Tuesday, May 5, 2020

The Unfair Burdon On New Writers

This last weekend, an author responded on Twitter to a post I had made here on the blog about everything in your story needs to advance the story. She noted that many established authors get away with this and a newbie author would get an automatic rejection.

And she is right!

It is a sad truth, but new authors cannot get away with things established authors can. Why? Established authors have a following. Publishers know that readers will buy anything from those established authors so they tend to have a little more latitude and wiggle room.

Let me also add that for new authors, agents and editors are taking a risk on you. Until you make that first sale, this is all work that is for free. For editors, if they have given you an advance, they are betting and hoping that advance will pay off.

One additional thing to consider is something that an editor told me back in 2008 when we had that first financial crisis. Prior to that, many publishers and agencies would sign authors who they knew might need a lot of work. When they saw declines in book sales, things had to change and you could only invest in essentially "sure things." That really has not changed. Sure, some are trying to open that up some, but it is still a reality.

So what does this mean for you? Take more time to make sure the writing is really the best of the best. Mediocre is not going to do it anymore.

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