I have been surfing the social media sites lately and have seen a huge increase in authors complaining about the number of rejections they have been getting. What has been interesting, however, is not the number, but the follow up statements so many have had. The majority "just don't understand why!"
Surprisingly, the answer is fairly simple.
The majority of these authors are ill-prepared to be publishing their books. Most are simply undereducated in the art of writing and/or the publishing industry. This is something, as those of you have read this blog know, is something I am constantly screaming about. There are simply a lot of people out there who lack the experience and education to move into the publishing world.
Let me first say that this is a situation easily remedied. I am not, in any way, saying that publishing is only for the elite few authors out there. What I am saying, however, is that writers need to take the time to become educated in how the industry works, what goes into publishing, and yes, even how to write a quality book.
This is not just something I have seen. During the recent RWA conference, I was shocked at how many other editors and agents were saying the same thing. The writing we are seeing in submissions is just not that strong. We were also noting people submitting projects that would simply not sell in the market. Let's talk about a few of these in no particular order.
STORIES TOO BIG OR TOO SMALL - This is an interesting one. I have seen numerous authors with novella length stories that they believed would be perfect for the single title market. These are literally stories that are easily 50,000 words short for that market! On the other side of that situation are authors who are marketing books that would make the GAME OF THRONES series look like a novella. My story is 300,000 words and will likely be a 3-book series. This is 900,000+ words! Really? One author recently complained that they had a series of three books, each at roughly 200,000 words and were shocked that the publisher turned it down! This person does not know the market.
NOT KNOWING WHAT A PUBLISHER PRINTS OR AN AGENT REPRESENTS - I had several of these who pitched to me at the RWA Conference. I often asked authors where they see their writing being published. I had authors with manuscripts easily around 90,000+ words and clearly saw their stories in several of the Harlequin series lines. Note to author - many of these lines have a word count of 50,000-60,000. You are way too large.
I have also seen people who don't have a clue what the lines deal with in terms of content. One author I passed on just recently had a highly erotic/sensual story they thought would be perfect for the Harlequin Love Inspired line. Note to author - that line is primarily inspirational. Sex is not going to be showing up in these stories.
Finally, as many of you know, authors are just sending stories out to every editor or agent without taking the time to even research what they represent. I continually get non-fiction projects, even though I only represent romance and women's fiction. This is not rocket science, it requires a bit of reading.
THE WRITING IS ELEMENTARY - Knowing how to write quality stories takes time. Like any other skill out there, it takes time to move from a basic understanding to being truly good at what you do. Think about music. When you first learn to play an instrument, you are not that good. You struggle reading notes. Your timing is off. You hit keys on the piano accidentally. But, just because you have a piano or an instrument DOES NOT mean you should be going on tour. The same goes for writing.
Learning to write takes more than attending a couple of workshops and reading blog posts like this. It takes time to dissect novels, to learn what makes the story tick, and to really research why authors do what they do. It takes time to practice those skills with smaller projects that will never see the desk of a publisher or agent (and they never should). For close to 99.999% of you out there, it will take time.
STORIES THAT ARE SIMPLY NOT MARKETABLE - I have talked about this already this week. There are some things that are not suitable for the public. There are stories that people really do not want to read about. I am not saying your writing might not be good, but the topics are just not going to work.
One I see a lot are issues where a student thinks it is a good idea to have a relationship with a teacher. Hey, take a look at the news out there. People get fired over this. People are thrown in jail for this. Do you remember the outrage of these two?
And yet, there are still authors who think this is a great storyline. Sorry, but the market is not going to be interested in a story such as this.
Writers are simply not thinking. They write and write and never contemplate if the readerships is really out there.
WRITERS ARE NOT PROFESSIONAL - This is actually a small fragment of this population, but it is still present. These are writers who may have written a great story, but when it comes to being a public persona, this is not going to sell. Readers want to meat authors. When authors come across as jerks, unprofessional rude and so forth in their correspondence with editors and agents, this shows what the potential will be when they meet with their public.
I am sure I have talked about this here before, but I have writers who submit initial query letters slamming major authors, back-stabbing other editors and agents, telling me their writing is the best F%$$#$%$$ story out there compared to the other S***%%^% being published. Um, nice language and so sorry, but I will be passing on your story.
Look, this may be a bit of a rant, but if writers want to truly be published and truly want to move into the professional realm of publishing, they are going to have to take the time to learn how to BE a true published author and not simply someone who has banged out a story and published no more like printed it.
Scott, could you please suggest a type of course or book to read to improve one's chances of getting published? I have received rejections off and on since the 70's and monthly since 2003. I have accumulated well over 200 rejections from main stream publishers, and some on requested full manuscripts.
ReplyDeleteI publish a weekly newspaper in which I write feature articles, attend writing conferences and have read over thirty books on crafts. Yet my latest R's say... on the right track … or are form rejections.
In desperation I published 100 of my old ms's on Amazon under three different names, hoping to receive feedback. While many of the stories have been read or purchased, I have only received four feedback, all nice ones.
Do you advocate book doctors or services that edit? Just curious of your recommendations. Love Strunk and King's on writing, and Writing Killer Fiction by Wheat is one of my fave's. Evidently I'm slow getting it, but so want to master the art of writing romance.
Thank you for your blog, I always enjoy reading the posts. MJ
I will answer this question specifically in the Monday blog post!
ReplyDeleteScott, I try to follow your blog because you’re so refreshingly blunt about the publishing industry, the odds, and the slush pile. Like those old Mennen Skin Bracer TV commercials where the guy got slapped, and said, “Thanks, I needed that.” I need that constant reality check.
ReplyDeleteIn 2012, mega-selling author Charles Martin advised writers on his website: “You only get one shot because there are a hundred thousand more people just like you trying to get that person’s five minutes. There were 250k commercially published books last year in the US. There were over 3 million self published. Hence, lots of competition. Your writing should be clean and perfect.”
If what Martin said is true – 3 million self-pubbed books are released every year, and you add the 250,000 traditionally published books, that’s 8,928 books released every single day. Roughly 9,000 new books, released daily! Lottery odds, for sure, to become a bestseller and stand out in such a dense thicket.
Do you think the sinking of standards reflect the self-pubbed phenom’s in the romance genre, particularly the New Adult category? A lot of these self-pubbed authors launched their novels against terrific odds and still managed to sell thousands of their books, (admirable, incredible), but I’m struck by their chapters and language. I’d place these on a third or fourth grade level reading comprehension, while a traditionally published romance book might be at a 7th or 8th grade level. Perhaps that’s the commercial average, I don’t know. I’ve read where pop song lyrics have become less sophisticated, too, and that could reflect the lower literacy levels (coinciding with reliance upon smartphones and other technology – spelling and grammar seem to be declining, too). Read somewhere where SAT reading scores have declined by 10 points in the past decade or two. So we need to replenish readership and raise the literacy level. I think kids in high school, for example, see reading as a “chore.”
Many of these self-pubbed New Adult eroticas were labeled as “crack,” meaning, readers couldn’t stop turning the pages. If you pick up an early release of a self-pubbed phenom, and then review her work after she’s been picked up by a traditional publisher – to me, it’s rather striking, the difference. And I’m not sure their sales improve when they’re traditionally published. I think the erotica sales may have reflected the hook-up culture, as discussed in such books as 2008’s “Unhooked: How Young Women Pursue Sex, Delay Love and Lose at Both.”
I have to agree with a lot of the things you have said here. This is a lottery. As far as the sinking standards, I would have to say, these lower standards are indeed showing up in a lot of those self-pubbed authors. They have moved to that level because the traditional publishers rejected their stories. Of course, we have to know why they rejected the stories. A) The market is increasingly competitive and the stories have to be AMAZING; and B) Those stories may not have been right for the market or simply not well written.
DeleteAs far as your comment that the sales for those authors who did move to traditional publishing after self-publishing did not improve, I would simply have to say this is not due to the lack of skills from the editors, but simply the fact that ALL the publishers right now are struggling to find the exact magic button to get sales up.
I do have to 100% agree with you that we are now living in a culture that does not read. If we can binge watch it on Netflix or get a quick blurb on a Tweet, we think we are good. This has a lot to do with those reduced sales.