Getting Published: A Bestselling Author Reveals All | Reedsy Live

[@tararama]

I attended the LIVE and took notes, here they are! 5:05 Writing - Write the book that ‘haunts’ you, not to the market - You need a premise (helps communicate what your book is about) - Write the skeleton blurb 08:47 After the draft - First chapter: Start in the middle (not description) of the problem or inciting action - First chapter asks a question (Jaws example: will the town survive); Last chapter (Jaws example: the town survives) - Line editing (what you do with the language): distill everything to it’s most powerful - Show not tell (unnecessary adjective and adverbs) - see if you can replace it with a strong verb 12:10 Before the agent - Have someone else read it (beta readers = not friends/family) like writing group, published authors - Novel sweet spot 60.000-95.000 words; anything over 100K is too long (increases cost to publisher and reader) 13:12 Hire a development editor - To get a set of fresh eyes - They’ll check pacing, characterisation 14:35 Self publishing - Recommend for certain genres (bodice rippers, sci-fi, romance, self-help); not really for literary fiction - No gatekeepers - No agent to self-publish - Complete control - More money back - Competition is higher (anything can be published) - Harder to book events 17:16 Big 5 Publishers (USA) Random House, Hachette, Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster, MacMillan - Big 5 have smaller imprints - You need an agent - Name recognition - Bigger advances - Less control 19:44 Smaller Publishers - Need an agent - Prestigious - No huge advances 20:20 Hybrid Press - You pay them: 5.000-10.000 dollars to get published - They’ll do your publicity - Make sure they’re not vanity press (get transparency) 21:00 Agent Search - Make a list of 60 agents (recommended to query all at once) - you can start making list before book is finished - Agent Query (website) - Poets & Writers have a literary agent database - Read acknowledgements in books - Google search the agents (Twitter) - Publish short stories/essays to increase visibility - Social media - Website - You don’t pay agents (except sometimes a reading fee) 24:55 Query Letter - 1st paragraph: about the agent, personalise - 2nd paragraph: pitch the story / comp titles - 3rd paragraph: about me - 4th paragraph: thank you - Wait time: more than 3 months you can check on the status - Send it on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday 28:57 What kind of agent do you want. 29:25 The Book Deal - Expect further editing - It takes about a year before it’s published 32:09 Publicity (book ahead of time); get blurbs (reviews from well known people); publishing houses don’t do this like before; they’re expensive and research them. 34:47 Rejection 36:05 Writer’s community - Write personal message to a writer - Show up at readings - Help other writers, praise their work - Your writing career will not look like anybody else’s

[@juddhoffman8438]

Thanks!

[@LisaThomas-TheLiquidator]

Thanks a lot!

[@donnjennie]

How generous of spirit! Talk about Writers' Community!

[@peterkurtson]

I appreciate your notes :)

[@TheGoodBooksAgency]

Well she's amazing! Thank you so much, Caroline Leavitt!! I watched the video twice! And thanks to Reedsy!

[@helenatrooperman4923]

I use Reedsy for my dev, copy edits and they’re amazing. I’ve learned so much from my editors for sci-fi.

[@hollytreelodge]

This talk was interesting. Notes taken. Thank you.

[@OddlyEndearing]

This was a fantastic video! So informative. Thank you, Caroline and Martin.

[@Charadan]

Great video! I learned a lot! Thanks!

[@mamanbarrett]

Thank you for this. Barrett Ashton Anders from Palm Coast Florida.

[@michellethornton7926]

Thank you so much for this information! Can't professionals in the publishing industry figure out your comp writers? It's agonising to compare yourself to a high-selling author as an unpublished writer! (rhetorical question)

[@Reedsy]

It's best not to think of it as "I'm the second coming of James Patterson," but more like, "readers of X will love the protagonist and readers of Y will enjoy the humor and tone". Agents tend to prefer authors with an understanding of the book market and where their title fits in it - in part because they know it'll be easier to communicate with those authors and have similar expectations.

[@LisaThomas-TheLiquidator]

Try TSNOTYAW podcast. You leave a message describing your book and their expert bookseller contact records an episode with suggested comps…

[@OriolaStanleyAdelodun]

Great videos on creative writing.iam baited by Reeds y.

[@hikkipedia]

I'm sorry but her info on self-publishing is mostly off. Indie romance authors are absolutely huge. The vast majority of authors making six and seven figures are self-published romance writers. On top of that, TikTok has caused a massive boom in dark academia and romantasy, largely with indie books.

[@donnjennie]

I believe she specifically addressed exceptions such as that in the indie world.

[@cinnamon-b7f]

She stated that Romance was one of the genres where you can do very well with self-publishing

[@hiren_bhatt]

After watching this video I felt as if I was transported to 1994 before Amazon and online publishing and ebooks became a huge phenomenon! 😅

[@b.t.3406]

So many of my favourite authors would not be published today because of today’s culture of censorship and political correctness. Self-publishing is probably a better pick for free thinkers.