What Agents & Publishers Want and Why
By Dan Blank | November 25, 2016 |
I have written a lot about the value of collaborators in your creative work. How there is a difference between creating art for the sake of your own personal experience, and in wanting to share it with the world.
In working with hundreds and hundreds of writers, I often hear things like:
“An agent said they wanted to see me have at least 10,000 Twitter followers.”
Today, I would like to share my impression of what agents, publishers, and any collaborators want to see from you and why. If you do other types of creative work, this advice applies. Perhaps you are an artist who seeks a gallery show or a licensing deal; a musician who seeks a producer or label; an entrepreneur who seeks investors or a co-founder. All of the advice below is about how to help collaborators help you.
Now, I am not an agent. I’m not a publisher. I’m someone who works with authors & creative professionals to help them connect their work with an audience. So this is my interpretation after working with so many wonderful authors, agents, and publishers. But an agent or publisher may be reading this, and will want to clarify with their own feedback. I do not pretend to speak for them. My goal is only to try to give writers more clarity to understand how to be great collaborators.
Okay, let’s dig in…
Write an amazing book that resonates
This is always number one on the list.
Of course, the first thing that an agent or publisher values is an amazing book.
The only thing I would add here is this: they want to see something that resonates. How often have you read a super popular book, and said to yourself, “The writing here is crap.” Or “this is a rip off of 1,000 other stories.” Even if you are correct, the bottom line is: something about it resonated with a massive audience.
Too often, writers hide behind the notion of “quality” in the marketplace. The marketplace does respect “quality,” but they may define it differently. Of course, you should focus on craft work of the highest quality. But you should be aware that “quality” can be defined in different ways. Quality is something that resonates like a laser focus to the heart. And the bottom line is: different people, different tastes.
Say what you want about some popular authors or creators: they know how to move someone. To get people to keep turning pages. Keep buying books. Keep telling friends about them.
Each agent or publisher will have their own definition of a “great book” or “quality.” All I would suggest is: don’t be constrained by a limited notion of what this means. For instance: I have seen platforms around historical romance novels that were too bogged down in historical accuracy. In other words, 99% of what the reader saw was an overwhelming amount of accuracy, but a story, dialogue, characters that didn’t resonate. No doubt that author spent countless hours researching, ensuring the highest level of historical accuracy. To them, they felt they were doing right because this was there definition of “quality.” Are they wrong? Nope. But if they want to resonate with readers, they may have to broaden that view to include other things, like working more on the plot, characters, dialogue, etc.
Likewise, a nonfiction author may rely too much on stats, or perhaps not enough. A memoir may be too bogged down with a moment by moment, play by play of their life, which is “accurate” (and therefore “high quality”) but does not resonate with readers because it doesn’t move them. There are many ways to tell the same story, and if your goal is to engage others, you have to experiment with them.
This is why I encourage writers who want to reach an audience to engage with others. It could be other authors, or readers, or librarians, or booksellers, or so many others. No, this is not to say that you should write to a market, selling out your own vision. It is about understanding how to tell the best story you can by understanding what resonates and why.
There is no one perfect way to do this. I would simply encourage you to not get comfortable in a single way that makes sense to you because it is comfortable to you. A lot of books have been thrust into the marketplace with a quiet “thud” because of this. No readers, no sales, no reviews. What I am encouraging is for you to find out what resonates before you publish.
Can you get lucky with your query or your proposal, and have it instantly resonate with an agent, then a publisher, then readers? YES!!!! It happens. Just not as often as we would like.
For agents and publishers, they want to say “yes.” They want to wake up and be blown away by a story. But too often, their reality is about sorting through thousands of things that fall flat to them.
Come to them knowing what resonates with readers.
Some of this is about craft, some is understanding what a particular agent loves, and some of this is about breaking all of those rules. There are wonderful resources to help you explore this, starting with Writer Unboxed’s own Donald Maass.
Have a sense of who the core audience for the book is
A good partner for a book is someone working with them to get the book into reader’s hands. Who has a clear sense of who this book is for. That will be able to assist in marketing and promoting the book.
Too often, writers look to agents and publishers to know who the audience is, and what they may not realize is that agents & publishers are looking back at the author with the very same expectation.
So how can you, the author, help collaborators with understanding the core audience for your book?
Develop an audience for your writing, even if it is tiny. No, you don’t need 1,000 readers, but can you have 10? Or 7? Can you have experience understanding what resonates with your book from the perspective of others? What parts do people always talk about?
I was doing research for a client recently, and waded through hundreds of Amazon reviews for Outlander. It was fun to see the common themes that came up in the reviews:
- Readers focused on the story and characters first, historical accuracy second. To them, the historical accuracy was that was nice for context, but what they couldn’t stop talking about were the characters and story. I bring this up because, as I mentioned above, I have spoken with historical fiction authors who put story/character second, because they want to “make use of” their hundreds of hours of historical research. Again: know what resonates with readers.
- Readers kept saying “I never read romance, but I loved this book.” It was like they had to apologize or justify liking this book, which has strong romance themes. That would be amazing to know, as an author, that this book would resonate with an audience who normally distances themselves from romance, but loved it because of the romance themes.
What is it about your work that resonates with readers? Knowing this will help your collaborators understand how they can best connect it with more people. What can you tell them about who these readers are? This doesn’t have to be a peer-reviewed analysis with stats.
Think of it this way: often a band will tour and tour as they seek a record deal, or before they release their first album. Part of that process is to develop a sound, and to develop an audience. But it is also knowing who comes to their shows, what moments in a song get people to dance, get them to go crazy, and get them to hold up a lighter.
Knowing this about who resonates with your work and why, is an incredible gift you can give to those helping you share your book with the world.
Understand the current marketplace
Know your comps. In other words: the other books in the marketplace that a bookseller would shelve yours next to. Know why you align with some of them, where you fill in gaps.
Have a clear sense of who will buy this book, and proof that there is a market for it. An awareness of comparable titles in the marketplace and an analysis to prove this, along with insight into how you align, and where you are different from them.
To show a focus on genre-specific online centers,or related topic-specific areas online. These include social media, blogs, podcasts, media, and prominent people your ideal audience loves.
Publishing is a business, and if you are asking for collaborators to invest in you and your work, then take the marketplace seriously. Don’t pretend that doing so is “selling out,” or that “this is someone else’s job.”
Help them help you.
Develop the relationships you need to reach these people
If you are a professional, you need colleagues. These can be friendly relationships, formal partnerships, affiliations with organizations, connections to booksellers and librarians, or general engagement in the “community” to which your work matters.
Focus on this years before you think you are “ready.” Relationships with colleagues require trust, and that takes time. One day, you may reach out to these folks for emotional support, for advice, to ask for an introduction, to write an endorsement for your book, or to share it with others.
No, this shouldn’t be a selfish targeting of “influencers” whereby you judge the value of the “relationship” by how much they can promote your book. This is about being genuinely curious, helpful, and caring to the many people who you will be on this journey with.
These relationships don’t have to start in some huge way. Send an email saying something nice. Ask for advice that really matters. Go out of your way to help them out.
Have ideas for how to reach your ideal readers
Come up with marketing ideas on how to interest in your book. This may include: messaging, launch plans, contests, bulk purchases, promotions, bonuses, pre-orders, partnerships, events, or so much else.
Even if the ideas you come up with are nuts, it shows agents and publishers that you are someone who is working on behalf of the book to make it a success.
Develop direct channels to reach these potential readers
Show that you have an active social media platform, with a plan for growth, on channels that readers value. Maybe that includes Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, plus an established website and email newsletter focused on the themes of your book.
Too often, the “best practices” dictate that after you right a great book, the next thing to focus on is “Tweet your brains out!!!!” But I put social media lower on this list for a reason.
Now, I love social media. Looooooooove it. For every author I work with, we are highly engaged in social media. But I think people get distracted by the technology, and miss the point: this is about people. Let’s have Steve Jobs explain it, here is an excerpt from a 1994 interview:
INTERVIEWER: You’ve often talked about how technology can empower people, how it can change their lives. Do you still have as much faith in technology today as you did when you started out 20 years ago?
STEVE JOBS: Oh, sure. It’s not a faith in technology. It’s faith in people. Technology is nothing. What’s important is that you have a faith in people, that they’re basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they’ll do wonderful things with them. It’s not the tools that you have faith in — tools are just tools. They work, or they don’t work. It’s people you have faith in or not.
I love authors. I love agents and publishers. Every day, I try to have empathy for their goals and challenges.
What does an agent or publisher want from an author? A great book. And help in connecting it with the world in a meaningful way.
What do you feel makes a great collaborator?
Thanks.
-Dan
Dan Blank is the founder of WeGrowMedia, where he helps writers share their stories and connect with readers. He has helped hundreds of authors via online courses, events, consulting, and workshops, and worked with amazing publishing houses and organizations who support writers such as Random House, Workman Publishing, Abrams Books, Writers House, The Kenyon Review, Writer’s Digest, Library Journal, and many others.
Thank You Dan for an amazing post.
One of my pre-planned ideas for connecting with readers was to tell a story about the reason I wrote a novel.
In High School my favorite teacher gave us an unanswerable question. Twenty years later I turned that question into a sci-fi book.
The idea is to broaden a potential reader base by finding something interesting about the novel that’s not a part of the narrative.
I’d love to hear what you think about that approach.
Thanks
James,
That makes sense, and I think your idea is an embodiment of what “platform” means in many cases. That you are connecting with readers in ways that relate to the book, but are unique from it. So you are starting with your “Why” as Simon Sinek would describe it. (Check out “Start With Why” if you haven’t already: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ZoJKF_VuA )
So you are connecting with readers in terms of your drive, and that in turn, opens up a “conversation” about their drive. Thanks!
-Dan
Dan-
Thanks for the shout out. Obviously, in terms of writing resonant fiction I could write a comment as long as your post, and that would barely cover it. I’ve written some 60 craft posts here on WU and feel like I’m just getting started.
For many writers the trouble starts where their story meets the market. Confusion abounds regarding category, queries, team and the rules of the road. Some don’t want to deal with it. Others get so focused on “the industry” that they loose sight of the what really makes this whole enterprise work.
Your advice is solid. To write what is resonant, start inside. Good. In terms of connecting (from agents to consumers and everyone in between) it’s helpful to remember that market mechanisms are not there to box you in but to help your unique voice find its way into the minds of readers. Think of agents, pitches, covers, copy, blurbs, etc., not as mysteries or obstacles but as tools to serve you.
One distinction I’d add for fiction writers regards promotion. In the realm of non-fiction, ad and promo create awareness that lead to a sale. In the realm of fiction, ad and promo serve more to reinforce an existing customer base. Put differently, non-fiction authors promote to sell, whereas fiction authors promote to cultivate and reward fans. A generalization but, Dan, would you agree with that?
It’s a crazy journey in that authors need a number of different ways to look at what they’re doing. A really useful guide to mastering the craziness is WU’s own book Author in Progress. I also like your thinking, Dan, which I call a Whole Author approach to writing.
When you know and care for yourself as a writer, then everything gets easier. The stress, fear and confusion that comes from the schizophrenic hat-switching diminishes. Anchor yourself in your purpose, breathe, sleep and de-stress, and it’s no problem to pin a category label on your work, for instance.
The industry serves you, not the other way around. I feel that spirit behind everything you write, Dan. Thanks for this post and happy holidays.
Wow — thank you Don! I really appreciate your adding layers of context here. I knew there was so much I could never cover that you are an expert at. Yes, I would agree that there is a distinction between fiction/nonfiction/memoir promotion. “Cultivate” is a nice way to put it for fiction. People aren’t typing into Google keywords to find a novel, like they are a nonfiction book. LOVE that you talked about caring for yourself as a writer — such a huge and critical topic. Thank you again!!! Happy holidays.
-Dan
Mr. Maass, your response is worth a post of its own, and I am soaking up every word, but….
How watertight is your distinction between the audience for fiction and that for non-fiction? You write “non-fiction authors promote to sell, whereas fiction authors promote to cultivate and reward fans.”
I am a huge fan of David McCullough, one of my many heroes in biography and history, and will happily read anything he writes regardless of subject. It’s no stretch to assume that he has a pretty large fan base. His ability to connect with readers goes far beyond writing or promoting to sell.
Although I am trying valiantly to keep my novel on the back burner, my major WIP at present is non-fiction, based on research, enhanced by my own insights, and informed by what I read regularly in WU about characters and narrative. Of course I want my book to sell, but I want it to have fans also. So I question whether this division of readerships is useful to me.
Anna, you ask a serious question so, without meaning to hijack Dan’s post today…
I am hard pressed to find examples of authors who have an audience who equally seek out their fiction and non-fiction. One form generally does not sell the other. Truman Capote? Norman Mailer? Maybe you know some others.
My suggestion is not to worry about it. Not only do fiction and non-fiction have different audiences, every book has a different readership. Even series writers find that sales vary from novel to novel.
Write what you need to write. Don’t stress. The concept of “brand” is fine and does assist in certain categories. While a more challenging type of career, it’s also possible for an author to simply to write good books.
Knowing the difference between comfort and resonance: priceless!
Thanks!
Thank you Anna!
-Dan
Very helpful, Dan. I especially like “The marketplace does respect “quality,” but they may define it differently. . . different people, different tastes.” I’ve read from more than one literary agent that they look for an author who has between 8000 and 10,000 book sales on Amazon and have a strong blog and social media following (5000+) to even be considered (of course, that’s assuming the author has written an “amazing book that resonates”). Do you think that standard is true? About the 8000-10,000 book sales agents want and hefty social media followers?
It does seem unfair and one-sided for the traditional industry professionals to expect authors to do everything–be great writers, produce a high quality product, discover and build readership for the targeted audience, create healthy sales with advertising, promotions, and social media, and blog, blog, blog to keep all these balls rolling. My blog has over 250 followers and it’s taken me over 3 years to build that.
Paula,
Thanks! Actually, I don’t think I would put those numbers out there as a “standard.” To me, metrics like that are someone’s way of trying to express what they want to FEEL from a book or author. They want to FEEL that you can connect with a readership, for instance. They don’t know how to describe it further, so they say: “Show me that you have 10,000 Twitter followers.” It’s a stand in for a feeling they want. Plenty of authors who don’t have that get amazing deals and forge great partnerships, because the agent/publisher FELT it in another way.
I also think that purely quantitative metrics are not the goal. I think qualitative engagement matters; I’m planning on writing a post about this.
And to me, it doesn’t seem “unfair” or “one sided” for a professional partner to HOPE that an author has an appreciation for at least some of this. Are these “requirements”? Nope.
To me, your partners simply want help. Not because they are selfish, but because they know it is difficult to engage the right readers, in the right way, at the right moment. I’ve talk to so many folks in publishing over the years. They, just like authors, have an overwhelming array of tasks and expectations put on them. They, like authors, do the best they can with what they have. They, like authors, feel that they can never get to it all. Which is why I focus so much on the value of COLLABORATION. Together, you can get to a lot of the most important things, as a team.
Thanks!
-Dan
Hi Dan. Thanks for promoting discussion of topics that occupy the thoughts of most if not all those who rely on Writer Unboxed.
People in your business invariably insist that “of course, the first thing that an agent or publisher values is an amazing book,” in other words, one that “resonates.”
Then they go on to offer up a laundry list of actions that any writer needs to take, if s/he is serious about succeeding. What I don’t get is what exactly is left to be done by you, the agent or publisher.
Please don’t misunderstand. You wouldn’t be successful in your area of expertise if you didn’t add value to the efforts of creative people. But if I pay for professional help in developing my book, groom others to become supporters/followers, and master and exploit the uses of social media for self-promotion, etc., why would I still need or want to slog through the query process until, at last, miracle of miracles, I came across an agent for whom my manuscript “resonates”?
My guess is, if I do everything you call on writers to do (and have “product” that is decent), I will find readers. If so, agents, smelling money, will come to ME. But I would think that for anyone who’s done all the hard work you recommend, it will be too late.
Barry, you are so right. Excellent points.
Paula
Thank you, Paula. It’s nice to know I’m not alone in raising certain questions related to what Dan calls an “ecosystem.”
Thanks for sharing this perspective Barry. I can honestly only tell you what I have experienced working with hundreds of authors very closely; inside many publishers; with lots of agents, publicists, writing coaches, marketers, packagers, booksellers, librarians, and others who assist in the process.
The actions I describe in this post are focused on an ecosystem. Does every author need to do every task? Nope. You get to forge your own path, and each author has their own unique balance, whether they feel they are “going it alone,” or if they feel that they are “seeking partnerships.”
I see huge value in an author self-publishing; I see huge value in an author pursuing a traditional route. I don’t think I have ever worked with an author who felt there were those around them who “smelled money’ and therefore made it easier. Even very successful authors.
The people I know have dedicated years to a profession. That is a nuanced process, just as any profession is. An expert carpenter has to do 1,000 things to run his or her business. It’s not as easy as “they are a lauded expert, now all they need to do is deal with the incredible demand.” They have partnerships, sales, marketing, management, supply issues, delivery issues, customer service, etc just as any other profession does. And it is not as easy as just “getting a manager” as one would “get an agent” and then it becomes “easy.”
All of what I share in the post is obviously generalized based on years of experience. YOU get to pick what works best for you.
Thanks!
-Dan
I agree, Dan. Having both self-published and been traditionally published, I can attest that there are pros and cons to each path. I certainly respected and was grateful for the work my publishers put into our collaboration, both before and after publication.
It’s up to each of us to decide the right path for us, bearing in mind that it may be a different path for our different books.
Agreed. Thanks Barbara!
-Dan
Well, Dan, I know a carpenter or two, and what you describe has little to do with how they operate. What you describe applies more to a corporate entity in the lumber business like Weyerhauser, not to a carpenter/artisan. At least not to the ones I know.
Wow. Your post and Don’s response are like get an early Christmas gift! I’ve been a student of you both for some time now and can never get enough of this conversation. Because of you, Dan, I have a newsletter and a growing list and am beginning to take delight in a process that once intimidated the daylights out of me. And I love to hear Don talk about the publishing industry as serving the writer. My takeaway today is that it’s all of a piece, a symbiosis between writer, reader and publisher. As Don said, I feel that spirit in your post and it is greatly, greatly appreciated. Hope you had a good TG! .
THANK YOU SO MUCH Susan! That means so much to me.
-Dan
This post was really intriguing! I get solidly good reviews, but I had started to notice that Twitter isn’t really reaching the right people to let them know about book releases etc, and your post got me thinking about ways I can connect with readers in my genre beyond updating my writing blog regularly and Tweeting about things. Not sure I’ve got any clear answers that can be turned into a plan yet, but this is definitely a journey I need to take right now, so thanks for pointing me in the right direction!
Thank you so much Katie!!!
As I near the completion of my WIP, I’ve been worrying quite a bit about all of this. “Quality” isn’t something that jumps out of a book and announces itself to a potential reader. It’s something readers discover only after they crack open the covers (or download the eBook).
I’ve read many low-quality books in my genre. Putting prose aside, the characters are annoying paper dolls and the plots are predictable yawn-fests. Defying all reason, these books sell well and have lengthy hold queues at my local library. What exactly about these books resonates with readers?
1. The Cover
When I read one of these books with sub-par stories and think, “How the heck did this get published?” I check the reviews online. I’ve read an astonishing number of reviews that begin, “I bought this book because the cover art is gorgeous.” Or, “The picture of the cat on the cover is adorable. Of course I had to pick this up.”
2. The Title
As a reader, I have to admit I judge the contents of potential reads by their titles. Some of the worst books I’ve read had the best titles.
3. The Premise
Some books have awesome premises that make me jump up and down and say, “I have to read this book!” Often the execution of the awesome premise is sorely disappointing, but I can’t know that until I’ve already paid for the book and read a fair bit of it. Sales are made on beginnings, not middles and endings.
So here’s my dilemma: I’m writing the highest quality story I can by my standards, but the premise isn’t sexy. I have no talent for titles. Presuming I work with a traditional publisher, I’ll have no control over the cover. How am I supposed to sell my plain little book in a world of glamorous supermodel novels?
T.K., You ask some really good questions here. THANK YOU for the context, it really helps. Okay, so my first reaction was: why compete in a marketplace that doesn’t resonate with what you are crafting? Using your “glamorous supermodels” metaphor, why don’t you walk past the club that only let’s them in, and instead, settle into the cozy cafe around the corner? Why compete?
To me, this is all about clarity and developing your own readership. May it be smaller at first? YES! But it builds a foundation whereby you write, they read. Instead of: you struggling to compete for the validation of a publisher and audience.
This is a big topic — I’m actually writing a book about this topic. Anyhow, feel free to reach out with follow up questions: dan@wegrowmedia.com
Thanks!
-Dan
Barbara–
Just to keep my POV clear for others, I too have been commercially published, but after two agents in succession failed to get me new deals, I felt I had no alternative but to self-publish. In other words, I haven’t really been free to “choose” between self-publishing and commercial publishing. My question(s) to Dan have to do with the many jobs a writer is now called on to master–over an above writing good books. If I do what he asks, I can’t grasp why I would reward the publishing industry by giving them the fruits of my hard work as a self-marketer/promoter.
Barry: You 100% get to choose this. It is your path. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences here. It’s helpful to see how you are navigating your career as a writer.
-Dan
Dan– I’m delighted to be of help to you in any way I possibly can.
Thank you for the informative post and follow up. Don mused about authors who have audiences who seek out both their fiction and nonfiction. Right away both Ann Patchett and Elizabeth Gilbert came to mind as two writers whose work I love no matter the genre.
Thank you Amanda!