Bad Publishing Advice to Ignore
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- čas přidán 27. 07. 2024
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The publishing industry can be incredibly opaque and difficult for authors to navigate - especially because there is so much conflicting advice out there. When you’re getting one piece of advice from an author friend, then see the exact opposite piece of advice from someone on CZcams or Twitter, it can be extremely difficult to figure out which guidance to follow. Today, I’m setting the record straight by sharing five pieces of common (but flawed) publishing advice that I think you should ignore.
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Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style by Benjamin Dreyer / amzn.to/3VE8dtt
Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody / amzn.to/3Vyk2Bn
Before and After the Book Deal by Courtney Maum / amzn.to/3Z4at03
SOME OF MY FAVORITE BOOKS:
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones / amzn.to/3vvWItt
Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips / amzn.to/3CFz4Pt
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid / amzn.to/3CjFFi5
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MORE WRITING AND PUBLISHING ADVICE:
Terrible Writing Advice You Should Ignore: • Terrible Writing Advic...
Don’t Listen to These Bad Takes on Book Publishing: • Don't Listen to These ...
Things That Surprised Me About the Publishing Industry: • Things That Surprised ...
TERRIBLE PUBLISHING ADVICE YOU SHOULD IGNORE:
01:35 - Only write in trending genres
03:49 - Don’t try getting published if you aren’t famous
05:58 - Just get the book out there
08:34 - Your first book won’t be publishable
09:59 - Focus all your efforts on building an audience
ABOUT ME:
My name is Alyssa Matesic, and I’m a professional book editor with nearly a decade of book publishing and editorial experience. Throughout my career, I’ve held editorial roles across both sides of the publishing industry: Big Five publishing houses and literary agencies. The goal of this channel is to help writers throughout the book writing journey-whether you're working on your manuscript or you're looking for publishing advice.
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Worst advice was 'Why are you wasting your time? You'll never get published.'
Needless to say my response was only two words and I submitted the manuscript. It was accepted.
As a not yet published writer, it is a relief to hear you say that I can ignore publishing advice that adds pressure to the thought of publishing and takes time away from writing and editing!
Great advice as always. I'm publishing with a small press, and I did a lot of self edits, had two amazing Beta Readers, and make sure everything was as good as I could get it before I submitted. I had someone say "Beta Readers are not editors," like I didn't know and that "you need to hire a professional editor before you submit it or it will get rejected. You have to put money into this if you want to get published or taken seriously." That was a load. I didn't need any professionally paid editors, my book was picked up, and once my editor finishes her editing, I'll start my edits to get this novel ready. This is my first novel and the first one I put out. It isn't perfect, but it's good enough that someone wants to publish it, and that's exciting.
congrats! 🎉
@@leezapaints, thank you so much. I'm so excited.
Congratulations.
Thats great to hear
@@Lorna-JWB, thank you. 44 and publishing my first novel. Never too old. :)
I love how your last name is just one letter away from Majestic! Love your advice says the truck driver writing Romance Martial Arts Sci-Fi Comedy Drama Spy Thriller...
Or "Majesty" 🤔😅
Such a relief to hear Someone say that building a social platform is Not required to have a novel published. But, so many agents feel it is and that gets discouraging when writers want to Write. Not spend time online which, if not researching, is a time suck that pulls them away from the job that matters.
Thank you for the advice. Perseverance. Colonel Sanders was rejected 1,009 times before his KFC recipe was accepted.
Listen to her carfully. She said it. It will be "a year or two" before you see your book published. Traditional publishing is way behind the ball. and not timely. It misses the market all the time.
When I began listening to you, things got better. I wanted to hit you up and ask for this advice, which has frustrated me for months. "Do this; don't do that." and it's all based on personal likes. Example: I don't have more than eight exclamation points in 50,000 words, or how about these: "Only used and as verb tags for dialogue," or "I hate italics."
I said all to say, Alyssa, THANK YOU!!!!
I'm at the beginning of my first draft, but I'm already too overwhelmed with all the "publishing-related" stuff... Great advice ✨️ Thanks 💕
I agree that we should not "write to trend" (mainly because this would be bad for literature altogether!) but... here's the conundrum: if I don't write to trend, I can't find comps. And if I can't find comps, I won't get an agent, or a publisher. They say the "Comps" part of your query is vital and it's absolutely essential to have comps that are published within the last two years and that sold incredibly well. But how can you do that if you're not writing to trend? This frustrates me no end, and has caused me to start writing projects I'm not in love with, that don't mean anything to me, just so I can "have comps," and I end up giving up on them because they don't mean anything to me and if I personally came across them in a bookstore I wouldn't buy them because they don't interest me. Yet if I start writing something that does capture my imagination, and that I love, I get frustrated and give up on it because I know it won't get an agent/publisher because it doesn't have any comps out there in The Market right now. How does one solve this conundrum?
And when someone writes a good nook the trend changes.
You're absolutely correct Alyssa. I pretty much bang my own drum and follow my own instincts. I may listen to professional advice, but still make my own decisions anyway.
Steven King tossed Christine in the trash and his wife pulled it out. It was published, and made into a movie.
Thank you, Alyssa. I actually stopped subscibing to a different account because an authur was basically saying throw out your first novel and only write trendy genres. It's good to hear you fighting misinformation. 💖✨️
Great advice Alyssa thanks.
Thank you for all your valuable advice. I always considered myself " not a very good writer", but i have been writing my first draft for 2 months now. The storyline just flows into my head and it's good to write it down
Good video. Thx. It was nice to watch your video as a break from watching the news and the war in the Middle East. Keep up the good work.
I'm just starting to send out query letters. This video was very timely and SO reassuring. I read so much conflicting advice online. I'm so grateful for this content, and the way you present it makes it seem like a coaching session with a trusted friend and advisor. Thank you. ❤️
I'm so glad you found it helpful! Thanks for the kind comment ❤️
I'm still in the middle of querying since I last left a comment on your videos, and things have slowed down a lot because I got a new job. It worries me a bit that I won't have time anymore to continue querying, but I am trying everything to make time and finding more agents. I've only sent maybe a dozen queries and I originally planned on at least 22.
Ask Margaret Mitchell about skipping the first book.
I'm getting all these ads on FB that say "We want your book!" "We want to publish your book!" "Send Us Your Book!" What kind of scams are these?
It’s a scam if they ask for money. Do not pay to publish!
As much as I want my books to get out, I know this takes time. All I want for now is getting a YES from an agent. I am doing rewrites and query again after several feedback. Just worked over the weekend on my draft due to feedback, which actually changed the story.
Thanks for all this, Alyssa. Only about halfway through my first draft, but trying to educate myself more about publishing for the future. I'm leaning slightly towards traditional publishing, but there are appeals to indie as well. Still so much to consider!
Definitely! In case you haven't already seen it, I recently posted another video about traditional vs. self-publishing and some of the factors to consider: czcams.com/video/yJiwM2AZZyo/video.html Both can be great options!
30.1K Congrats
i’ve only been following you for a few days, but every video I watch is so loaded with solid advice I can only envy those that have been with you from the start. My journey started a long time ago - let me tell you about an ancient device I conjured stories on as a boy called a typewriter - and I’ve spent most of my career either working in communications and publishing or teaching writing. Now I’m old and finally getting myself rolling on my writing aspirations. You offered solid, clearheaded advice on the platforming and indie publishing routes; I want you to know that it probably has saved me some late nights trying to figure out all the social media advice. Thanks.
I'm so glad you're finding my content helpful! Thanks for the kind comment!
Excellent advice. Thank you!
Great content. Thank you for being a voice of reason.
Any writer who will only write on a subject which is considered to be currently “hot” is not a real writer in my opinion. He is really just a used car salesman masquerading as a writer, only whose product is books rather than automobiles.
This resonated with me so much! Thank You!
I'm so glad - thanks for commenting!
It variates greatly how good someone's first book is. When I was in 5th or 6th grade, someone wrote a short story as good as something published. I was around 30 when I wrote the first manuscript I felt was good in the end.
It's weird how some aspiring writers actually believe their first published book will inevitably be bad. While your first draft will be bad, you aren't going to publish your first draft. You're going to do lots of revising and rewriting and multiple drafts before making that final polished version. If you want to succeed as a writer, you'll need to make sure that final version is polished or else you won't want to publish it, no agent or publisher will want it, and no reader will want it even if you self-publish. Look at books like Ella Enchanted, Because of Winn-Dixie, The Joy Luck Club, and Sundiver. These are examples of debut novels that became hits because they were well polished. That's the key.
A trusted external source? That can be a tough one.
Thanks.
I am leading towards the traditional route. I keep watching these videos and keep picking up insights that confirm the steps I have decided upon in this exciting journey.
I'm leaning toward traditional publishing. But I'm starting to wonder if YA sci-fi is a dead genre or if my writing still isn't up to par despite over a decade of honing my craft. I'm tempted to self-publish, but I'm all too aware of how expensive that can get. I also don't want to self-publish anything that doesn't reach the standards of a book published by one of the big 5.
I have lost all faith in the traditional publishing world. With thousands of submissions to only dozens of agents every day, the only ones that make it through are either existing authors or celebrities with a pre-made following. The industry is too weak to afford risk so nobody new gets looked at. Want honest advice? Debut authors need to either self publish or give up.
I have my kids edit as well as much wife, she loves tearing me a new one
Thank you for the advise, I know what to pay attention to better now, and not to expect the writing process to be easy, As Actor Sly Stallone tells his fans, I'd rather die trying than wishing I had. and makes sure as you said, your plan's realistic to your goals, don't give up because you made whatever mistakes, those are where you learn. If you think making Rocky was easy, you don't know the real story of how it got where it is.
Thank you for alway getting real with us on these topics.
Typically I write whatever I want and then search for those looking for something like it. Agents & publishers have wishlists. They want your submissions and you want to get your work out there.
The lack of social media is something that I have, but even though I heard this places I know it shouldn't and likes isn't as important as the work itself.
Leaning toward traditional publishing. Distribution & upfront costs have a lot to do with it. It would do better. I don't mind having less profit because I want it in my hands. The lack of control, while true, isn't as overly concerning. As long as I get a great agent to advocate for me and a good lawyer eventually. Of course, I might just go to smaller presses first. I think it provides a good balance.
6:33 Yes, never rush anything. You have one chance to impress potential readers and that could make or break you.
Almost done with the first draft.... Then the self-editing. Hoping to be done with the second draft by next spring. Yeah, I have a day job, so it takes a while.
Question: I've self-published six crime novels. The people who read them love them and have left glowing reviews. However, that number is very small simply because I do not market. In the meantime, I am working on book seven in this series, and even though it is a series, each book can stand alone. I love these books and have a passion for them. My characters are damaged, twisted, crazy, sometimes addiction-prone, and find themselves in insane situations. Will an agent or publisher even be interested in my book, or is it a hard pass because I've self-published? I write gritty, adult crime novels, think Bruce Willis on steroids, in a style similar to David Baldacci. Is it worth even trying to go mainstream?
My first book was the middle of a trilogy so I had to "Fix it". I often say I wish I could have walked away from it but it has an innocence that the others lack so ultimately I'm glad I did go through all the rewrites (I lost count at 18)
Thank you for sharing all your advices on what NOT to listen to. I think these are very important things to keep in mind!
As for your question:
I'm currently on my draft zero (but technically third draft) of my book/series. After NaNoWriMo last year I decided to completely write the first draft (what I call draft zero, or the sandbox version) of the whole series, then probably see where I can put the divisions for the books and THEN work on the developmental draft of the first book (might do it for he series as well. I'll see about it).
I hope to be able to get my series published at some point through traditional publishing (A dream would be Tor, since it's a high fantasy story). If I can't get it published through traditional publishing, I'll publish it myself :)
The idea that agents and editors don’t care about trends is SO disingenuous bc u can clearly see them reflected across #MSWL’s that agents share!! ffs it just sounds disingenuous to pretend otherwise
Thanks Alyssa! Much appreciated. I have finished my first novel (Urban Fantasy genre) and I am now in the querying process. I am aiming to go the traditional route. We'll see...? The process seems to be a hit or miss scenario. I have had several beta readers and the comments have been positive. The response from the literary agents, however, has been in form letter rejections or no response at all. Granted I am still at the beginning of this process. I think that I am sitting on a good story told well. Unfortunately, I am beginning to think that my comp titles are too popular and scaring agents off - i.e. telegraphing to the agents that my expectations are too high. Can you do this? I am not choosing JK Rowling, JRR Tolkien, or George RR Martin (giants in Fantasy), but I am choosing Jim Butcher and Patricia Briggs (very prominent authors in Urban Fantasy). Let me ask the question another way, should comp titles coming from a debut book only include other debut books?
Any thoughts on Bindery? The new publishing format that brings tastemakers (influencers) and authors together?
Trending Genres: This is advice works for fast writers. For writers like me, this doesn’t apply.
This is your best video
So glad you enjoyed it!
Hello, Alyssa. Thanks for great advice. If possible, could you clarify the pros and cons of using a pseudonym, and the legal and practical side of adopting one. The reason I ask is that, after following your tips and advice, I am now ready to query. However, I have just discovered there is another novelist with the exact same name as me. Naturally, I have slammed on the metaphorical brakes as I am not sure how to proceed. Do I continue to use my own name? And if I conjure up a pen name, do I mention this in my query? I'm a little confused now.
Hi Daniel - I touched on writing under a pseudonym in a previous Q&A video: czcams.com/video/I_evIFkb8tM/video.htmlsi=C8pha67ZYp7iMHec I hope that helps answer your questions. Good luck with querying!
🙂
❤
You frequently speak of traditional publishing and self-publishing as if they were the only options. Small press publishers form an important middle ground.
Avoid iwiterly