Horses are said to have thick skin for surviving harsh environments and harmful impacts. Aspiring authors, in my experience, also need thick skin to endure the elements and blows of publishing. Perhaps the analogy seems harsh, but speaking from personal experience, it’s quite accurate.
Earlier this year my novel Horse Karma was published. It was the #1 bestseller in the Calgary Herald and continued to sell out on Amazon and select bookstores. Being an author is a dream come true, but the journey to accomplishing it wasn’t direct or easy.
Staying Out of The Slush Pile
Prior to Horse Karma, I had written at least a dozen other books. I sent them to every single literary agent and publisher I could find. Each of these books were rejected and, frankly, tossed like horse manure by agents and publishers into the infamous ‘slush pile’ – their stack of unsolicited manuscripts. An important lesson I learned from these rejections is: rejection means ‘wrong direction.’ Even the very best writers, some of the greatest authors in the world, have had their work rejected. (Stephen King’s novel Carrie was rejected 30 times before being accepted!) My point is that literary agents and publishers are highly scrupulous.
Consider this; most agents and publishers receive hundreds of queries from writers every single day. If you want your work to stand out, ensure it’s the best it can possibly be. Agents and publishers want something polished, well-crafted, and unique.
Conduct extensive research prior to querying an agent or publisher, as they tend to be niche-focused and content-specific. In the same way a reader might gravitate to a particular genre or topic when buying books, so do agents and publishers. They want to work on projects that excite them.
For example, if you query an agent or publisher that only acquires adult fiction and you pitch them a children’s picture book about bugs, you’ve hit a dead end and have wasted your time. Discover exactly what an agent or publisher is seeking to ensure your work is a good fit before you approach them. Query Tracker, The Writers’ Union of Canada and Writer’s Digest are great resources for finding literary agents and publishers, as are writers’ conferences. Also research websites: literary agents will list what they’re acquiring. Notice which books publishers have released in the past and see if your title fits with that list. Each literary agent and publisher have specific criteria to follow with querying; follow them exactly before submitting your work.
Whether you go the traditional route with a publisher, go it alone and self-publish, or do a hybrid combo, having a book in print is a deeply satisfying and exciting experience.
The benefit to a publisher acquiring your book is the reach they have for selling it. Major retailers want to buy books from reputable publishers and therefore, your work lands on their shelves.
Benefits of a Literary Agent
A literary agent is a person who represents writers and mediates between the authors and the book publishers. Again, use Query Tracker and agency websites to find those literary agents specific to your book’s genre and theme. Literary agents work solely on commission (usually around 15%) so they don’t get paid until they’ve sold your book.
The benefit to a literary agent is that many publishers will only speak with literary agents about an author’s work. The largest publishers will not accept unsolicited manuscripts directly from a writer – they must be presented by an agent. The negative to going this route is the challenge of getting there in the first place (plus the fact you will have to share any profits from your work), but don’t let this discourage you.
The Self-Publishing Route
There are more options for publishing than only the traditional route. Many amazing and even best-selling authors have self-published, and you can do well if you’re willing to put in the effort.
If you’re going to self-publish, it’s highly advantageous to hire an editor to perfect your work. The cost of this varies greatly and depends on the word count of your book, and whether you want a substantive edit or copy edits. Do your research before hiring an editor as well – ask them for references and titles of works they’ve edited in the past.
If you want to offer a print version of your book via self-publishing, you’ll be required to assume the legwork and costs of doing so – editing, cover design, printing, binding, shipping – unlike with traditional publishing where those costs are covered by the publisher. Depending on your objective for self-publishing your book, the most negative aspect is the cost and lack of editorial support. The benefit to this is that your story will be out in the world. It’s a guarantee that you’ll be published!
Hybrid Option
With such an influx of writers keen to have their work available, and with the popularity of self-publishing, many publishing houses saw an opportunity to offer another option to the aspiring author – a hybrid publishing contract.
This scenario has both the publisher and author assuming the responsibility of publishing a book. It’s like splitting the bill; the publisher will do the editing, graphic design, printing, and distribution, but it comes at a price. The advantage of choosing this route is that you have access to the resources of a publisher. They’ll distribute your book to their list of retailers – which in itself is a valuable service. The downside of this option is that you’ll be spending some money to realize that. The thing to consider, however, is how much do you believe in your own work? Is your writing something you’re willing to make an investment in and is it, in your opinion, strong enough for a publisher to make an investment in, too?
The pricing for all three options varies greatly. Traditional publishing is free to the author, you earn a percentage of royalties (around 10-12% of the cover price), and the publisher keeps the rest. Note that they only supply a limited amount of free books to the writer (sometimes as few as 25) and beyond that you will have to purchase them from the publisher if you want to do private sales, etc. They also retain the rights to the work and can choose not to do an additional run when supplies run out.
Self-publishing can be much cheaper or even free to the author, depending on whether they hire an editor or book designer, and if they only publish an e-book on Amazon or decide to offer a print edition as well. With the latter you can expect to make between 40% – 60% on the cover price of the retail price of a single book after expenses. Hybrid publishing may cost between hundreds to thousands of dollars depending on the book genre, word count and level of editorial support required prior to publication.
And finally, find clever ways to market and promote your book. Even traditional publishers will push their authors to do their own promotion. I started a TikTok account called Horse Karma where I post quirky and cute videos of horses – it’s worked well for me with boosting book sales.
I often say ‘Stories stir my soul, writing them makes me whole.’ Writing means more to me than just telling a story – it makes me feel alive, it ignites and beckons me. If this is true for you, too, I encourage you write and get your work into the world. After all, no one else can tell your story exactly like you.
