Author | Joseph L. Selby

The Known Unknowns

Between my own experiences in the industry and the years I’ve spent participating in various industry blogs (pubrants, the Bransford, etc.), I am not too worried about what will come after I get an agent and sell a book. Or at least, I feel like I have a pretty solid understanding of most aspects.

Except one. The next book. Sure agents talk about the challenges of a sophomore offering and the effort people put into it and the mistakes people make because of the pressure and blah blah blah. All fine and good. I can’t speak to pressure until I’m feeling it and I can’t feel the pressure of a sophomore book until I’ve published the freshman one.

What I don’t know about the next book is the next book to the agent. I’ve heard so many conflict things and agents seem to rarely speak on that part of the process. I’ve heard proposal used as the nonfiction alternative to a query, but then I’ve also heard it as what a represented author sends his/her agent for new story ideas. And pardon me, but a proposal sounds like a query and by god, I never want to query again once I get an agent.

I’ve also seen some authors that send the agent an outline. An outline? I don’t outline. I never outline. I took half a page of notes yesterday and that’s HUGE. I’m a pantser. I write by the seat of my pants. I write by the seat of my pants so much that there are holes in the seat of my pants from all the writing I do there. I can tell you the beginning (though it might change) and the ending (though it might change) and maybe a few ideas of the middle (though they might change). How the hell do you expect me to write an outline? That will destroy my process?!?!?!

So yeah, this is a known unknown. I get representation for, let’s say, THE TRIAD SOCIETY. I already have two other novels that did not attract an agent. Given some blog posts, I think he or she might read them just as a matter of form and tell me if they can be revised to publishable quality or just need to be permanently shelved. But I’m also finishing a new wip right now and will have another one in a few months. What do I do with those?

And I even read once that an author would pitch a book to the agent before it’s written and if the agent said no, the author might not even write the thing. I don’t think I’ve ever written a book that was so much like my original proposal as it was when it was finished. Not writing it at all seems like a horrible presumption. And even if that’s a good method, I write two novels a year. Can’t I just write one of whatever I want and one that gets a thumbs up? I mean, some people take five years to write a book, so I can see why it might be important to figure out its saleability beforehand. I wrote THE TRIAD SOCIETY in three months (to the day1). I’ll write ten novels in the time that other guy writes one, so can’t I write the quirky thing that I love even if no one else will?

Some of this is probably exaggeration, but this really is the one topic I’ve never seen covered on any of the blogs I follow.

1 Actual writing time was less, as I started on May 25th and I took off most of June because I was working my ass off at my really real job. I finished the first draft on August 25th, though, and I think that’s pretty awesome.

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3 responses to “The Known Unknowns”

  1. Ted Cross

    Be like Brandon Sanderson. He just writes a ton! Sounds like you do, too. I think that fact is appealing to agents, who want to get as much bread and butter from their clients as they can.

    Reply
  2. Elizabeth Poole

    One of my writing classes actually covered this part of the writing career!

    From what I understand, this isn't usually talked about because it depends on many factors. It depends on your agent, and your writing process, and what your publishing history is. And who your editor is, etc.

    Disclaimer: I am by no means speaking for all writers/agents/editors everywhere. Take this with a grain of salt.

    Hopefully, after you sell your first book, the editor will ask to see what you have in mind for your next book. If not, your agent will submit to other editors.

    Either way, you will have to put together some sort of submission package. Each package is different depending on what each editor asks for, but they may include one or all of the following:

    *A synopses
    *An editor outline
    *Sample chapters

    According to the class, this material doesn't have to be completely accurate to the final book you turn in. Editors and agents know that things can change.

    Some changes between the synopsis and the final draft are okay, and some are not.

    Generally acceptable changes:
    *the book is better than the one you promised
    *revamps the story but follows through on the tone and theme of the story
    *plot events
    *large sections of the plot.

    You might need to okay the following changes:
    *stuff the editor has already read (like your sample chapters. You don't know what made her fall in love with the book, so you might want to check before you edit it out of the final draft)
    *Voice: If you pitched a chatty first person, and want to change it to a third person tragedy.
    *the ending. It can be completely different events, but ask first if you want to turn your comedy into a tragedy.

    Generally not acceptable changes:
    *A massive philosophical shift—from atheist to zealous missionary. i.e. if you change the concept of the book.
    *Tone. You promise a dark gothic horror, and produce a zany comedy of errors.
    *Genre. You promised a love story, and produced a story where one lover kills the other (not okay in the romance genre. Also another reason of why it’s good to know genre conventions).
    *Story arc. You promised a heartwarming story of a hero who redeems a fallen angel, and produced instead a heartbreaking story of a hero who is tempted and gives in to damnation.

    You, Joe, should be fine. Lots and lots of writers are pansters, and they sell plenty of books. What is important is the story concept, genre, and tone, not the story events.

    Reply
  3. Joseph L. Selby

    @Ted: If that were the case, I could just email agents and say "Hey, I wrote three novels in a year and a half. Let's do bidness." Most of them will tell you that they'd prefer one book they love every five years than two books every year they are ambivalent about.

    @Liz: This sounds like I have a contract with this editor. What if my first sale is only for the one book. Then what? What influence does this editor have on my work if he/she's not paying me for the book?

    Reply

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