The Agenting Thing

There's nothing particularly special about them. They're just sales people of a kind, trying to predict what will sell so the time they spend doing so will result in a more substantial 20%. It's a job, that's all it is. Yet, to us authors, they are avatars – gods in human form. They are the threshold guardians awaiting us at the end of act one and preventing our progress forward.

Over the past few years their industry has been changed by the digital revolution. There are stories of authors moving from self published Kindle titles to the hot racks of the book shops but, on the whole, if you want to make it in traditional publishing, you're still going to need to get an agent.

Last year I wrote a book called, The Crucifixion and Resurrection of Malachi the Queer. As far as I'm concerned it was the best thing I'd ever written – the culmination of the five years I've had studying creative writing and the ten years I've been a practicing writer. Even still, this book didn't get me the representation I hoped it would, so I've published it on Amazon, amidst the hoards of other self-published novels out there all vying for the attention of readers.

But this post isn't about that book, but about the problems of trying to find an agent and the demands it places on you when there's really very little chance of success. And, why? Because I'm going to do it again. Of course I'm going to do it again, and again, until I get an agent or am dead! Because I'm a writer.

It's about a quarter of the reason I'm doing this blog, because I'm going to make this hideous, nail-biting, arse-aching quest for representation public as I seek agent representation for my current work in progress.

I'm not going to get into details of the pitch today, that will come later, I just want to talk about one of the perceived rules I've gleaned from the agents and writers I've spoken to in the past. Why I almost entirely ignored it with the pitching for the last novel and how I think these things can be compromised.

RULE ONE: Don't send out your manuscript to every agency under the sun all at once. Pitch one or two at a time and see what happens.

Fully aware of this rule, I knew, even before I'd completed the manuscript, that I was going to break it. When I was ready, I took a week to send personalised pitches to around 80 agencies, all those in the UK and US who deal with Young Adult novels. On average it took two months to hear back from them (in the long run this figure will be much greater when you consider the 20 or so agencies I've still yet to receive a reply from).

So if I followed this rule and it led to no positive outcomes, sending off two pitches at a time and waiting for feedback (which, actually, there most often isn't) I would spend nearly seven years pitching the one manuscript.

I gave myself a deadline to hear back from them, ties to a competition into which I had entered Malachi. I got nowhere, so that day I published my novella, Jack's Diary, to essentially operate as a loss leader for Malachi, which has been published this very day.

What I did notice while researching each agent I considered was that almost all of them were happy to look at self-published books. So there we have the compromise on that rule. From here on out I'm going to self-publish once the manuscript is complete and then begin the search for the agent, which I will do much more slowly and at my leisure. There's just no reason not to do so anymore.

And what are the benefits?

Money: okay, well there's not very much of that at the moment. Not enough for Amazon to send me a payment, but it is building up as I promote and time moves forward.

Readers: this is the key thing. What does a writer want more than readers? Nothing. Since Jack's Diary has been available on Amazon it's picked up over 200 readers. If self publishing is going to get me anywhere it's going to be with this gradual build up of readership. The hope is that those who've read and enjoyed Jack's Diary will go on to buy a copy of Malachi. Maybe that will work, maybe it will not, but to know I have a growing readership is a real positive.

So that's where I am at the moment. I'm very positive about everything. It's almost like I can have my cake and eat it.

I think the thing to remember is that agents are almost exactly like any other reader. Some things are going to appeal to them, some are not. With the rejections I got for Malachi I know that the reality and immediacy of the violence was an issue for some, the atheism and anti-religious sentiments a problem for others and I'm sure a ton of them just didn't like it.

“We don't feel it's something we can sell.” was the ultimate outcome from those who did give positive feedback.

Well, today I've sold four copies, which is four more than I would have sold if I didn't take this chance. It doesn't seem like much, does it? But to me it's another small step towards success.

P.S.

I know this is a strange first blog post where I'm probably meant to be telling you all a little more about what to expect from it. That will come next. It was just this post wanted to be written and published today.