Publishing a novel in the literary market?

March 8, 2006 10:42 PM

How does one go about publishing a novel (specifically a first novel) in the literary market?

From what I have heard, publishers (and therefore agents as well) are looking for some key things in a book to be assured that they can sell it. However, some of my favorite novels seem to take a completely opposite approach. How do they find publishers? I know there is a market for experimental fiction and other books that take a non-traditional approach to narrative (I'm trying to refrain from naming any specific literary movement here), but who are the publishers and agents that work in these areas? Are writers of this type of fiction doomed to an even more painstaking struggle than normal in order to get their work out in to the world? Am I being to vague? Can anyone help?

posted by deafweatherman to writing & language (15 comments total)

err... too vague
posted by deafweatherman at 10:45 PM on March 8, 2006

You're being too vague.
posted by cellphone at 10:45 PM on March 8, 2006

If I am being too vague, then let me elaborate/summarize with this single question: How do authors who are more expiremental with their fiction end up finding representation if the publishing business is inherantly weary of expirementation?
posted by deafweatherman at 10:54 PM on March 8, 2006

Connections. Probably independent publishing success of some sort. I'm speculating, though.
posted by cellphone at 10:56 PM on March 8, 2006

In the case of McSweeney's (at the start), trust fund and credit cards.
posted by gac at 11:23 PM on March 8, 2006

Simple answer: ask someone who's done it. A good place to start would be to find a publisher that does publish the kind of thing you've written. Obviously you've read some books that take a nontraditional approach; who published these? Try contacting those publishers, or contact the authors, and ask for the names of their agents. And it couldn't hurt, either, to contact the author and rave about their book and then ask how they managed to get such a unique and special book published in a harsh commercial world blah blah blah... Heavy on the praise. Authors love praise. You may get some good advice.

Or, try writing something a little more normal first, and getting that published. Once you're on the inside, as it were, it should be much easier to be able to try something new, and get it looked at; you'll have a track record, publishers will know you're a serious professional writer, and they'll actually look at your "nontraditional" stuff instead of tossing it aside as "Another loon who thinks he's James Joyce.".
posted by Rubber Soul at 11:36 PM on March 8, 2006

From what I have heard, publishers (and therefore agents as well) are looking for some key things in a book to be assured that they can sell it. However, some of my favorite novels seem to take a completely opposite approach.

This doesn't make much sense to me, because you don't say what they're looking for but then you say some books are the opposite.

Of course publishers, and movie producers and just about everyone else, from videogamer makers to toy makers, are looking for surefire, predictable hits. But show them something unique and unusual and if they think they can sell it, they'll buy that too.

So, how do authors of less predictable books get published? They get their book in front of someone who thinks it'll sell.

Also they check their spelling.
posted by AmbroseChapel at 1:03 AM on March 9, 2006

I once asked my friend James Teitelbaum how he got his first book published, (granted, it's non-fiction, but the advice is still worthy) and this is what he told me:

He decided what type of book he'd like to write, and then he went to a large bookstore and looked at all sorts of books in the same category/ under the same interest/ similar genre/ etc., peeked inside, and wrote down the names of all the publishers. In his case, this included Taschen and other artsy-hip publishers.

Then he took his list home and wrote pitches to all of the publishers on his list. Out of 10 or 15 (maybe), one accepted, and now he has his own book out. It also helped a bit, I'm sure, that he had other items already published, such as articles in magazines and web journals, under his belt.

I'm in the journalism biz, and in my case the same basic advice is true: you have to already be published to get published. You can't get a job at the WSJ if yoou haven;t worked at the Springfield Herald.

Start small — submit to online publications (don't expect to get paid yet), develop a small portfolio, and then try to pitch a book. It helps if you already have a personal audience (no matter how small) — that's why bloggers are getting so many book deals these days.
posted by Brittanie at 1:08 AM on March 9, 2006

Publishers are fickle. They are looking for sure fire hits but they also want something new and exciting. So at the same time as looking for the next Dan Brown they will get fed up of the millions of Dan Brown clones landing on their desk.

Experimental stuff gets published because it lands on the right person's desk at the right time. As others have suggested this is more likely to happen at smaller, independant houses. There is still a large element of luck in this and what you can do is the same as what any potential author can do:

1) Write something very good.
2) Get a decent agent who believes passionately in your work.

(Brittanie gives good advice for non-fiction but it isn't really applicable to literary fiction.)
posted by ninebelow at 2:33 AM on March 9, 2006

From what I have heard, publishers (and therefore agents as well) are looking for some key things in a book to be assured that they can sell it.

Although genre publishers are looking for specific things (in a mystery or horror novel, for example), literary publishers are not looking for anything specific in submitted work. In fact, they are more likely to tell you that they don't know what they are looking for but they know when they see it.

How do they find publishers? I know there is a market for experimental fiction and other books that take a non-traditional approach to narrative (I'm trying to refrain from naming any specific literary movement here), but who are the publishers and agents that work in these areas?

Publishers: go to the book store and see who publishes stuff similar to what you have in mind.

Agents: find out who writes this stuff and then do some research to find out who represents them.

Are writers of this type of fiction doomed to an even more painstaking struggle than normal in order to get their work out in to the world?

Yes. Absolutely.

(By the way, the #1 criterion for getting a novel published is to actually have written one. I can't tell you how many times I've had this or a similar conversation with someone about getting a novel published or selling a screenplay, only to find out at the end of the conversation that they haven't actually written one yet but are thinking about it. At which point I irritatedly say something like "call me again when you've written it". There is no bigger glut of any commodity in the world that people who would like to have written something. Writers just write.)
posted by unSane at 5:48 AM on March 9, 2006

Second unSane - first thing, write a novel, and get it to the point where it's right. This can be difficult.

There are tons of markets for experimental writers. That said, my pals that are semi-established (lots of journal pubications, novels out or on the way) do not make money writing experimental fiction. They are either teachers or something else (day job.) You might start by looking at journals like 3rd Bed or Fence, or looking around online. WebDelSol.com is a good starting point (but by no means the only place to find journals online.)

As for book publishers, find an author you like and look at their other titles. FC2 publishes mostly experimental fiction. You might look at Soft Skull, Akashic, Dalkey Archive, Four Walls Eight Windows - while not exclusively experimental, they definitely publish stuff outside the mainstream. I'm sure manuscripts get to them directly from authors, from agents, and by reputation.
posted by drobot at 6:52 AM on March 9, 2006

You said many of your favorite books are the kind you're talking about. Glance at the spine--there's your first hint. If you've written a novel that you think fits into a certain "movement," target the places that publish or represent authors from that movement when you submit.

And yes, as unSane said, write your novel first. Then worry about getting it published. When it comes to fiction--especially literary fiction--you shouldn't worry so much as a non-fiction author or perhaps a mass market author about things like how to market it to publishers and the public until after you've written it. Someone who tries to write a novel targeted at the current marketplace is being incredibly naive. It will take you at least a year to write it, god knows how long to find an agent or publisher, and probably around another two years from your publishing contract to actually have the printed book in your hands. The marketplace will have changed completely by then. Just write the best book you can write. Then submit in a professional way.

This is key--professionalism. Do your research. Target agents and publishers that work on your kind of book. There are lots of books that outline the proper way to submit your manuscript--the "for Dummies" one will do. Simple things like presentation and tone make the difference. I know you want to stand out, but it's not cool to send in something really unusual like a huge box full of weird crap. It will only stand out enough for the whole office to laugh at you, and it's just so wasteful. Want to stand out? Send a neatly-typed, concise, polite, one-page letter with no errors on semi-decent stationary and your manuscript on white letter sized paper, double spaced and one-sided, no staples or binding, with no pizza stains or anything. Believe me, I see a lot of submissions and that will stand out.

Really experimental authors do sometimes get published--almost always by small houses. These small houses have small overhead, so they don't have to sell very many copies of a book for it to be worthwhile for them. But the author doesn't usually end up making all that much in royalties. On the other hand, in my experience, that makes experimental writers much more accessable as advisors to aspiring writers, because they're out there teaching writing to make up the difference. One of my college writing teachers (also a published author) had a very experiemental style. Maybe if you google some of your favorite authors you'll find some of them are willing to talk to you about this. (But again, approach them professionally). Do not cold call publishing houses, get some random staffer on the phone, and say "how do I publish my book?" or "Can I have Stephen King's address?" (You'd be surprised...)

And know that the odds are stacked against you--try not to get too frustrated by that. Half the country thinks they're the next great novelist, too. And they're sending their mss in, too. And especially as an experimental author, yes, you do have a harder road ahead. If you're sending in something that's really weird, that many more people will look at it and be like "wtf is this? reject," ...it's just the way things go. But if you do your research you'll find the folks that are most likely not to say that.
posted by lampoil at 6:56 AM on March 9, 2006

Yeah, do everything lampoil said.

And, another thing in regards to agents... Find out who agented books that are either comparable to your book or influenced you or that you just like -- Google! -- and craft a query letter based on their requirements, then fire it off. No matter how experimental your book is, if you approach an agent as a professional, your chances of it being looked at are greater.

Most agent's sites lay out their wants/submission guidelines pretty clearly. Also, whenever you query someone be sure to thank them for their time. It just seems polite. That said, take extra special care in writing your query letter and by that I mean do your research and know something about who you're sending it to.

I think that if you apply that level of care to querying, then it'll rub off and illuminate the rest of it.

Most importantly, don't sweat this stuff when you're writing. Just write and love what you're doing and try to compartmentalize writing and submitting into different areas of your brain.
posted by box elder at 9:37 AM on March 9, 2006

I work for a publisher and getting noticed is not easy.

You could always try self-publishing. Then you could market your book to the outlets you felt were the best your experimental work.

You could also submit parts of it to magazines.

Once you've published something it will be easier to get noticed.

Good luck!
posted by spakto at 10:38 AM on March 9, 2006

There is some great advice here - I've bookmarked it.

I'm not sure if this is helpful, but stepping back and looking at this from the 'big picture', I can give you the perspective from a general economic/business point of view...
Most publishers/agents look at the bottom-line; is there a market (demand) for your product?

I'd say that becoming familiar with the differences between those who are succesful & those who are not would be a good starting point. Then, when presenting your idea, if you can refer to some concrete statistical evidence (perhaps search engine results?) that proves your value, you'll be a shoo-in. This is obviously much easier said than done - especially when dealing with something that is as abstract as writing fiction.

Good luck, and if all else fails, there's always self-publishing.
posted by Jhaus at 6:36 PM on March 9, 2006