Carolyn's Writing Workshop

Tips and Warnings about Shopping Your Novel

Publishing is a tough business. Writers can spend years, literally, writing a novel and then years finding a home for it. Here are some observations about the business and about finding an agent and a publisher.

Some Hard Facts

It's hard to make a living as a writer. Most writers don't make enough to quit the day job. The average advance for a Romance novel is $5,000 and shrinking fast. Authors who write traditional Regencies are switching genres because the advances are now $500.

Most writers don't make any money past the advance.

You'll probably have to wait a really long time before you see any money besides the advance. My last two contracts state that my first royalty statement will come 60 days after 12 months post-publication. So, Lord Ruin sold in March of 2002 and was published in December 2002. I won't see a royalty statement until February 2004.

Editors won't fix your story for you. In the old days, if you were a great writer but needed story work, or conversely, a great story teller but not such a great writer, an editor might take you under his or her wing and fix your book. This doesn't happen any more. It's too expensive. If you know your novel has weaknesses, but figure an editor will see the potential and buy your book, you're doomed to disappointment. See next paragraph.

Great writing isn't enough. Case in point: Harry Potter. You're selling a story, not great writing. The Harry Potter books have glaring writing no-no's but the story is fantastic. You'll notice that JK Rowling's editors have NOT fixed these problems, they remain in the books. However, you are probably not JK Rowling, so you can't afford to have writing no-no's in your great story. (If you are JK, I love Harry Potter! Why are you visiting my web site when you should be working on HP 6??)

What you MUST know about Agents and Publishers

Reputable agents and publishers do not charge you money to read your query or manuscript. They read for FREE. They also never charge you to be a client or edit or publish your book. If an agent or publisher asks you to send them money then you are being ripped off.

Non-Traditional Publishers

At the moment, I do not feel e-publishers have sufficient market share to make them anything like a rival to traditional print publishers. E-publishing is a new method of delivery for an already existing product. If there were profits in e-books, print publishers would not have abandoned the technology, which, by-and-large, they have. So far, one e-publisher has meet RWA's fairly modest standard for publisher recognition, which is sales of 5,000 books. One. I expect this to change in perhaps 3-10 years.

Vanity presses ask you to pay them to publish your book. If you're looking to publish a romance novel, just don't do it. A vanity press does not count as publishing credit. Save your money.