pitching one book or multiple?

[kuenjato]

Hello all, new poster. I have a question I haven't been able to find via searching online (though searching led me here...) -- essentially, I'm not quite ready to start submitting to agents yet, but feel I may be close (next 3-4 years). Here's the deal: I've been writing fairly consistently for over 20 years and am currently working on my 28th book, with another 12 floating around in various stages of completion. These projects range from epic fantasy to science fiction to YA to contemporary fiction to spec scripts and short story compilations (etc), and run the gamut of long (200-300k+), medium (100k+), and short (60-90k). Part of the reason I've held back from submitting was that I wanted to hone my chops, develop a substantial portfolio, and complete my serials rather than submit unfinished longer works. Various life events (like children) have also delayed this goal. Well, time is grinding along and I might as well test out the waters eventually.

With all that stated, my question: when sending blurbs/cover letters/summaries of the work to agents, should I submit just one book at a time, or promote them as a portfolio? I have several completed trilogies, and several unfinished serials, and a number of stand alone works. My initial thought was to submit a list of the more commercially viable books, with brief blurbs and slightly longer summaries of the serials. Also, in this sort of situation, would agents want a sample from just one novel, or samples from a number of projects? Thanks for any advice you can impart. This forum looks amazing and, after years of hammering away in relative isolation, I plan on hanging out for some time.

 

[Susan Boulton]

One book at a time, and choose the strongest. If the agent is interested, then you can mention your other work.

 

[Montero]

First off, congrats on what you've written.

From what I've observed from a friend submitting:

1. Read the guidelines for each individual agent - they all have variations as to what sort of covering letter and synopsis they want - and the art of the synopsis is hard - this forum can help with that. Some agents blog on their requirements too. There are also differences between UK and US markets.

2. It is one book at a time per agent or publisher unless they say otherwise - and with a series you would always start with book 1 and probably tell them about the rest of that series - in one sentence (I have x sequels completed.)

Others who are pro published will be along to tell you more.

Couple of other observations - when you have enough posts 30? 50? (I've forgotten its in the FAQs) you can post a sample on critiques if that interests you.

There is also self-publishing to consider. Lots of info on that on here. One of the "things" about selfpub is having a finished series to launch will make a bigger splash, but the marketing is hard.

 

[Boneman]

What Susan said...

 

[Jo Zebedee]

One at a time

 

[Montero]

Hhm. Regarding "the strongest" - I've seen that on agent and publisher websites and don't find it very helpful as it lacks specifics. (I did some submitting of my own a while back, currently paused.)

My take on the specifics is this:

Some agents and publishers will upfront say "we like Bloggs Ballads and want more like that" or "we like our sf light with a touch of humour, no military sf thank you". Others you'll have individual agents or editors at the company listing what sorts of books they like, and their favourite authors. Which is a hint to target them with your book that is closest to their preferences - so far as you can tell. There is also the wild card - something completely new that blows them away and is like nothing they've previously repped or published. Or another publisher has just released something that goes in a new direction, it is selling like hot cakes - you might be able to say "hey, my work is a lot like that new release that is selling like hot cakes".
Some agents and publishers will ask you to say in your cover letter which book you think your book is closest to (for marketing) - they are looking for new releases, not Asimov. I do try and look at new(ish) authors 2/3 books who are repped or published by that agent/publisher and see if there is a trend/theme there and what best fits to that.



In terms of one at a time - you can send different first books to different agents at the same time. Sometimes you can send the same first book to multiple agents at the same time - you need to see if their terms say "no simultaneous submissions". If you do start slow, it can give you feedback on whether your synopsis and cover letter are working - if they ask for more then it is. The downside of doing lots at once is if your cover letter and synopsis are poor, then you've blown your pitch to all those agents. But once again, different agents look for different lengths and details in cover letter and synopsis so you will need to have a short, a medium and a long synopsis in your hopper, ready to be tweaked to agent preferences.
Broadly speaking starting with agents then trying publishers is a more cautious way to go - because if a publisher has already rejected your manuscript and you get an agent, they probably can't take it back to that publisher. However it can be at least as hard to get an agent as it is a publisher. You will also find there are publishers who will only look at manuscripts from an agent.

Shorts - no company will want to buy a short story compilation from an unpublished author. You are better off trying them one at a time on magazines and anthologies - if they take anything up then you have something to put in the "professional publications" bit of your cover letter. "My short, Simply Super, was in Lightspeed ed 101"

You also want to take at look at the Absolute Write forum and "Writers Beware" - gives you warning on all the agents and publishers who are either not any good, or outright scammers.

 

[Tirellan]

What they said - one book at a time.
Find reputable US agents at Querytracker.net and Agentquery.com - and cross-check them at Absolutewrite - Bewares, Recommendations & Background Check

Learn about query letters for US agents at Query Shark

Find UK agents here Agents

Find markets for your short fiction here Ralan.com - Home Page

 

[janeoreilly]

The most important thing is to follow the agent's submission guidelines, so send them exactly what they ask for on their website and nothing else. Usually that's a cover letter, the first three chapters and a synopsis. It's fine to mention that you've got other manuscripts in the letter, but I wouldn't try to submit them all at once or talk about them in any great detail. A publisher isn't going to take on 28 books at once from a debut novelist anyway. I know from conversations with my agent that she automatically rejects anything that doesn't follow her guidelines. I have to ask though, why wait another 3 or 4 years if you've got manuscripts ready to submit now?

 

[kuenjato]

The most important thing is to follow the agent's submission guidelines, so send them exactly what they ask for on their website and nothing else. Usually that's a cover letter, the first three chapters and a synopsis. It's fine to mention that you've got other manuscripts in the letter, but I wouldn't try to submit them all at once or talk about them in any great detail. A publisher isn't going to take on 28 books at once from a debut novelist anyway. I know from conversations with my agent that she automatically rejects anything that doesn't follow her guidelines. I have to ask though, why wait another 3 or 4 years if you've got manuscripts ready to submit now?

I barely have enough time, with work and two kids, to even write. It feels like I'll have to devote a significant chunk of time to going through the process, and have around 10 projects all clamoring for my limited attention.

Thanks for the info everyone!

 

[tinkerdan]

I was just finally getting to reading From Pitch to Publication by Carole Blake. It's truly informative about a lot of things regarding agents, editors and publishers and the industry as regards your work from pitch to publication as it says. I'm sure that some of the information needs updating; however I think that it has a lot to say that applies today if you are looking for Traditional publishing.

One striking comment was that all of the above agencies are in this for the long run, that means that they are looking for someone who has many more than one book in them--so it can't hurt to let them know you have much more work that is in various stages of completion; however you might want to be sure that your manuscript is as complete as possible because the time from pitch to publication is a long time with all the steps they go through to get you there with the best work.(Making you look good and maybe even great takes longer than you might think.)

They are not all that enthusiastic about clients who are one off deals.

If they like your submission they will likely want to know what else you have, however you need to make sure that the submission is in the best condition you can get it into before they see it.

If you traditionally publish and can get your hands on this book; it real is a mine of information.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0333714350/?tag=brite-21

 

[kuenjato]

I was just finally getting to reading From Pitch to Publication by Carole Blake. It's truly informative about a lot of things regarding agents, editors and publishers and the industry as regards your work from pitch to publication as it says. I'm sure that some of the information needs updating; however I think that it has a lot to say that applies today if you are looking for Traditional publishing.

One striking comment was that all of the above agencies are in this for the long run, that means that they are looking for someone who has many more than one book in them--so it can't hurt to let them know you have much more work that is in various stages of completion; however you might want to be sure that your manuscript is as complete as possible because the time from pitch to publication is a long time with all the steps they go through to get you there with the best work.(Making you look good and maybe even great takes longer than you might think.)

They are not all that enthusiastic about clients who are one off deals.

If they like your submission they will likely want to know what else you have, however you need to make sure that the submission is in the best condition you can get it into before they see it.

If you traditionally publish and can get your hands on this book; it real is a mine of information.

Thanks for the link! Yes, one of the reasons for my delays is that, even though I have 3 or 4 works that I think I can sell, I'm always working on the details (or re-writing sections...) -- the only aspect in my life with OCD perfectionism issues!

 

[janeoreilly]

Thanks for the link! Yes, one of the reasons for my delays is that, even though I have 3 or 4 works that I think I can sell, I'm always working on the details (or re-writing sections...) -- the only aspect in my life with OCD perfectionism issues!

Speaking from the other side, as someone with an agent and a book deal, even the most polished submission will most likely get edits first from the agent and then edits from an editor if it sells (and even the most polished manuscripts get rejected, so that's not something you can really avoid either). They're going to change things anyway because they are approaching the book from a different perspective, which is all to do with its marketability. If you have something which is ready to be submitted you might not gain anything from revising it more at this point.

It might mean taking a month away from writing to concentrate on getting a submission package together and sending it out because it is a time consuming process and I really do appreciate that - I've got 2 kids, a second job and a chronic illness but if publishing is the end goal, it's better to get a submission in an agent's inbox and then use the time while you wait for a response to work on what you'll sub next because it can take months and months to get a response and even longer for a book to actually be published.