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My wife is an aspiring novelist (on her 9th draft of the novel) with an MFA in fiction and some experience working for a literary agent. Some perspective from t

by vgt 10y ago

My wife is an aspiring novelist (on her 9th draft of the novel) with an MFA in fiction and some experience working for a literary agent. Some perspective from that side: - 99% of all drafts sent to literary agents are objectively non-publishable. Simple lack of quality, lack of maturity, or other quantifiable factors. One or two drafts is not enough, even for experienced established novelists. Sadly, you can often tell within the first 5 pages, and even within the first paragraph. - Out of the 1% that have the potential to be publishable, at least 4 drafts, and often much more, are required to reach the quality desired to actually be publishable. - Good novels that are simply not what the agent/publisher is looking for at that time is also a factor, but a very distant one relative to just quality of work. - In fact, if your novel is "good" but the agent/publisher is not inclined to pick it up, they are more inclined to ask for a full draft, to give great editorial notes, or to give referrals to other agents/publishers. - If an agent thinks that they cannot take a specific "Good" book to market, they will frequently give pertinent feedback and often suggest specific revisions in order to make such a book marketable. - At PNWA and other literary conferences vast majority of attendees bring single or maybe two-draft. I should note that "number of drafts" is not an absolute requirement. Different folks write differently, and having a high number of iterations on your novel is not an indication of quality, rather than indication of prerequisite work required to produce a good product. So while the publishing world is far from perfect, and both publishers and agents tend to gravitate towards what's fashionable, the reality is that the vast majority of aspiring work is simply far from finished, despite the authors' claims (this doesn't preclude garbage like "50 shades" from seeing the light of day, mind you). Self-publishing gives those 99% a window to self-publish with only marginal quality controls. This in a way has the potential to overwhelm the system, and the objectively higher quality works can get drowned out in the noise. Not to mention that, once self-published, a book is highly unlikely to be re-published by a traditional publisher, especially for a first-time author. I'll close this tirade on a positive message. If you're a writer, you've already succeeded. The inner battles fought every single day for months and years on end alone make you a winner.

sacado2 10y ago
> One or two drafts is not enough, even for experienced established novelists. cough Elmore Leonard cough cough Robert Heinlein cough > Not to mention that, once self-published, a book is highly unlikely to be re-published by a traditional publisher, especially for a first-time author. That's a good thing. I think more writers should be in a "fire an forget" mode, i.e write a book, self-publish it, have readers or not, and move on to the next story. Rinse and repeat until you are able to write good stories. I think it's much better for self-esteem to be able to think "I already wrote 5 novels. Most are shit but, hey, it's getting better and better every time" than "argh, I have to write that first novel from scratch, for the fifth time. I'm fed up with it. I've been working on it for 10 years. I feel like I won't ever finish it. Maybe this writing thing is not for me".
- vgt 10y ago
  If you can write a great novel in one or two drafts, more power to you. I mentioned that it's not an absolute rule, especially for established experienced authors. However, if you're an aspiring novelist, and you are frustrated that agents are not responding to your query letters with 5 pages of manuscript, and you've only done one or two drafts, there's a good chance that your book just isn't ready. The other point I make is that the self-publishing industry allows for books that are objectively "not ready to enter the market" to enter the market, and at a ratio that overwhelms books that ARE objectively ready. This skews the market.
  - sacado2 10y ago
    Yes, that's true, but I think self-publishing authors (at least on the ebook market) adapted. Amazon is very good on this market. More often than not, if you want to make money in that niche, you better publish series with a free first episode. If your book sucks, the reader will put it back very fast. Nobody will buy your series, and your book will quickly get lost in the abyss of amazon's search engines. So, it kinda works. People who know you will be able to download your awful book, while innocent anonymous amazon customers will never find it by accident. > However, if you're an aspiring novelist, and you are frustrated that agents are not responding to your query letters with 5 pages of manuscript, and you've only done one or two drafts, there's a good chance that your book just isn't ready. Yes, but the question is : is it worth keeping working on that book or is it better to forget and start working on a new one ? There is no definitive answer, but abandoning forever the first novel I ever wrote was the best decision in my writer life. YMMV.

by vgt 10y ago

sacado2 10y ago

> One or two drafts is not enough, even for experienced established novelists. cough Elmore Leonard cough cough Robert Heinlein cough > Not to mention that, once self-published, a book is highly unlikely to be re-published by a traditional publisher, especially for a first-time author. That's a good thing. I think more writers should be in a "fire an forget" mode, i.e write a book, self-publish it, have readers or not, and move on to the next story. Rinse and repeat until you are able to write good stories. I think it's much better for self-esteem to be able to think "I already wrote 5 novels. Most are shit but, hey, it's getting better and better every time" than "argh, I have to write that first novel from scratch, for the fifth time. I'm fed up with it. I've been working on it for 10 years. I feel like I won't ever finish it. Maybe this writing thing is not for me".

vgt 10y ago
If you can write a great novel in one or two drafts, more power to you. I mentioned that it's not an absolute rule, especially for established experienced authors. However, if you're an aspiring novelist, and you are frustrated that agents are not responding to your query letters with 5 pages of manuscript, and you've only done one or two drafts, there's a good chance that your book just isn't ready. The other point I make is that the self-publishing industry allows for books that are objectively "not ready to enter the market" to enter the market, and at a ratio that overwhelms books that ARE objectively ready. This skews the market.
- sacado2 10y ago
  Yes, that's true, but I think self-publishing authors (at least on the ebook market) adapted. Amazon is very good on this market. More often than not, if you want to make money in that niche, you better publish series with a free first episode. If your book sucks, the reader will put it back very fast. Nobody will buy your series, and your book will quickly get lost in the abyss of amazon's search engines. So, it kinda works. People who know you will be able to download your awful book, while innocent anonymous amazon customers will never find it by accident. > However, if you're an aspiring novelist, and you are frustrated that agents are not responding to your query letters with 5 pages of manuscript, and you've only done one or two drafts, there's a good chance that your book just isn't ready. Yes, but the question is : is it worth keeping working on that book or is it better to forget and start working on a new one ? There is no definitive answer, but abandoning forever the first novel I ever wrote was the best decision in my writer life. YMMV.