I was wondering if any of you could help me here. I've been digging for a long time sending querries to agents and from now on I want to make sure that I'm sending letters to the best and or biggest agencies out there that can grant me great deals. I've so far tried maasagency, and um, um, well I forget the rest, but I'll appreciate any advice that you can give me.
Agents at larger agencies are usually genre-specific. They also don't grant deals, they try to broker them. How good your deal is has a lot more to do with the publisher, the property, and the market than the agent.
The average advance for a first novel right now is around 8K. If you're looking to get rich, there are probably better avenues.
ModSpace | Fallen Earring | Scriveners | ModFace
From the moment I picked your book up until I laid it down, I was convulsed with laughter. Someday I intend reading it.
Groucho Marx
Check out the credits in the front or back of really successful books. They usually mention the agent's name in there.
ModSpace | Fallen Earring | Scriveners | ModFace
From the moment I picked your book up until I laid it down, I was convulsed with laughter. Someday I intend reading it.
Groucho Marx
Writer's Market
Concentrate on the agents that deal in your genre/subgenre. And, to avoid future disappointment, bear in mind that very few books ever earn back their initial advance.
"I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best."-- Marilyn Monroe
What do you mean by initial advance?
You get an advance on the book. Only after that money has been made back to you begin to see any kind of percentage of sales. And most of the time the money is never made back.
Trust me, if it's a good book, it'll make more than the advance. First time authors don't tend to make a lot of money out of their first novel but nor do the publishers. They look to make more out of you on your second and third books, if you reach those milestones.
Sorry, I don't trust you. The vast majority of first novels will never make up their advance. And I'm sure there are plenty of good ones in there.Trust me, if it's a good book, it'll make more than the advance.
So you are clearly on a mission to discourage him?Originally Posted by Dr. Malone
Have you not read best-sellers by first-time authors then?
My post was addressed to the OP. It is not my concern whether you "trust me" or not... Doctor.
Last edited by Mermaid on the breakwater; 05-26-2009 at 08:08 PM.
I'm not trying to discourage anyone, but I'm not going to lie either. The chances of writing a best-seller your first time out is about the same as being hit by lightning. Hell, the chances of writing a best-seller EVER are about the same as being hit by lightning. The chances of making back the advance aren't much better.
I encourage S-wo to write a novel, try to get it published, and make it a great one. Just understand that even if you get published and receive an advance, the monetary value of your writing with be around $00.05 a word.
And from under what rock do you derive your data?
Here's some good info from a pro.
Want more? Here you go. Here's a bit more, from the same author, referring to the first article.
Here's another.
Stephen King's advance for the hardcover of Carrie was 2500.00. Sales figures were not fabulous, but not bad. A movie option and brisk sales of the paperback led to renegotiation and a 400,000.00 advance against his next three books.
So there's your encouragement. If you have King's talent and perseverance, and a whole lot of luck, you might make that kind of money. Or if you just have a whole lot of luck and hit a hot market you might do it. The odds of doing that are probably higher than being hit by lightning.
ModSpace | Fallen Earring | Scriveners | ModFace
From the moment I picked your book up until I laid it down, I was convulsed with laughter. Someday I intend reading it.
Groucho Marx
The chances of writing making you rich are slim, for sure, but not impossible. In the circle of Pro writers I rub shoulders with are one who got an advance of around $500k, another who got "a check bigger than anything I've ever seen in my life" right through to pennies or less advances. A handful - less than half - earn a living solely from writing, and most of those will have to turn out a book a year from now on to keep it that way.
The chances of getting rich in any walk of life are very slim.
"You have a firm grasp of the obvious." OJ Simpson to Howard Cosell.
ModSpace | Fallen Earring | Scriveners | ModFace
From the moment I picked your book up until I laid it down, I was convulsed with laughter. Someday I intend reading it.
Groucho Marx
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