Since I was a smarty pants and dealt with taxes early, I've had some bandwidth to think about the opaqueness of the publishing industry recently. It's hard to understand how everything works from the outside, and also hard to explain. This is why everyone in my family still thinks my main job function is to "edit books" but they accurately grasp the gist of what my cousin Steven's job as an investment banker entails.
One of the main ways I see this nescience come into play is when I see authors choosing agents that I know aren't the right fit for them. I've mentioned this a few times before, but I think that when presented with multiple offers, most writers just pick the shiniest, well-recognized name from the pack. Sometimes, that is completely the right choice for them, but other times I question their rationale. Have they considered the number of big name clients that agent already has on his/her roster and what that means for how their individual focus will be divvied up? Do they take into account how many deals he/she had for true debuts in the last couple years? Â
The answer is most likely no, because the authors aren't aware that they should consider these factors. My own insight comes from actually being inside the beast, which means I have knowledge that average querying writers don't.  With that in mind, I did a little survey with my clients and asked them this: What is one thing that they thought was true about the publishing industry or about having an agent that was disproved once they were on the other side of the looking glass? I was surprised by some of their answers!
Building a Successful Career Takes Time
· Most authors build their careers by overnight success. A lot of the authors who I think of as super successful now, I always imagined as having hit the list when they debuted and being super popular straight from the start. But I've learned that for most authors, it's a matter of starting out with lower advances that they earn out, before they then sell another book with a slightly higher advance and so on and so forth, building a solid career over time as opposed to an immediate make or break situation.
· I thought getting an agent was the hardest part and every book that got an agent sold. I also thought selling meant the author had "made it" to the end of their journey and they would never face any real rejection again. Now I know that the journey never ends!
· I thought that publishing my first book would make it easier for me to get a book deal for my next book project. I assumed that editors would see that I was capable of writing a book and publicizing it, and would take a chance on my second book even if my proposal wasn't in perfect shape. But the reality is that it's more difficult to sell a second book. Editors look at sales and platform in a way that they can't with a first book since there are no previous sales and authors often solidify their platforms with Book One. On the other hand, having a published book has made it easier for me to conduct research for my current project. I'm contacting people who have family records I'd like to access and when I first got in touch with them, they wanted to know who I was. I sent them links to my books and they read my first book, which has similarities with my current project. They got a sense of my writing and my China expertise. Without that first book, I don't know if they would have trusted me with their family documents that haven't been shared outside the family in decades.
· I salivated over Publishers Weekly articles about debut novels being snapped up in days, selling at auction for oodles of dollars. Don't do this to yourself. Just...trust me. Read my agent's blog post about being on sub. It's a lot like querying: it takes time. A lot of time. Like months, maybe longer. Work on something else and try to forget about book 1. It's out of your hands until it's time to revise again.
Not Every Agent Is Right for You
· With my first agent, I was told after a few revisions, we’d have no problem selling and I had nothing to worry about. We didn’t sell. I learned quickly that agents can’t make promises like that and it’s irresponsible to do so. Also, we as authors, should understand how impossible such a promise is. It was a hard lesson, but a good thing to have in mind when I went seeking a new agent.
· Well... I'd say all agents aren't created equal. Like most new authors I'd read a lot about the publishing industry, but still expected my previous agent to talk me through the process a bit. That didn't happen with my first agent and I left the experience feeling rejected and confused.
· I had no idea how personally rewarding the agent-client relationship could be. Sharing your writing and receiving feedback and direction requires vulnerability and willingness to accept criticism. It’s much easier to take when it comes from someone who believes in you! Carrie kindly points me in the right direction. The agent-writer relationship really is a relationship, not just a business connection.
There’s a Lot of Rejection & Revision
· My first time on submission, someone actually said to me that once I land my agent, it’s smooth sailing to publication. I had no idea that there was this chance I wouldn’t sell. I’d worked months on revisions with my first (now ex) agent and couldn’t wait to hear back from the publishing world. What everyone should have told me is submission is hell. Rejections don’t stop after you land the agent, they just get harder. So you push, write more, get better, and finally have something you’re content enough to try again with, but now submission is accompanied by a crippling anxiety you kept with you from the first try. What if it’s not enough? What if nothing you write is good enough? I wish someone had told me the first time that having a support system (friends on submission or even other authors) makes a world of difference.
· When I got my first offer of representation, it sent me sinking to my knees and bracing myself on the coffee table. As I tried not to blubber into the phone, my first thought was: OMFG I knew it! This book is great, and it's going to be published, and my life is complete! I can't help but laugh about that now. Here is some perspective: getting an agent is just another step in the process. It's a very important step, but it's not the end of the road. After choosing an agent, I went through several rounds of revisions to make my piece ready to send to editors. These edits took me several months to complete, but I am grateful that my agent took the time to help me make my story tighter, stronger.
Publishing Is SLOW & Not the Same for Everyone
· Past getting an agent, I really didn’t know too much! So one thing I’ve learned is the vast differences in time from submission to publishing offers. I know writers whose books were on sub for a year or more, and other writers who received offers from publishers in weeks. Such variability can induce panic and self-doubt in a writer, but I keep busy with my other writing projects, family, and day job, so it’s been fine so far. Everyone has a different journey, and that knowledge has helped me a lot!
· I never realized how slowwwwwwwwwwwwww the publishing industry moved - both in terms of editors getting back to your agent when they submit the manuscript, and then, even if you're lucky like I was and get a deal, how slow things move thereafter.
You Are Responsible for More than Just the Manuscript
· Once you sold a book, all the marketing, PR, book tour, and author visits would be handled by the publisher.
· I thought the publisher would do more marketing for me--I think I knew intellectually that resources are tight but part of me still thought there would be more. I also thought that I'd have a path and work on that, like a linear thing. First you write the book, you get the deal and then repeat. Working with you, I see there are more opportunities than I had thought (different platforms, hybrid, etc).
· I thought the editing and trimming done by editors at publishing houses would be more heavy-handed (and maybe at some houses it is). On one hand, this is good, as more of the copy stays genuine to the author. On the other, I look back at one of my published works and wish I’d rewritten it more...making it cleaner, tighter, with more marrow and less bone.
Tackle Querying Strategically
· On the subject of querying agents, I read more online forums than I care to admit. I attended countless conferences to understand the process. From the trenches, I was convinced that getting an agent was like catching that elusive white whale. But it's not that impossible. The biggest thing I learned at the tail end of my agent search: do not spray and pray your query letters. Sending a batch of 40 queries at a time really isn't helpful. You want to do batches of 5-10 queries, see how many bites you get, absorb the feedback given (if any), and revise your MS and query letter accordingly. Side note: vet every agent you query to make sure they are a good fit. I know it tacks on even more time to an already time-consuming process, but you want to find the best advocate for your current manuscript and your future manuscripts. This is a big career decision, so don't hand your baby MS to just anyone, k?