, reader, Triskelite, journalist, Nuancer, reviewer and blogger. 
Likes: pugs, Werner Herzog and anchovies. Dislikes: meat, chocolate and first drafts.