Nathan Bransford - The Forums

Hi Nathan,

I'm an aspiring mystery writer. The other day, I ran across a post on David Morrell's web site about the current state of the publishing industry.

http://www.davidmorrell.net/whatsnew/dsp.whatsnew.cfm

He advises new authors to submit to small presses. Should I try to get an agent first?

Many thanks for your time,
Marianne

Yes.

http://editorialass.blogspot.com/2008/0 ... ented.html

No

Hi mtlogan,


Best of luck! Let us know how it goes.

Well, at least you're getting some clear answers here.

I have no idea, actually, but I wonder - why not do both? Look for an agent, and a small publisher? Seems like if you find either, it's a good thing. Win-win?

sbs_mjc1,
Many thanks for referring me to the article, why you should never submit unagented to publishing companies, by Editorial Ass. I'm convinced. When I finally get ready to submit, I'll definitely first get an agent. It's said that a lawyer who represents him- or herself has a fool for a client. It looks likes the same can be said of authors.

Again, many, many, thanks,
Marianne

I am curious if Moonrat's advice applies to very small presses, like Candlemark and Gleam. They're only E book at the moment and their terms seem quite straightforward, whereas EdAss seems to be talking about working directly with the NY big guys.

My feeling is, it depends. If your project is very niche-oriented and if you're planning to go directly to a university press or a publisher that offers very small and/or no advance, the odds that you're going to land an agent are small enough that you may not judge it worth your time to go through the whole query process. I would advise that you have someone who knows about publishing contracts take a look before you sign, but realistically agents probably aren't going to go for a "small" book (no judgment there).

However, for all the reasons Moonrat mentions in that post linked to above, when in doubt I'd try and query agents.

What if you get a publishing contract with a small or niche-oriented publisher?
And then, your book does well and other, bigger publishers show interest in it? {Like Clancey?]

lvcabbie wrote:What if you get a publishing contract with a small or niche-oriented publisher?
And then, your book does well and other, bigger publishers show interest in it? {Like Clancey?]

I think you answered your own question ;-)