Seven Weeks After Signing…
So, it’s been about seven weeks since signing the publishing deal for my novel, The Monsters Among Us. And this may sound dramatic, as its still early and the release date is a bit far off… but everything feels different. Throughout the first few weeks, it felt unreal. Like the world was dangling something precious in front of me, only to rip it away from me. Of course, that was irrational to think, but after what I’ve gone through to publish this novel, I just couldn’t believe that I indeed signed the contract.
As I mentioned in last month’s blog post, this novel has been with me for nine years. The creation of it took six years, then I spent the last three years querying it. And until Rowan Prose Publishing accepted it, I was drowning. Not a single agent asked for even a partial request. And that had me gutted. More so than any other story of mine, it was eviscerating when this novel was rejected. Because again, I spent six years writing it. Six years I stood side by side with these characters that, because of the time spent and because I went to painstaking lengths to ensure the novel is deeply immersive, those characters I created feel very much alive and real to me. And I hated seeing them rejected. To have to grieve their unlived potential.
That’s what it felt like for so long. Like I was a parent holding within my hands a stillbirth. I know how great the book is and even have my old college professors to back me up on that, so to watch it flail about in the querying trenches was devastating and confusing.
But then, after three years and over three hundred rejections, the book’s worth was finally recognized. And it’s funny that it was picked up only a couple weeks into me giving up on querying agents and deciding to submit to independent presses instead. Makes me think that independent presses are the ones truly seeking art, and agents not so much. I’m not trying to talk badly about agents. I understand their position. But unfortunately for burgeoning authors, the talented but unknowns like me, agents are not likely to pay us any attention. Pay being a very purposeful word because what an agent is after is money. They want sure things so they can make the most of their 10%. They also may be champions of art but profit always trumps that for an agent. Hence why on their querytracker submission forms, they ask questions like, “Have you published a book before and if so, how many copies did it sell?” When it comes to agents, an author could have a future Pulitzer winner and they would still ignore it if the author were an unknown, and therefore not profitable.
I’m still seeking an agent, now that I’m querying my other books. And it makes me all the more desirable that in my credentials section of my query I can now mention that The Monsters Among Us will be published in 2025 and because of that publishing deal, I am now a full member of the Author’s Guild. So hopefully an agent will bite now. But if not, then hopefully after The Monsters Among Us releases and sells (which it will, I have the utmost faith in this novel).
But ultimately what I’m getting at here is, if you’re in the position I was in just seven weeks ago, struggling to get an agent’s attention and feeling like giving up… please don’t. As I said above, The Monsters Among Us had over three hundred rejections, but here it is now preparing for its new life as a published book. Querying is discouraging, but don’t give up. And consider submitting to an independent publisher instead of waiting for an agent. It doesn’t matter if your book is published through Penguin Random House or a smaller press. The word “independent” is superfluous. It’s still a traditional publishing contract either way, and therefore it’s something to make you all the more impressive. It’s a credit, and a mighty big one at that. So, if agents are standing in the way to getting your book seen, well… go around them. Get seen through a different angle, market the hell out of your book and sell lots of copies. Then go to the agents again and say, “See? I’m profitable after all.”
I used to think that the path was, get an agent, sell book to publisher, market, release, do it all again with a second book. But that trail is unkind and treacherous to unknown authors. And it’s much more fruitful to find your own way around.
