Questions about the publishing details of the Thief series

[zeonn.livejournal.com]

I was wondering today about the publishing details of the Thief series, especially The Queen of Attolia (my favorite!!). So... does anyone know any details about how MWT got the books published?

Does she have a literary agent?

Or was the manuscript just a lucky find in an editor's slush pile?

Did it get rejected a lot before she found the right publisher to buy it? (a wise decision there Harper Collins! :)

and etc...
I did a bit of googling but wasn't able to find much info on the nitty gritty publishing details, and the behind-the-scenes stuff like that fascinates me as I'm an aspiring author myself. :D

Looking forward to hearing ya'll's thoughts!

Comments

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

There's a story here, Zeonn, but I'm not sure I should be the one to tell it!

[inkasrain.livejournal.com]

My, that is indeed intriguing!

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

I just mean I heard it second-or-third-hand. Perhaps someone closer to the source would like to take this one?

[zeonn.livejournal.com]

Ooh, now I'm even more curious! *looks around hopefully*

[rosaleeluann.livejournal.com]

*nods* I want to hear this story!

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

Well, no one else is stepping up here, so okay. First of all, The Thief was not MWT's first book. By then she was a known quantity. Her first book was Instead of Three Wishes. And that came to the attention of the editor because Diana Wynne Jones sent it to them, and Megan had sent it to DWJ, against all common sense, because her husband threatened to send it to her if she didn't.

That, at least, is the version told to me by my spy who attended the Boston MWT meetup a couple of years back.

Note: This is an amazing story, but DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. Adalanne is quite right that authors seeking editors should look for an agent. You should NOT send your manuscript to your favorite author, because a) you want them to spend their time writing, not reading the manuscripts of their many fans; b) if they hate it, then you are making them reject you, which isn't fair because that's not their job; and c) if they like it, their editor will probably say, "That's nice" and change the subject, because they don't necessarily like the same books their authors like.

[inkasrain.livejournal.com]

Wow! Supercheers to DWJ and Megan's husband!

[zeonn.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, what a story! I hadn't checked the thread for a few days and I was so excited to find this when I came back tonight! :D

I hear you on the don't-try-this-at-home thing! Good advice.

Thank you SO much for sharing! <3

[adalanne.livejournal.com]

Yay! A question I can help with!

Granted, I don't know the specifics of MWT's experience, but I work in publishing, so I can give lots of nitty gritty publishing details. ^_^

Now, I think it's likely that MWT had an agent; if The Thief had been published within the past five years, I would say it was 99.9% likely she had an agent. A lot has changed in publishing in the nearly 15 years since she would have been shopping around her manuscript. The major publishing companies, like HarperCollins, do not have slush piles. The majority of the books they take on are represented by agents. The ones that aren't are usually referred to editors by editor friends, authors they know, or, in "so extremely rare that you shouldn't hold your breath" cases, meeting the writer at a writers' conference.

Of course, this is the major publishing houses. Independent publishers generally accept unsolicited submissions; their websites will have info on that. But, as someone who has worked at both a independent publisher and an agency, I still recommend you get an agent. While they are not necessarily vindictive about it, publishing is a business and publishers understandably want to pay authors the minimum investment: the less they pay, the more they make. Often authors are just so excited to get published that they accept the first offer. Even savvy authors who get a good advance probably will have trouble understanding the contract and end up selling rights they don't mean to. (With the relatively new world of ebooks and the very new issue of the Google Book project, the language of the contract is constantly changing but always vital.) Agents also represent you beyond U.S. publishing. Just the other day, an agent I know made a very nice sell of an author's book to a foreign publisher; through an auction, they got the author $90,000 more than was originally offered.

Some aspiring authors wonder why they need to pay 15% to someone who doesn't do anything, but every published author, agent, and, yes, even editor I've talked to says that agents more than pay for themselves. It might sound counter intuitive, but editors generally like agents. Agents know what they want and bring them the good stuff; they also ensure that authors are savvy and not panicking over things. *lol* Agents don't just sell the book. A good agent will be with you for your whole career, helping you both in writing and promoting yourself, getting the most for your work. They are your advocate, and you need one. Publishing is a tough business; there's a reason the vast majority of authors can't make a living off of it.

A good place to go for more info is Miss Snark's blog (http://misssnark.blogspot.com). It no longer updates, but she is a fun and very informative agent, and there's a lot to read through, so just don't let it distract from your writing too much. ^_^

[zeonn.livejournal.com]

This is fascinating! I've read and enjoyed Miss Snark's snark and, if I hadn't already decided that when I finish the novel (aiming for the end of the year! woo!) that I am going to look for representation, this comment would have convinced me! :D

I was just wondering about MWT's books specifically because they're so subtle and understated, and I wondered if she had a harder time in finding an agent/publisher than a book with more "flash", by which I mean the potential for blockbuster sales and movie deals and the works... might have done?

Of course every book is a publisher's gamble and they all want to hit that Harry Potter jackpot! But it seems like it's so rare for the literary masterpieces to get the same chance at publication (and after that, marketing and promotion) as, say, Twilight (don't hurt me Twilight fans ;).

Anyway, thanks for the insightful comment. I'm loving this discussion!

[adalanne.livejournal.com]

Wow. This goes a bit long. Hope you don't mine. ^_^

Heh, the first thing I did when I read your reply was grab The Thief and read the first 5 pages to decide if I would have given it the thumbs up if the query came across my desk. I was actually kind of worried; it's one of my favorite books, so what if looking at it now I would have rejected it? Then I read the first line. "I didn't know how long I had been in the king's prison." Seriously, such an awesome first line. Simple and instant set-up for conflict and character. It does surprisingly a lot for 12 words. And while no one is set on fire during the first five pages, they are very compelling and push the reader to keep reading (and the agent's assistant to say, "Want more now!"). Or at least I think so. ^_^ And these are the reasons I think why:

1. Character worth caring about. This is so hard to do, especially since writers naturally become so involved with their characters and know so much about them that they automatically care about the characters and forget that the reader doesn't know them so well. MWT, however, does not forget. I mean, the first paragraph alone, Gen is incredibly interesting. He's in jail and making jokes. What's not to like? But that's not necessarily enough to make the reader care. What is? He's talking about his time in jail, the way he's coping, and it's interesting, but then there's this line: "There was one guard who always seemed to catch me with my head in my hands, and he always laughed." Wow. It's so sad and sympathetic, but it avoids possibly traveling past the line into pathetic by having Gen's response to such laughter be swearing. *lol* Voila, a main character who is sympathetic, strong, and feisty! And he only gets better, in those first five pages alone. So right off the bat, we care about this character and want to know what happens next. Which leads me to...

2. Wanting to know what happens next, aka, line tension. Now MWT is kinda amazing. Because the only actual action that happens in the first five pages is the magus comes to the jail and says to "bring him along." All she does is world and character building. In less skilled hands, that would be tremendously boring (belieeeeve me, so very boring). But MWT knows how to build tension as well. I guess you could call it hinting. She gets the reader wondering, "Why's this guy in jail? Wait, why is the king worried about him getting away but doesn't even know his name? What could he have stolen?" And because she's gotten us to care about Gen, we want to know the answers to these questions. And by the time she's answered them, she's introduced plot and more questions and we're seamlessly drawn along for the glorious ride. I've seen many a query that fails because they throw so much backstory in the start of a novel, including answering all those questions they should be using to lead us along.

So if you wanted to know what goes on in the mind of someone reading queries' first five pages, there ya go. ^_^

As for publishing, I can't imagine The Thief was too hard of a sell, but maybe the story will tell differently. But it's hard to imagine because it's made of awesome. But also, while it is beautifully written, it doesn't fall in the harder-to-sell-but-still-salable category of literary fiction. But still, there's plenty of literary fiction published every year. It just doesn't sell as well as...almost everything else. *lol* But there are always agents and editors passionate about it.

[adalanne.livejournal.com]

Also, publishers have no idea what books have the potential for blockbuster sales and movie deals and the works. Neither do agents. We do our best to guess, but really, every book we handle we think is fantastic and should out-sell the Bible and be the biggest thing to happen to the entire world. We try to encourage this through promotion and marketing, though alas there is never enough money to go around, but the thing that really sells a book is word-of-mouth. Dan Brown? Had 3 books published before The Da Vinci Code rocketed him to fame. JK Rowling? Rejected by 12 publishers, picked up by tiny little Bloomsbury who I'm willing to bet didn't have that much money to spend on p&m, yet rocketed to fame. The average best-selling novelist will spend quite a while on the midlist with an agent and editor behind them 100%, fighting for them, hoping for them, before they get that one step further. Look at Jim Butcher's Dresden Files; the 7th book the publisher thought he was doing so well, they got a new cover artist and started publishing them in hardback, and it was still after that when he finally hit the NYT Best-Seller List. Heck, look at MWT and the reissuing of new covers; that shows a lot of confidence from the publisher. Btw, Stephanie Meyer is a freak of the system, and part of me believes she's fibbing when she says it was six months from having a dream that inspired the book to getting a $750,000 three-book deal because these things don't happen in the place I call reality!

But anyway, agents and editors love good books. No matter the genre or category, good writing and semi-satient queries (which you, as a snarkling, have a huge leg-up on) will generally find a home.

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

adalanne, this is wonderful insight to the business of selling books. thank you so much for sharing.

[traboule.livejournal.com]

Adalanne, I'm not sure if this is something that's "not done" on LJ/blog posts - and by all means smack me with a practice sword if I've overstepped! - but do you mind if I ask how you got into publishing?

[adalanne.livejournal.com]

Oh, don't mind at all! Which is lucky 'cause I fenced in college, so I know how to smack people around with swords. ;) I don't want ramble too much in this post (again) so feel free to shoot me an email: adyremard-at-yahoo-dot-com.

[zeonn.livejournal.com]

Wow. Yes. Oh, this is excellent.

So if you wanted to know what goes on in the mind of someone reading queries' first five pages, there ya go. ^_^
This is exactly the kind of thing I was wondering! Your reasons pinpointed very well what is so wonderful about The Thief, and MWT's writing in general. She has such talent in seamlessly juggling all the various elements of fiction, character, plot, tension, backstory. YES. I aspire to her ideal.

Really, really enjoyed your description of your thought process. *reads again*

The average best-selling novelist will spend quite a while on the midlist with an agent and editor behind them 100%, fighting for them, hoping for them, before they get that one step further.
Would you classify MWT as a midlist author?

but really, every book we handle we think is fantastic and should out-sell the Bible and be the biggest thing to happen to the entire world.
LOL! love this.

Oh also, I've heard that publishers like to see, at minimum, one book per year from their authors, that way they keep the fanbase hooked and looking for the next novel within a reasonable time. But there seems to be a longer gap between MWT's books being finished/released...
I know publishers are willing to wait on big name authors if it's taking them a long time to finish their next novel, but is that the same for midlist authors? Does it just depend on the author/agent/publisher? Does the longer gap between books affect, er, stuff? Or does good writing trump all so long as it's selling through?

My gosh, I am having a blast asking you all the random stuff that's been floating in my brain for a while. Thank you!! :D

[adalanne.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm having a blast answering, so have at it! ^_^ I'm still learning so much myself, it's just fun to pass some knowledge on.

I don't have access to her sales numbers, but I would guess that MWT is midlist, possibly on the upper end. I think she has definite best-seller potential. KoA, I think, generated a lot more interest and fans, so hopefully, by even the next book, the word-of-mouth will reach that break-out tipping point, but we'll see. ^_^

Publishers have no minimum book requirements on authors; Robert McCammon, for example, took a 10-year hiatus, completely changing genres, and was published at the same imprint. But an author also doesn't necessarily stay with the same publisher, for any number of reasons. When authors talk about deadlines, its either because they sold their first book in a multiple-book deal and so have to finish the other books in that deal by a certain time, or because they sold their not-first book on proposal and had a deadline in the contract. But when it comes to gaps between books, generally agents and editors are willing to wait for good books. Truthfully, while it would be lovely to have all authors churning out a book every six months, I don't think that would work very well. Agents and editors would be so busy with their current authors, they really would have no time for debut authors, and no one wants that. We love finding new, fantastic writers as much as any reader. I imagine, though, that a gap would affect the marketing and promotions, but not necessarily negatively. It would depend on each author and book. The only thing that an agent or editor might be wary of is if an author says this is the only book they ever plan to write. But if it's an awesome book, they might go ahead and overlook that. ^_^

[zeonn.livejournal.com]

Apologies for the late reply. I hadn't checked the thread for a few days!

Anyway, it's fun to have knowledge passed on to, so thanks again for your excellent comments. :D

Interesting. I always thought of MWT as midlist, no real reason, I just have this picture of her as being the kind of solid and dependable writer that midlists are made of. And I so hope that one of these days we'll see her hit that tipping point and skyrocket to fame and fortune! Such excellent writing certainly deserves that kind of recognition.

Ah, I read a lot of blogs by genre authors under multiple book contracts, and they seem to be always going crazy trying to speed-write the next one in the series, so I got the idea that most of a published author's routine would be like that. Nice to know that that isn't always the case.
And an excellent point about needing time to discover new talent! You've given me a lot of food for thought. Much appreciated!

And I'll second traboule here that I would love to hear the story of how you got into publishing! If it's okay with you, may I email you at the address you gave her upthread?

eta: edited for typos!

[adalanne.livejournal.com]

Oh hey, sure, shoot me an email!