Forums / Publishing /
Can I Go Straight To Publishing Rather Than Going Through An Agent?


  • JessicaMadden
    Jun 7 12:53 AM
    Reply
    I'm looking for an agent and I have found some but none of them are accepting any new submissions. So if none of them is accepting, could I go straight to publishing?

  • KodyBoye
    June 8 ↑
    Reply
    If you self-publish, yes, you could.

    The only thing with self-publishing is that it's difficult unless you've got/know a few things.

    A) a fanbase, which is the people who buy your work.

    connections, which will help you promote yourself.

    C) marketing skills, which help A LOT.

    It's taken me almost three years to build up my name online, so it's not something that you can do overnight (unless you're Susan Boyle, lol.)

  • CactusJack
    June 9 ↑
    Reply
    Do you mean straight to a publisher? If that's the case, yes you can. The trick is finding a publisher that's interested in the type of work you write. It also helps if you're good at it.

  • Oddities
    June 9 ↑
    Reply

    yes

    Just go to the bookshelf / bookshop / library and find a book similar to the one you trying to sell.

    On the first page will be a load of copyright waffle and the name, address and website of publisher.

    Go to website and look for submission guidelines, usually a tiny hyperlink on contact pages.

    If they don't accept unsolicited works, or have just closed submissions due to backlog, return to step one and try again.

  • blueraven6
    June 15 ↑
    Reply

    My plan is to sell my books from a website.

    Too many "agents" and "publishers" are con artists, so I decided to do it all on my own.

    The website is now in design. My old one without the shopping carts, etc. is at http://sfiu.tripod.com/book.htm

    blueraven6

    • Oddities
      June 15 ↑
      Reply

      how will people

      ever find that website?

    • GuitarShank
      June 15 ↑
      Reply
      The only publisher I've heard of as a conspiracy is PublishAmerica, the scammy publish-on-demand site

      • KodyBoye
        June 15 ↑
        Reply
        lol, then you haven't heard of the Preditors and Editors list.

        http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/peba.htm

        Undoubtedly, the most comprehensive list of scams/ripoffs/fishy publishers around.

        • GuitarShank
          June 15 ↑
          Reply
          Ah, yes, I did see that.

          My point is that I've never heard of a big house publisher being a scam. And agents are like doctors: You'll either get the one who wants to help you, or the one who wants your money.

  • Oddities
    June 15 ↑
    Reply

    A fool and his money are easily parted.

    most of the scam sites are so obvious. customer testimonials being the biggest red flag. Could you imagine going to the harper collins website and seeing

    "I always wanted to be a writer, and thanks to HC I'm fucking minted and live in a castle!" - JK Rowling.


    • KodyBoye
      June 15 ↑
      Reply
      But... she does live in a castle! LOL!

      • Oddities
        June 16 ↑
        Reply

        that was kind of my point.

        real publishers don't have to tout for business, in fact they make there submission pages deliberately oblique and hard to find, just to cut down on the volume of crap they have to deal with.

  • Everpurple
    July 31 ↑
    Reply
    Of course, there are msot likely local publishers near you that will take your story, if they're small. If you live right next to randomhouse...no luck there!
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