Chelsea Lindman of Sanford Greenberger Associates looks for playful literary fiction, upmarket crime fiction, and forward thinking or boundary-pushing nonfiction. Also reps a select list of children’s book authors whose stories have an emphasis on voice-driven narratives.
Monica Odom of Liza Dawson Associates is building a client list based on literary fiction, women’s fiction and memoir. She also accepts nonfiction in pop culture, food and cooking, history, politics, and current affairs.
Beth Phelan of Bent Literary represents YA fiction and middle-grade readers, select commercial and literary adult fiction, and nonfiction in lifestyle, cooking/food writing, humor, pop culture, LGBT and pets/animals. She also reps adult fiction in the new adult, suspense, thriller, and mystery categories.
Maria Vicente of P.S. Literary is looking for literary and commercial fiction, new adult, YA, middle grade and picture books. She also accepts nonfiction in pop culture, pop psychology, design, and lifestyle. She has a particular interest in magical realism, fiction with visual components, and nonfiction inspired by online culture.
Claire Anderson-Wheeler of Regal Literary is seeking YA with a strong voice (realistic or high-concept), narrative nonfiction and pop culture/pop psychology, literary fiction, and commercial women’s fiction driven by contemporary issues.
Andy Ross of the Andy Ross Agency represents books in a wide range of subjects including narrative nonfiction, science, journalism, history, current events, and fiction. For nonfiction, he looks for big stories about culture and society. Also seeking literary, commercial, and YA fiction.
It’s long been known in business that 20% of your existing customers generate 80% of your sales. The same can be said of book fans. When someone reads a novel or nonfiction title they enjoy, they will actively seek out additional works by the same author. Keep these tips in mind as you reach out to your fan base.
–Keep in contact through social media or your email lists. Let people know what you’re working on as well as opportunities to find older titles you might not be actively marketing.
–Serve your fans. Why are people reading your novels: for entertainment, for a deeper social message? Is your nonfiction a vehicle for inspiration or concrete tips? Be sure to address these components with every outreach.
–Reward return readers. Find a way to say thank you to fans who keep coming back. Offer to provide free ebooks to anyone who sends in a receipt for a particular printed title. Host a lunchtime Skype session where you chat with readers about their burning questions about your upcoming book.
Keep these ideas in mind and you’ll build loyalty to you, the brand behind your books.
Adam Muhlig of McIntosh & Otis loves fiction and is looking for a fresh voice in fiction or narrative nonfiction. He seeks authors offering new perspectives by or about music mavericks as well as texts focused on natural history, travel, adventure and sports.
1Source is a collaborative effort between publishers and includes Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild, Believers Press, Bethany Press, and Anchor Distributors. Their new books will appear as part of 1Source’s Jerry B. Jenkins Select Line in spring 2014.
Recently, news from Europe indicated that self-publishing is beginning to grow at rates similar to those seen in America’s early years of self-publishing. The reasons authors choose to go their own way is the same as here: more control, a faster path to publication, and more direct contact with their readers.
FOCUS magazine said that traditional publishers will have to get on board with this trend worldwide. Providing access to bookstores, it said, is the last area where the gatekeepers still function. If publishers want to survive, they are going to have to help all authors publish and distribute their books.
Do you think survival for traditional publishing houses will hinge on this in part or in whole? Why or why not?
Kensington Publishing is a major indie house. They produce hardcover, trade and paperback books and have several imprints under their primary company.
Amazon offers a White Glove publishing service. In this program, your agent works directly with Amazon to publish your book.
I wrote not too long ago about agent-assisted publishing, and this is just another incarnation of the same process. You might end up walking this road if the traditional publishers reject your agent’s efforts to place your book. But again, you end up with the agent as your book’s advocate.
On this road, you don’t travel alone. That in and of itself can be a boost to your passion. The fact that it can also boost your career sweetens the deal.
Lately the news has been covering quite a number of agent-assisted books that have sold well. Agent-assisted publishing might sound repetative…after all, doesn’t an agent get authors published with traditional houses?
Yes, and nowadays agents are doing more. If they are unable to place a client with a publisher, they might funnel that client into their own publishing unit. The agent doesn’t become the publisher; they simply help the author self-publish.
The benefits to this kind of self-publishing are many. Agents have long done much more for authors than simply sell their books. They are fantastic advocates with the media and (when appropriate) colleges or other organizations that might offer paid speaking engagements. The agents can often boost sales for the author in a way that the writer could not do himself through regular self-publishing methods.
A new app called BookVibe sorts through your Twitter feed and pulls out information on books people you’re following have recommended.
The app isn’t perfect yet but it’s a great start. Try it to keep up with what your crowd is reading.
Note: Penguin’s Book Country operates separately from their other self-pub arm Author Solutions.
Book Country allows self-published authors to sell their works through their website. There are the usual marketing packages authors find at many self-pub companies but there is one difference: authors keep 85% of the royalties. This is higher than both Amazon and B&N.
Writer's Resource/Sunspot Lit 