5 traps for new writers

The Huffington Post recently ran an article titled “The 5 Most Dangerous Career Roadblocks for New Writers.” While the item is good, it also falls a bit short of the mark. Your list:

1. Being fooled by emotions

2. Previously Posted Dilemma

3. “Everyone Wins” Writing Contests

4. Misreading editorial agreements/signing a bad contract

5. Blade literary agents

From a writer/editor perspective, this doesn’t even come close to the reality of being a new writer. New writers (and even some experienced ones) view publishing through rose-colored glasses. Publishing your novel becomes the end of the game and few think beyond it.

Here are the five REAL career pitfalls for new writers (or anyone else), whether self-published or traditional.

Impatience

If you’ve decided to hit the gold ring of publishing, a traditional publisher, you’d better be prepared to hurry up and wait. First, many agents and publishers do not accept simultaneous submissions. What does that mean? In essence, you can only send one agent/editor at a time and wait for them to reject your manuscript. Most will tell you that they will contact you within four weeks to four months. That’s waiting a long time just to be told “no.” Then, if you go the agent route and are accepted for representation, you will have to wait for the agent to successfully purchase your manuscript. Then there are the edits and back-and-forth revisions, which of course the publisher wants to catch up on very quickly: it’s the only thing that happens quickly in traditional publishing. Finally, you will experience the ever so popular waiting period that occurs between acceptance and actual publication. The standard time here is nine months to one year.

All this hurry and wait has driven many authors into the desktop publishing industry. In other words, many authors are driven to desktop publishing out of impatience. Impatience creates haste, and haste will kill your writing career faster than anything else. You’ll still need to take the time to have your manuscript peer reviewed (other than loving relatives), get a publisher, design a professional cover, and do pre- and post-publication marketing. There’s a lot of work involved whichever way you choose, so be prepared to do some hard work and wait regardless of where you post.

playing the game

Publishing is a game: it’s called “Pin the tail on the donkey.” The reason I say this is that every author who is serious about sales needs to know what their readers will be demanding at least a year from now. Many times, this is an educated guess. If historical romance is on the decline and you decide to write a historical romance novel, be prepared for two things:

Fewer interested publishers

Less than stellar sales figures

I’m not saying don’t write it; I’m just saying you have to be realistic about the outcome of writing that kind of novel.

Publishers spend a lot of money trying to capture readers’ interests for the coming year. This is how they build their calendar of publications and acquisitions. For example, if vampire novels are all the rage, a publisher will spend more on vampire manuscripts than on memoirs, unless, of course, the memoir is written by an actual vampire. So if you’ve written a novel in a low-selling genre, expect to be disappointed as there will be fewer slots and more competition for those slots.

Self-publishing works the same way. You have to refine and target your writing to fit the needs and wants of your audience. If you’re like me, you probably have a list of novels on hold. Most authors make the mistake of choosing to write in the order nearest and dearest to them, completely ignoring what’s hot in the market or what might be to come.

Not knowing the rules

This pitfall closely aligns with the Huffington Post article regarding signing a bad contract and getting a bad agent. First, let’s be clear: accredited agents do not charge any reading or editing fees. They get their commission from their share of the sales and that’s it. If an agent wants a reading fee or offers to sell you editing services, walk away. No, you really should run. Fast.

Another pitfall here is not knowing what to expect regarding advances and royalties from a traditional publisher. First, your progress won’t be anywhere near what you expect. While advances are highly dependent on the size of the publisher or printing house, you can expect anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 for your first novel. Obviously there are exceptions, but don’t flatter yourself that you will be one of them.

Royalties are another matter. Your publication contract will be filled with many small numbers followed by a percent sign. This means that how much you earn depends on your total sales. This will, of course, be offset by your advance payment. You won’t see another penny from your publisher until your share of the sales has exceeded the advance. Also, depending on the rights you sell, you will have a different percentage of participation depending on the medium. For print books, expect a range of 7-15% of retail price or 10-50% of net price. Most contracts will offer the author 50% of the net on most sub-royalties. Foreign rights can get up to 75% and movie rights should be closer to 90%. Keep in mind, however, that the lower the publisher’s percentage share of subrights, the less inclined they are to buy those rights.

One of the areas of change is happening in the electronic sales markets. With electronic sales skyrocketing and print sales plummeting, this has become a major area of ​​contention between publisher and author. Several major authors in the past year have either jumped ship or insisted on retaining a higher percentage of digital publishing rights due to the booming industry. Keep this in mind when negotiating royalties from electronic sales.

believing what you hear

I’ve been writing since I was old enough to hold a pen. My parents, friends, relatives, and teachers believed that I was a true writing prodigy. Boy, have I ever been cheated on? He still had a lot to learn.

Don’t listen to your friends and family. Or at least don’t believe everything they say. They love you. They don’t want to hurt your feelings. Above all, they are not editors or publishers. Professionals have a very different way of looking at things: they don’t overlook flaws in your writing. Ever. Too many flaws will mean that no one will buy your manuscript. If they accept it, they will tell you to fix it and how they want it fixed. In fact, you could end up with a significantly different story than the one you submitted.

Believing in the opinion that you are the next Ernest Hemingway will completely sabotage your career. Every writer, every manuscript needs improvement. I don’t care who you are or how fantastically you write. Your goal is to get your manuscript to the highest level you can achieve before you send it off to an agent or publisher. That means you need two things:

serious peer review

an editor

You need to test your manuscript (in parts, preferably) with groups of writers, writer friends, and people who know you. Get it in good shape and then send it to a publisher. You need someone who doesn’t know you to be objective and offer constructive criticism. Anyone who knows you will resist being completely honest. Trying to sell a manuscript that is better used as fertilizer will kill your career. Publishers and agents will never want to hear from you again. They won’t bother to read your queries.

lack of marketing

This is the most misunderstood pitfall of all time, even for seasoned authors. Marketing is a necessary step no matter how you decide to post. The most common misconception is that going the traditional route, your publisher will do it all for you. Nope.

One of the most successful authors of modern times is James Patterson. He has taken writing and publishing to a whole new level. He gets marketing. Every time you see his face on TV, he’s promoting his books and those marketing efforts are paying off. Before Patterson, I don’t remember any writer in history doing a commercial for his book. But maybe he’s the only writer who can really afford a TV ad.

The point is that you have to promote your skills, your book and yourself if you want to see sales. Learn marketing techniques and learn to love them. What is the use of having a printed book if nobody buys it?