What Publishing a Book with the Big Five Is REALLY Like

Thank you for the insights, Alyssa! It's interesting to hear what it's like to be a big five author :)

Thank you for the advice about setting realistic boundaries and limits. That is most certainly something to keep in mind whether my future books would be published by one of the big five or indie published :)

Ugh, I hate those back covers with ONLY reviews. I want to know what the book is about! When I see a book in a book store, I don't want to HAVE to go online to actually look up what the heck the book is about just because there are ONLY reviews on the back/inside cover. One review, sure. But for the love of all readers, can publishers PLEASE add a decent description as well?
./me end of rant.

I do have one question about traditional publishing, especially about agents:
I'm writing a book series in English, but I live in the Netherlands (and I am Dutch). It is my understanding that publishers here in the Netherlands do directly accept manuscripts, but they have to be in Dutch.
And agents apparently prefer the same.
How feasible is it to get an agent abroad in such a case (I assume UK/USA)?

Thanks for the help!

What you say about marketing budgets is a bit of a non-sequitur to me. Surely the more well-known authors would need less marketing, whereas an unknown will need more?

The dog is riveted by Alyssa's video.

It would be great to hear what happens when an author and an editor do not agree on an edit, what can happen? who has final say?

How likely is it for an agent/publisher to provide accommodation for an author in terms of travel?
For example, if the author lives far away from the literary agency/imprint, and can't travel there for meetings or contracts; is it possible the agent/publisher would agree to meet in a third location/handle matters via internet?

Trad publishing is killing itself. It is failing to adapt.

I'm sorry but can you repeat that, I was staring at the Golden Doodle(?) behind you.

Hi can you point me in the right direction I'm looking for a agent or agency that I can make adult I don't know where to start can you help me and point me in the right direction I am from the UK if you know any agents in the UK

Thank you!!!

Are we dating?

what a cute dog

thanks

New to channel.Writer here.

This is great news 😂😂

youre so wonderful

I have sent off query letters to about 40 agents so far. Twelve rejections as of this writing. i actually take heart from that because if the writing itself was rubbish, they would never reply at all.

My friends know I'm going traditional publishing and they come to me already constantly for help. This will only get worse after I get a contract. Lol. I'm already used to it.

Once again, great insight from a pro. Thanks Alyssa. You've validated my decision to go traditional. I'm have no time to be self-marketing and scheduling publicity events, etc. I'd rather let the pros do that.

And get ripped off? No thanks.

First off, thank you for your sage advice. I listen in every week, and I enjoy the straightforward information you give, as well as the polite way you do it. I have a question about the role of a literary agent and publisher in reference to what you talk about in this video. I come from a performing arts background and have been represented by an agent in that field. Much like a literary agent, that agent got me into auditions, and whenever I was hired, they also got a cut of whatever amount I was paid. When a book is traditionally published, and the author is asked to speak at these conferences and readings and is compensated for it, does the agent and/or the publisher get a cut from that amount as well? Or is this considered the responsibility of the author under the contract of the publisher and is included in the original payment from that publisher? Thank you for all you do!

Very useful thanks!!🙂

Thanks for this Alyssa. I love the sleeping dog on the sofa.

This is kind of a rant, but - I don't entirely understand the point of the "this is why I'm querying you" part of the query letter (where you're supposed to list other books they've repped). Is it just a kiss-up thing? At my day job, clients come to me because that's my JOB, I don't ask them for reasons behind it in order for them to get through the door. And are you supposed to be querying agents whose books are successful, whose books are similar to yours, or whose books you liked? These three factors may not coincide. I read approx. 30-40 books a year and of those probably only 2-3 of them meet all three of those criteria. Unless you're relating that you were personally recommended to them by another client, it seems like a pointless exercise to kiss up or to prove your dedication by doing internet research.

With a traditional publisher:
You have to convince an agent to rep the book to publishers, and the agent has to convince a publisher to take the book.
You sign away the rights to your book.
You won't be publishing your work the way you want to.
You will make very little money per book unless you are Stephen King or JK Rowling.

With print on demand self publishing:
You always own the rights.
You can publish the work they way you want to.

You don't have to convince an agent or a publisher.
You can set the price for your book and you make more money per book sold.
You do have to do things that the publishing house normally does, like marketing.
You will possibly sell fewer copies than with a publisher.

Look into print on demand self publishing. It might be better for you. You don't need a publishing house.

Your dog looks so chill. He's taking in your tips as he dreams of writing his own novel: A Labradoodle in London.

You know, it is like being in school. You pick a project and you stand in front of others to talk about it, in hopes of getting a good grade.

A lot of high profile home grown authors don't edit or polish thier work. James Patterson and Steven King publish 5 books per month and a lot of them ARE in a bad state. James was pulled up numerous times about the state of his work. It is good that high profiles go through edits, but a lot of them don't

Not me taking extensive notes on how to deal with my sudden fame if I publish my debut novel with a big five publisher and sweep the literary world with my storytelling genius.

I've been researching a lot lately on how to improve my writing, but the more I learn the more it seems like the life of a writer is a really solitary one. Everywhere I look the biggest tips to reach a level where you might get published is to write multiple hours a day for years and read multiple hours a day for years. But if we also work full time jobs, it just seems extremely difficult to fit in both without completely retreating from the world. I'm not sure about everyone else, but I can't concentrate with background noise. So if I'm holed up by myself doing these two things during weeks and weekends, kinda seems like it would get extremely lonely.

That payment method sounds like a total scam lol

heyy alyssa i appreciate all you do! what about book covers? how much goes into it? does the author get the final sign off on which cover to use? do publishers have in house artists or do they just commission them out? i have no idea how it works 😃

I know an author who sold to Kensington and right after she signed the contract her editor passed away. The editor who took over the position never edited her book and she received no marketing dollars. I think this is called an "orphan"?

Hi Alyssa, do you have insight in the marketing plan, though, so that you can align your own marketing efforts with theirs?

Is there a difference between Indie and self publishing? I met some self published authors recently who said they were the same thing.

I really like the last point from a psychological view. Not much people would talk about that. Do you think, you could lose Friends after become famose?

I love your videos. I feel I may not get traditionally published. I'm a gay man who is writing a m/m romance that focuses on larger men (both MC is all 3 outlines so far are heavy set) and I find that those who read m/m romance think of bears (these larger men) are muscular and just a little belly. Which has really put a toxic attitude towards those of us who are bears (chubby men) and not muscular. It seems my novel will not be what they are looking for.

Thanks so much :D

Just knowing that there could be a deadline of how long you need to stay at your crappy job, is good enough for me. Once I get an agent.

Great stuff, Alyssa. The more we know about the inner workings of the industry, the better partners we will be for the publishers. Thanks.