Do Agents frown on Self-published authors?

Joined : 15 Apr 2008 Posts : 3

Hi all. If an author decides to self-publish, therefore self-markets their works, do agents frown on such a thing? If so, why?
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Michelle Davis
Author of "Ain't Understandin' Mellow?"
www.mmdavis.com

Subject: Re: Do Agents frown on Self-published authors? Wed Apr 16, 2008 8:44 am

Unfortunately, yes, they do. But as SP is growing and displaying excellent talent, some publisher and agents encourage SP authors to submit.

If you're worried about it. Just don't mention that you've SP, in your query letter. Mention about your book if it's relevant to the next book you're submitting.

I'm guessing the reason they frown is that most SP authors don't go through the same channels as a mainstream agented author would; appraisal, editing. Most SP authors can't afford it. Just because a book hasn't been professionally edited doesn't mean it's badly written.
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Two Star Member Joined : 18 Mar 2008 Posts : 48

The main reason agents aren't interested in self-published authors is that agents are interested in making a living. They make that living by selling their clients' books to professional publishers. Self-published authors, by definition, are paying to have their books published, so there's no percentage for the agent to collect.

Which doesn't mean that an author can't make the switch from self to traditional publishing, with a good manuscript and a willingness to go the traditional route. In that case (unless the author's self-published books have sold tons of copies and developed a real fan base) any self-published books in the author's past are either meaningless to the agent, or potentially a hindrance. The big book chains, for instance, can easily look up how an author's last book did in their stores. If John Smith's three self-published books were carried by Barnes & Noble, but sold 150 copies chain-wide, then that chain isn't going to be terribly interested in John Smith's next book, and may decline to carry it even if it's offered by HarperCollins. And if the agent can't sell it to one of the majors because the chains have no interest, then the agent doesn't stand a good chance of earning his or her percentage.

It's mostly about the numbers, and historically, with a few exceptions, self-published books don't have the numbers to excite agents. A really great new manuscript, though, can overcome a lackluster sales record.

Jeff
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Joined : 15 Apr 2008 Posts : 3

Both of these replies have been very helpful and I appreciate it. Thanks!
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Michelle Davis
Author of "Ain't Understandin' Mellow?"
www.mmdavis.com

Subject: Re: Do Agents frown on Self-published authors? Wed May 07, 2008 6:49 pm

Obviously you aren't going to get an agent interested in a book you've already published unless sales are spectacular.

But the real question here is this one: all else being equal, would an agent be more interested in somebody who has undertaken to understand the business and push their own promotion than somebody with no previous publication at all?

(One of those questions that sort of forces the answer)
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Joined : 15 Apr 2008 Posts : 3

Good point.
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Michelle Davis
Author of "Ain't Understandin' Mellow?"
www.mmdavis.com

Subject: Re: Do Agents frown on Self-published authors? Thu May 08, 2008 2:55 am

One of the things an author has to do is market himself. With a selfpub book out, he/she's already blazed a trail. I've a couple of thousands contacts and maybe friendships in the writing world in the year since my first POD came out.
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Donald James Parker

Subject: Re: Do Agents frown on Self-published authors? Mon May 12, 2008 4:18 pm

Every once in a while, I see statistics that remind us that the sales average for POD books in less than 100 per book.

If an agent finds you all over the Internet promoting your book, but you haven't sold many copies, that seems worse to me than no publication at all. The book either wasn't any good or the author wasn't any good at promotion.

Malcolm
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Malcolm R. Campbell

http://www.malcolmrcampbell.com

Subject: Re: Do Agents frown on Self-published authors? Mon May 12, 2008 7:57 pm

So he'd rather take a chance on somebody fresh off the turnip truck?
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Subject: Re: Do Agents frown on Self-published authors? Wed May 14, 2008 3:51 pm

If there really is a turnip truck, there's got to be a story there.

Here's an agent's post about this subject (POD not turnips) from last year. It sounds reasonable and isn't all bad news:

http://nathanbransford.blogspot.com/2007/08/self-publishing-and-your-writing-career.html
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Malcolm R. Campbell

http://www.malcolmrcampbell.com

Admin Joined : 11 Jan 2008 Posts : 1624 Location : UK

Two interesting points Malcolm. One from Nathan:

It's difficult, these authors work harder than you would believe...

and the other from a comment by Jenny:

But one of the most daunting things I learned in my years in RWA, was that to have a career as a novelist you have to be able to write at least one novel a year, and two is better. If writing at that pace isn't your idea of fun, well, you probably don't want to be a professional novelist.

Everyone here knows by now that I'm a strong believer in hard work, whether it's writing a novel, publishing a novel or marketing a novel.

The thing about the novel a year or, better still, two novels a year is that agents seem to be pretty good at detecting who would be able to be that productive and who wouldn't. I have long thought that submissions are often rejected because the agent/publisher suspects that the work has taken many years to write and a second novel would take just as long.
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Shelagh Watkins
http://shelaghwatkins.co.uk/

Subject: Re: Do Agents frown on Self-published authors? Wed May 14, 2008 9:15 pm

The thing about the novel a year or, better still, two novels a year is that agents seem to be pretty good at detecting who would be able to be that productive and who wouldn't.

????? How would they detect that?
I find that agents tend to profess profound disinterest in more than one book at the time, unless they're at the point of signing you.
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Admin Joined : 11 Jan 2008 Posts : 1624 Location : UK

Another agent's take on self-published authors:

http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/
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Shelagh Watkins
http://shelaghwatkins.co.uk/

Subject: Re: Do Agents frown on Self-published authors? Thu May 15, 2008 4:23 pm

A novel a year?

Yes, that might be one way to do it. Yet, I notice that many of the top authors I read don't do that. Rowling didn't. Conroy didn't. Neither did Gabaldon.

I'm glad some people take longer, for that's the traditional route, letting something mature for 2-3 years or even ten. :-)

Malcolm
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Malcolm R. Campbell

http://www.malcolmrcampbell.com

Two Star Member Joined : 18 Mar 2008 Posts : 48

One common mistake that writers--especially those of us in our later years--tend to do is to tell agents in their query letters that "I've spent 10 years (or whatever) working on this book."

Agents would rather know that you can do it in a year or 6 months, so that you'll be a steady source of income for them. Unless, of course, your 10-year project is so brilliant that it will continue to bring in royalties for decades to come. But in a business where most books have a relatively short shelf-life, agents want to sign productive writers who will keep earning.

Jeff
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