Selling novels/finding a literary agent

January 13, 2009 5:08 PM

How does one sell a (mystery) novel?

I recently wrote a 100,000 word mystery novel, and the handful of people who have read it so far have told me that it is not awful (although it needs revising and rewriting in places). I want to take the next step and sell my work to someone. How do I go about doing this? Do I send the manuscript directly to publishers, or do I find an agent? How would one go about doing this?

Please note that I am not interested in "copylefting" the novel or anything like that. I'd rather sell it for a pittance, give up all of the rights to the work, and never have a single copy be published, than put it up somewhere on the web where millions of people read it for free. This isn't the great American novel, it is a bit of hackwork for which I hope to get some money.

Details and comments:

1) I read that fiction manuscripts from unpublished authors should be 75k to 120k words long. Is this correct? Should I flesh out/cut down on what I've written?

2) The working title is a quote from a song and quotes from other books to start off the section headings. Are there copyright issues for an unpublished manuscript?

posted by anonymous to writing & language (7 comments total)

Previously.

I recommend getting an agent. They know about contracts in a way you never could, and the right agent can connect you to an editor who is ready, willing, and able to put desperately needed marketing dollars behind your book. Look in the acknowledgments section of mystery books you enjoy or that seem similar to get some ideas of reputable agents. You might have a bit more trouble finding an agent with genre fiction, but it's still well worth the time and energy. Also, if you have a reputable agent willing to represent you, you know that at least someone in the industry thinks your book can sell.

A quick note: I was given pause by the way you describe your book. I mean, I understand that it's not the Great American Novel, but you sound extremely unenthusiastic about the merit of your work. "Not awful" will not cut it in this publishing climate. Neither, unfortunately, will "hackwork"...unless it's really good hackwork.

Good luck.
posted by mynameisluka at 5:22 PM on January 13

I work for a major trade publisher, and frequently work with mysteries, including first time authors. Get an agent. Your manuscript will not be read if you send it to publishers unsolicited. Check out the writer's section of any major bookstore for lots of ideas of how to get an agent--you'll need a pitch letter, some platform/marketing information, etc.

You definitely need to get more enthused about your book though--you need to write a pitch letter that makes your novel SOUND like the next Great American Thriller. Think of it this way--no one will care about your book more than you, and right now, you sound kind of "meh". Why would anyone give you money for "meh"?

(Also, about the word count--at least at my end [after a book is signed with the house], it's not an issue. We do short first novels and really long first novels, even for mysteries and thrillers. It's more about pacing.)
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 5:44 PM on January 13

If it needs "revising and rewriting in places," your next step is to do that rewriting and revising. There are agents who will take on a book that needs a lot of work, but some of them are shysters and most of the rest aren't very good.

You will want to grab the most recent edition of a book that has in it the contact information for agents and editors. A lot of publishing houses are closed to submissions by unagented writers, so I would concentrate on agents. (People will give you advice that a good agent won't want you unless you've previously published something. This used to be true but is far less so now. Most of the debut authors I know have gotten an agent first.) For a first pass, concentrate on the agents who say that they represent mysteries, and has represented authors published by major presses. Ideally they would represent an author you've heard of who writes stuff that's similar to stuff you write. (Do you know such an author? Poke around in the author's acknowledgements, website, blog, or shoot off an e-mail if you're feeling bold, and see if you can find out who represents the author.)

By the way: there is nothing keeping scam artists out of these books. If an agent hasn't represented an author you've heard of, there's a chance he's either a shyster or not very good.

Find out the agent's specific submission guidelines, either in the book of contact information or on the agency's website. Some accept e-mail queries; some don't. Some want you to enclose the first three or five pages of your manuscript; some want a synopsis; some just want a query letter.

A query letter's purpose is to tell agents (a) what your book is about, (b) that you are capable of writing coherent and even exciting sentences, and (c) that you are the ideal person to have written the book. (Your publishing credentials, if any, and any biographical stuff or education or life experience that lends credibility to you writing.)

You can find many examples of query letters online. Real query letter that got me an agent:

Dear Ms. Agent:

Cassandra is nearly seventeen and profoundly nerdy, a pacifist with no car and no sense of style. She's always muddled through thanks to her best friend, Julia, a wannabe Broadway composer who's just as nerdy as Cass is. But when Julia suddenly dies, and her theater friends rally to put on a performance of the musical she wrote, Totally Sweet Ninja Death Squad, Cass is left out in the cold. Things only get worse when they decide to cast Heather, the girl who made Cass miserable in middle school, in the lead.

Cass can't take a summer of swallowing her pride and painting sets, so she decides to follow her original plan for a cross-country road trip with Julia. Even if she has a touring bicycle instead of a driver's license, and even if Julia's ashes are coming along in Tupperware.

The story's two threads follow Cass as she confronts floods, theft, and heartbreak, and after she returns home to find that she hasn't run away from her problems. Building sets in a community theater basement, she learns that Heather isn't the person she used to be -- and neither is Cass herself. After pedaling through soy fields and dirt roads, she still has to navigate the uncharted territories of friendship, forgivenes, and saying goodbye.

Travels With My Dead Best Friend is a mainstream young adult novel, complete at 50,000 words.

I am a young adult librarian currently living in Brooklyn, New York, and have published nonfiction in the journal Storytelling, Self, Society.

Would you be interested in seeing the entire manuscript? I have enclosed the first ten pages for your review.

Sincerely,
Me.

(1) 100K is a touch on the long side for a mystery by a new writer. 80-85 would be around the sweet spot. The problem with longer manuscripts is that they push up the price of the book, and people are less willing to drop $25 or $26 for a book by a writer they don't already know and love.

(2) Yes, there are copyright issues. Your agent would (after the book has sold) contact the rights holders and negotiate for permissions. You will (generally) be responsible for paying any licensing fees the rights holders charge. But you needn't worry about this until your book sells, unless you are absolutely dead-set against changing the title (by the way: your editor or agent will probably want the title changed) or removing the quotes.
posted by Jeanne at 5:58 PM on January 13 [9 favorites]

Get it as close to clean, ready-to-publish form as you possibly can before sending it out. Conventional wisdom these days is that adult authors should probably have an agent.

You might find the archives at Miss Snark illuminating.

Getting permission to use all those quotes will be a pain. If I were your editor, I would insist that you either take them out or secure the permissions yourself. Also as the author you'll have little control over the final title.

And you should probably try to muster up a bit more enthusiasm for your work. In my experience, the type of writing that one sells for a pittance and never worries about again (work for hire stuff) is assignment-based, not the stuff you come up with yourself before selling.
posted by lampoil at 6:28 PM on January 13

Look up the Mystery Writers of America. They'll have lists of agents who currently work with mystery writers.

The song lyrics will probably be a problem. If it were me, I'd make that change now.
posted by sugarfish at 6:41 PM on January 13

This is a wonderful blog post on the getting of agents. Every word in it is true.

Good luck!
posted by Jeanne at 8:07 PM on January 13 [1 favorite]

Agentquery.com - research agents
Preditors and Editors - agents and publishers to avoid.

Probably the main rule of thumb is, no reputable agent asks for money up front. If an agetny asks for money up from, run away.
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 6:28 AM on January 14 [1 favorite]