#pubishing

For those who have been following my blog, you know that I am documenting my journey to publish my YA novel, Midas and the Golden Child. I am currently querying agents for representation. I have submitted my query letter to my critique buddies on critiquecircle.com as well as receiving advice from family. I thought I would share some of the advice I have received from these groups as well as online articles related to the topic. 

From Family: Looks good. I’d read it. (Level of helpfulness: 0)

From Writing Resources: Looks OK. Unfortunately, you need it to be remarkable (whatever that means).  It’s too long It’s too short There’s not enough plot mentioned Try to get to the point of the plot quicker.  Reword it like this:  No, no, that’s not good, reword it like this instead.  Don’t put hanging questions. State the goal of your characters instead. Example online: full of hanging questions.  Be quirky and witty Be straightforward and to the point

A couple replies from agents:  Looks interesting, unfortunately, it’s not quite what I’m looking for on my list. Strong project, unfortunately, I don’t have any contacts for a project quite like this.

Author Lawrence Schoonover watching as dust jackets are put on copies of his novel

Hi!

I don’t know, really, considering I’ve never published anything, but I have some general guidelines that may help you.

1. Start small.If you have any short stories, submit them to magazines (check out this article and this article – they may help you). It’s good to pile up some credentials before trying to pitch your novel to a publisher.

2. Get an agent.I’m not sure how to go about this, but I do know it’s a necessary step.

3. Keep yourself emersed in the publishing world.The magazine Writer’s Digest should help a lot with this. Be aware of what’s currently being published, what’s currently selling a lot of copies, what publishing houses are looking for, and which publishing houses accept which genres.

4. Write constantly!Practice makes perfect, as they say.

By Erin Somers

Multiple resignations from the editorial departments at two big houses caused an online reckoning on Friday. Four editors, Angeline Rodriguez and Hillary Sames at Orbit, Erin Siu at Macmillan Children’s, and Molly McGhee at Tor all announced their resignations, leading to a discussion about the workload of junior and mid-level employees and the difficulty of advancement across the industry. The online exchange brought into the open the frustrations of increased workload, burnout and turnover that have been brewing as the pandemic continues. Those feelings are intensified as big publishers report record sales and earnings, even as multiple people report on Twitter they believe their employers are not sufficiently reinvesting those proceeds in additional staff, systems and raises.

At the heart of the discussion was McGhee’s resignation letter which she posted on Twitter. McGhee, who was an assistant editor at Tor/Nightfire, writes that after ten years in assisting roles, she requested a promotion when her first acquisition debuted at No. 3 on the New York Times Best Sellers list. She says in her letter that she was told she needed “more training” before being promoted and she could not expect to be relieved of administration duties “any time within the next five years.”

McGhee pointed to “the invisibility of junior employees’ workload” as a major issue, asserting that “many executives in the publishing industry are technology illiterate” and rely on their assistants to manage databases, pull manuscripts, and navigate new technology, on top of the duties outlined in their job descriptions.

McGhee’s letter opened the floodgates to other people who have left editorial positions recently speaking openly about labor issues.