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Publishing trends 2012

Got a question/comment about the business of writing or about the publishing industry? Here's your place to post it!
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Justin Swanton
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Post by Justin Swanton » Thu July 5th, 2012, 6:13 am

So one has to get in with the big boys. Thought so.

It also helps to be able to write. I read and thoroughly enjoyed the extract from The Flower Reader. Very well written.
Nunquam minus solus quam cum solus.

Author of Centurion's Daughter

Come visit my blog

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parthianbow
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Post by parthianbow » Thu July 5th, 2012, 8:07 am

@Justin: While Frederick Forsyth may have walked into an editor's office and stood over him as he read a synopsis, that would have been 40+ years ago. In the UK, major publishers do NOT accept mss. from unpublished writers. (Or if they do, it's incredibly, incredibly rare.) Those days are long gone. They don't have time. Agents act as the filter between writers and the publishers. Much as one might not like that, and much as that might be a blunt instrument, it does keep a lot of dross from being published. One agency that I know of receives 300+ mss. per week. 15,000 per year. From that, they might get 3-5 published. There is no way that traditional publishers have the time to do that as well as all their work with established authors. I would strongly suspect that the same applies elsewhere in the world.

JK Rowling got her lucky break with Bloomsbury because that's who her agent sent it to. She had been rejected by 15 or so agents, and then sent her ms. to an agent who didn't even do kids' fiction. She also broke the 'rules' by binding it, and having a colourful cover. He threw it in the bin,where it was seen by his secretary. She picked it out, read it, loved it, and asked him to read it. He saw the potential, and the rest as they say is history. He is currently worth more than £50m, and the clever secretary is worth a couple of mill too.
Ben Kane
Bestselling author of Roman military fiction.
Spartacus - UK release 19 Jan. 2012. US release June 2012.

http://www.benkane.net
Twitter: @benkaneauthor

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Justin Swanton
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Post by Justin Swanton » Thu July 5th, 2012, 11:36 am

[quote=""parthianbow""]

JK Rowling got her lucky break with Bloomsbury because that's who her agent sent it to. She had been rejected by 15 or so agents, and then sent her ms. to an agent who didn't even do kids' fiction. She also broke the 'rules' by binding it, and having a colourful cover. He threw it in the bin,where it was seen by his secretary. She picked it out, read it, loved it, and asked him to read it. He saw the potential, and the rest as they say is history.[/quote]

That's Serendipity with a capital S. I seem to have read somewhere that something fortuitous happened with the MS at Bloomsbury at well.

Lesson for writers: get hold of every lucky horseshoe you can lay your hands on.

More seriously, the real lesson is to flush the 'big time' syndrome out of our systems. We have to enjoy writing for a relatively small readership if we don't want to end up bitter and twisted.

The person who buys the 100th copy of Centurion's Daughter gets a free smartie :)
Nunquam minus solus quam cum solus.

Author of Centurion's Daughter

Come visit my blog

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Elizabeth
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Post by Elizabeth » Thu July 5th, 2012, 1:32 pm

[quote=""Justin Swanton""]So one has to get in with the big boys. Thought so.[/quote]

Well, maybe. But not necessarily. There are successful mid-size and small publishers. University presses also sometimes publish historical fiction. And the market has changed so much that successful self-published books sometimes sell as well as or better than books put out by big publishers. It is true, though, that there's always a certain element of luck, all along the line--the right person happens to read the right query/manuscript/review at the right moment.
It also helps to be able to write. I read and thoroughly enjoyed the extract from The Flower Reader. Very well written.
Thank you! :)
THE RED LILY CROWN: A Novel of Medici Florence.
THE FLOWER READER.
THE SECOND DUCHESS.

www.elizabethloupas.com

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