The business basics of writing
Panellists: Greg Wilson, Monica Pacheco, Gail Z. Martin, Leah Bobet
Q: Do I need an agent?
LB: First, you have to ask yourself what you want. What will your career look like?
MP: If you want a Big 5 publishing deal, film rights, foreign rights, etc., you need an agent.
GZM: Can you do your own taxes or do you have an accountant? An agent has specialized knowledge that’s critical in the publishing industry. Their 15% commission is well worth it.
LB: I have to clarify my response: if you want to self-publish, no, you don’t need an agent. If you focus on short fiction, you don’t need an agent.
MP: Short fiction is excluded in publishing contracts.
GW: The stuff that used to be done by acquisition editors in the publishing houses has shifted to agents. There are many ways to achieve the same result. Having an agent can free up more time to write.
GZM: I don’t need an agent for short fiction, but if I notice something hinky with the contract, I can run it by my agent. He gets paid if I get paid, so he’s invested in my success.
LB: Agents aren’t interchangeable. It’s like a marriage. Fortunately, break-ups are rarely acrimonious.
MP: Your agent is also a buffer between you and the editor, you and marketing, etc.
GZM: My agent can play the bad cop.
MP: There’s an imbalance of power.
GW: A bad agent can be worse than no agent at all. You have to believe in what you do. Get the right agent for you.
GZM: I recommend the Guide to Literary Agents.
LB: Don’t take the boiler plate! [Mel’s note: a boiler plate is a standardized contract that frequently offers the worst possible terms for the author.] When it comes to long form contracts, it depends on the publisher, the genre, and the specific rights asked for.
MP: An agent will get a different boiler plate as a starting point for negotiation. Sub-rights depend on whether the agency has a strong film/foreign rights department.
GW: Also look out for audio rights and gaming rights.
GZM: Ebook rights are now a part of the non-negotiable rights a publisher can ask for. It will differ by house. A lot of authors are doing more hybrid work as their careers progress. Your contract determines what you can do (e.g. when rights revert to the author).
LB: Non-compete clauses are something to examine carefully. Looking at the big picture, publishing houses are figuring out how to proceed in the world of epublishing and publishing on demand (POD).
GW: Distribution wars can have an affect on your novel. When Amazon and Hachette were fighting it out, some authors lost out because their books were getting into the stores.
GZM: The sales of your current book will determine how many copies of your next book stores will order.
GW: Titans fight and the peons pay. I self-published and then I got a traditional deal. Publishing and writers are both more flexible. Hybrid will become the norm. You have to have more awareness of the “shape” of the industry.
MP: We used to search WattPad to find the next author. Now, established authors are publishing on WattPad.
LB: I’m interested to see if WattPad will be monetized.
GZM: How does free translate to readers (which translates to income)? Some people read a book a day. They can’t afford their book habit, but if they read and review, they become influencers.
GW: We now have multiple avenues to get our work out there. You can leverage multiple fan bases. The more each author is successful, the more all authors are successful. The rising tide floats all boats.
LB: YA rules are a little different. It’s flush with money. It’s a gold rush. I’m aware of my limits as a writer, though. 18 hour days on an ongoing basis would kill me. Publishing is built on interns. Books are great, but they’re not everything. You have a life outside of books. Your career is your choice.
GZM: Precarious is in the eye of the beholder. I have a life and I do work long days.
GW: Being a college professor is precarious. You have to learn how to work smarter, not harder.
LB: No one knows what the magic button is.
And that was time.
Next week: We move on to DAY 3 (!) and making a living as a writer.
Filed under: Authorial name dropping Tagged: Ad Astra 2015, agents, Authorial name dropping, boiler plate, convention, cutting contracts, distribution, epublishing, free, Gail Z. Martin, Greg Wilson, hybrid authors, Leah Bobet, Marketing, Monica Pacheco, publishing on demand, sales, Self-publishing, Short story, The business of writing, Wattpad
