Nathan Bransford

Not heard of him? He's one of them literary agents from the US of A (and soon to be a published author himself). He blogs regularly on the state of the publishing world, gives out a lot of handsome advice for free, and is an all-round 'good egg' type of guy.

I love his latest post.

The fact is, I'm a bear of very little patience. I'm bored already of all this submissions palaver. And yet at the same time I'm excited - very excited - about the future of book publishing: opportunities (if not riches) are sprouting around us like weeds in spring.

I can see where these thoughts are going already and I am not scared, not scared at all ...

Gods in Jungle submissions update #9

To date: ten submissions to agents sent out; five form rejections, five outstanding - possibly lost in the post or festering in a forgotten slush pile somewhere. I need to email the outstanding agents to nudger them, but that'll have to wait to the new year now.

Also: no word back from the 2 publishers, from which I can only assume they have chosen not to offer a contract. So that brings the number of rejections to seven out of twelve.

The logical thing to do now is to prepare another batch of submissions to fresh UK agents, and also investigate US agents who accept submission queries online. The trouble is, though, this submissions lark has been going on for over 4 months now ("no time at all, Rik," I hear folks saying) and already I'm bored of it. I'm bored of friends and family and colleagues asking "When's that book of yours going to be published, Rik?" and then having to watch their eyes glaze over as once more I attempt to explain the publishing process to them.

Self-publishing begins to look tempting, even though I've barely scratched the surface of this complex and idiosyncratic business ...

... but maybe not just yet. What I am planning to do is to take down the current RikVerse book from Lulu.com - and publish a revised and extended version (with me listed as the publisher rather than Lulu) ... which in turn means setting myself up as an independent micropublisher. Exciting stuff, huh? I want the poetry book to be available in hardback, paperback and eBook formats. I'm not sure I need an Amazon.com listing as most sales have been generated via my website - and anyways I'm not happy with Amazon's (apparent) policy of demanding publishers offer a high cover price just so they can do their 50% off offers. In addition to the RikVerse, I also plan to finish and publish Snowdrop next year, and there's also SpinTrap, which I never see being published by a big traditional publisher (once it's finished and revised and polished and stuff) ... so maybe, maybe ...

Gods in Jungle submissions update #8

And one more rejection in the post this morning. This one comes from the Mic Cheetham Agency who, in their professional and businesslike form rejection letter (ie they sign and date it), tell me that they're a relatively small agency and taking on very few new fiction projects at the moment; they suggest I try Curtis Brown or PFD instead, which I think is a very nice touch in an otherwise simple form rejection. Time from submission sent to rejection received: 43 days.

As someone who dabbles in web design, I do wonder how much these folks spent on their website. Possibly too slick and minimalistic for their needs? I wasn't planning to send a submission to them based on their online presence, but was pursuaded otherwise by their entry in the Writers' and Artists' Yearbook.

Gods in Jungle submissions update #7

Two rejections from agents while I was away sunning myself in Crete - I'll count their response time at 40 days as neither rejection was dated (or even signed).

MBA Literary Agents were one of my biggest hopes - they represent some very interesting fantasy authors in addition to Anne McCaffrey, a long-time favourite writer of mine (represented by Diana Tyler). So, yes, this is a dissappointing rejection. MBA's form rejection is in fact a postcard: yellow with four short paragraphs, no date or signature.

Which is more than I can say for Pollinger Limited. I accept that they were a long-shot (they don't explicitly exclude SFF) so I didn't expect much from them. What I got back from them in the mail was my cover letter with a small, circled capital R - in pencil - added to the top. Is this the way they normally choose to conduct their business? Is that a professional and courteous response? Whatever. I get the hint; I'll not be darkening their doors again.

Gods in Jungle submissions update #6

From Greene & Heaton - form rejection after 30 days (well within their stated 6 week response time).

They were a long shot, included mainly because they didn't explicitly exclude SFF queries, but also because they choose to explain their philosophy to the work in clear and simple terms on their website - of which I very much approve. Their decision doesn't surprise me, nor does it disappoint.

Gods In Jungle submissions update #3

I've sent submission queries to ten agents: eight in the traditional manner, one by email, one by webform. I'll not name names now, but I will be recording turnaround times and response outcomes as and when they occur.

Is admitting on this here blog that I've done simultaneous submissions an act of stupidity? Possibly - though in my defence I did spend a lot of time researching these agents and most of the queries have been individualised with a few words to expalain why I was submitting to that particular agent (except for the slushpile submissions, but then why individualise a submission when I have no idea who will be speed-readinbg it). Agents can be a bit touchy when it comes to reputation and performance stuff. But keeping details of my adventures in Agentland secret feels wrong to me in this day and age of sharing info and data and stuff.

Whatever. The race is on: who will be the first agent to form reject my tome? Which agents will be brave enough to request the full manuscript? Keep tuned, folks ...

Gods In Jungle submissions update #2

I've submitted the tome to ten agents. Should I be admitting this? Probably not, but right at this moment in time I have the patience of a gnat desparate for the proverbial piss.

They're all good agents and agencies, mind. I'd pawn my grandmothers teeth to land any one of them - even if it means having to dig up grandmother's corpse to get said teeth to pawn. There is one agent I'd happily pawn my own teeth to land - and yes, that includes extracting the bony mites from my gums sans anasthesia - but I'm not going to say which agent that is ...

Gods In Jungle submissions update #1

I'm gonna record where I send the book, and the responses I get, here on this very blog.

First up to get the chance to reject my tome? The easiest ones to send out to, of course:
- Snowbooks
- Macmillan New Writing

Both of these are publishers; both have very good reputations, with various of their books being shortlisted for various prizes. Both work on the premise that authors submit their entire manuscript with minimal fuss about accompanying pitch packages. Both offer contracts which are a straight share of royalties - no advances. No need for agents, either - if it wasn't for their reputations, I'd probably not have been so eager to submit stuff to them given this sort of contract.

So what are their reputations?

MNW, as part of the Pan Macmillan group, has 'copper-bottom' written all over it. The imprint is specifically for previously unpublished authors. The authors they've launched have been making some sizable waves in the national literary gossip-sphere. If I can catch the eyes of these guys, I'd be ecstatic.

Snowbooks is far smaller, far more intimate. If they choose to take on my book, I'd be working with the one editor through the whole process. And (assuming the copy on their website is still relevant for these changing times) they're very commercially-focussed, doing a lot of work to get the book into the shops and onto the prominent tables in those shops. On the whole I think this balance between close working with authors and a highly professional outlook towards selling the product would make them my ideal publisher.

Fingers crossed, etc.