⚡ getting salty about traditional publishing - 16 brutally honest things i wish i’d known

hello!
today we're spilling a tiny bit of ~tea~ in regards to traditional publishing. as someone who is yet unpublished but has been agented for a few years, i definitely have some thoughts-and I've learned some important, often uncomfortable lessons as well.
this video is very much limited by my personal perspective and experiences, but I hope they're helpful or at least reassuring to anyone who's been facing similar struggles on the road to trad pub. you aren't alone!
(forgive me for sounding a little salty, lol.)
✨ timestamps:
0:00 - intro
2:12 - wait times are long
3:33 - agents & editors don't owe you their time
4:01 - sometimes you're too slow
4:52 - who your agent is matters
5:25 - pitch competitions don't mean much
6:03 - full requests don't guarantee an offer of representation
6:43 - the book of your heart might not make it
8:01 - your writer friends might quit
8:50 - critique isn't always helpful
9:58 - traditional publishing power imbalances
10:33 - writing people can be jerks, too :(
11:01 - marginalized people still don't get the same opportunities in tradpub
11:39 - tradpub is classist
13:33 - some subjects are still taboo
14:15 - the market dictates craft
14:57 - MONEY
16:30 - outro
✨ previous:
🧜‍♀️ how to write interesting characters - my thoughts + tips
• 🧜‍♀️ how to write inte...
✨ links:
travel writings: wherethehellami.blog
blog: lynndjung.wordpress.com/​​​​​​
twitter: / sweater_giraffe​​
kofi: ko-fi.com/lynndjung​​​​​
✨ tags:
writing, authortube, author, fantasy, writers, writing advice, sff, publishing, industry, querying, literary agent, submission

[@cassie_hart]

Traditional publishing is most definitely a marathon (probably an ultra marathon! lol) not a sprint, and I think videos like this really help folks who are considering it to have reasonable expectations. Hope something lands for you soon!

[@lynndjung]

it definitely is, thank you so much!

[@malikamaybe]

I adore this video. I def don't think you were being 'sour' at all. There are difficulties we have to work through as writers and being upfront with them helps people prepare if (or usually, when) they happen rather than being completely thrown off. omg the pitch competition one! I participated in the very first DVpit in 2016 and my pitch went "viral" (viral for the first DVpit lol), but holy wow that manuscript was _not_ ready lol. My request rate was high, but I trunked it after a while (even declined an R&R). I think people def have to understand that knowing how to pitch in some way is helpful, but 1) not all manuscripts are easy to _Twitter_ pitch and 2) uhhh manuscript readiness is king even if they are lol. I want to ramble so much more (mentions of being too slow, my current manuscript is the first time I've ever worked on a project for more than a year and occasionally I feel that teeny concern; the classism/elitism, watching writer friends step away overtime), but this comment is already so long lol. I really, really appreciate this video. Thank you so much for making it!

[@lynndjung]

this is why i decided to talk about this (admittedly sore) topic - we talk about successes so much more than the average experience, and it really skews writers' mindsets! I'm so glad this resonated with you, and thank you for sharing your experience. 💙

[@Sue-pn7mq]

#15 is so dangerous as it promotes sameness and eventually it chases readers away.

[@lynndjung]

Definitely agree!

[@RiaxaraCo]

This is a really interesting video, especially since I myself haven’t been able to even try to pursue trad publishing yet, and really only know what it’s like from people who’ve been published. Great video as always :) also I’m a big fan of the ceramic pumpkins you have in the background.

[@lynndjung]

thank you!! i think we do tend to overamplify certain experiences, when honestly most of the folks i've met on this road have stories more like mine. the ceramic pumpkins are my fav :)

[@CaitlinAsche]

Thanks for sharing! As someone who intends to query early next year, I'm consuming any and all info I can. All the luck to you on sub in the future!

[@christrites4251]

You are correct, I only wrote one book while working but after I retired a few years ago, I have written thirteen more. I can't imagine trying to write (and survive financially) through writing in this day and age.

[@kelleyiswriting]

Omg I watched this video like this 👀👀👀🍵 traditional publishing scares me so much. Thanks for sharing this with us

[@lynndjung]

haha yeah a little tea was spilled, ty for watching!! ❤️❤️

[@denniszenanywhere]

Lynn, I liked your honesty on this. Fellow Asian here. I know what you mean by marginalized.

[@lynndjung]

thank you!

[@austinauthor846]

I'm really late to the party on commenting here, but I can really attest to the marginalized writer you mentioned. So many literary agents want a black writer like me to write a 'black' book for white people, instead of the type of book I want to write. I think a lot of literary agents and publishers use the 'we want marginalized voices' as a buffer to looking more virtuous than they really are. N.K. Jemison's stories of breaking into the industry absolutely exemplify this. Also, as a writer who has spent 17 years on a series I've worked on since high school, I would hate to see you not have your 15 year in the work novel not see the light of day. Just curious, but would you consider self publishing it to get it out there?

[@lynndjung]

Ugh yes the frustration is real. It's so hard to be pared down as a creative to identity and identity alone. I think it's really unlikely that I'll self publish that particular work, but I do have some exciting plans for it developing at the moment!

[@austinauthor846]

@@lynndjung ah that's exciting! At 15 years in I'm real glad to hear that. Rock on and keep writing. Happy to be a subscriber and new member of your patreon by the way.

[@lynndjung]

thank you so much!! the support goes a long way :)

[@justinedse8435]

@austinauthor846 One of Dean Wesley Smith's rules is "Never write to market." To put it bluntly, many editors have their heads up their asses and have no idea about what they want. It is wrong to pigeon hole people. Picking a piece beyond anything except it's own merit is really bad.

[@jeannemoore6610]

Self publish that book that's close to your heart. Traditional publishing isn't the only way to go.

[@lynndjung]

it definitely needs a lot of work but I do have plans for that story! not self-publishing but sort of a similar vein :)

[@toddjacksonpoetry]

#12. Maybe I'm wrong, but I just know that as an African-American man writing Pagan poetry about the Greek Goddesses and Gods, I would immediately present a problem in traditional publishing.

[@iosyntropy]

im so curious, what the story idea was that you had, that someone else also had? thanks for opening your veins for this one. raw experience videos like this are thee most helpful in author tube.

[@lynndjung]

thank you for watching - i am so glad this was informative/helpful. i feel awkward saying what the story was in explicit detail, but it was an adult historical i've talked about before.

[@iosyntropy]

@@lynndjung yes it really was. by saying it youre also saying that even though it sucks it doesnt mean its a reason to give up. imagine how many have given up during the years youre enduring right now. you dont know it but youre daring to be different. its different to be able to articulate this level of frustration while not prefacing it with "the reason i gave up". ive never seem anyone talk about this part because its a part thats so far along without the comforting success story yet. youre just telling your truth, a truth that gives 99% of people their reason to quit, leaving the only answer the 1% of published authors have to give "keep goin!"

[@katgreer6113]

6:48 this. i write in fantasy and romance. try to have deeper things. works ok. if i make some generic bad boy romance people drink that up like its water. it makes me sad. a book i made with a bunch or rubbish, basic themes and plot devices gets talked about more than the book i spent years on from my heart and soul. i legit mixed up a bunch of shallow stories, put in some macguffins, inserted shock value and that's the one that people have heart eyes for. literally breaks my heart.

[@Just999Me]

This was very helpful. Thanks for sharing. Please continue to share~ Have you ever considered self-publishing for any of your stories?

[@EmmaBennetAuthor]

This was really interesting. Thank you.

[@bttmofthebrrlstudios]

Thank you for sharing! That's a lot of hard to deal with stuff :( As a writer who's also trying to get on disability the classist issues in publishing have been on my mind especially, in addition to the institutional bigotry that hampers writers more marginalized than myself. I don't know if I would even be able to accept payment for my stories, given the restrictive nature of disability benefits in the USA. But still, best of luck to you, I hope things work out!

[@lynndjung]

oof that sounds very difficult and complicated, I'm sorry to hear that!! it really goes to show how many different situations can be negatively impacted by the state of publishing. thank you!

[@katgreer6113]

11:24 also tired of this. absolutely ridiculous that us poc cannot write what they believe won't check their boxes. 13:05 this too. im also a full time university student starting a part time soon. even with self publishing, if you don't have some amount of money to market(or pay someone to do so) then you're chances of success have reduced by like 80% already.

[@autumnadams4574]

How can we support you?

[@lynndjung]

this is so kind - there isn't a concrete way to support me now other than my kofi link, but you could always share my videos with fellow struggling writers!

[@Some-Rage-Inducing-Provocateur]

No wonder why the industry needs to be changed.

[@shadowsayer1516]

Gatekeepers across all creative industries are slowly but surely becoming irrelevant as indies take over those spaces. And not a moment too soon. When you have Gatekeepers you get concentrated power and homogenized trash masquerading as "creativity". You get Disney Star Wars, mainstream music, and AAA games that are awful. With open platforms you get more choice and better quality and no talentless hacks telling creatives what to do.

[@strawberrymilk2987]

First! Sorry had to say it