Literary agents are often asked these QUESTIONABLE QUESTIONS by writers looking to understand how book publishing works. They’re reasonable questions and yet they reveal a misunderstanding about the industry. I hope this series of answers is useful.
4. Why are there so many second-rate books published?
I’ve been a literary agent for twenty years. When I meet people socially and they hear what I do, there’s a pattern to their responses.
Non-readers tend to examine me with a wary expression that mimes I’ve managed to avoid books since school and this guy chooses to live among them every day? Move along. Other times the non-reader looks hostile, maybe I’ll start quoting from a novel? Few show mild interest, perking up to ask if I’m J.K. Rowling’s agent. The disappointment with my answer usually followed by the remark, “I bet you wish you were.”
Well, I don’t in fact. He’s dead[1]. But yes, I sense the underlying point.
They’re letting me know they’re aware that few people in book publishing (authors, their agents, or their publishers) make ‘serious money’. They’re telling me they feel no lurch of envy for my work or my income – which is fine; I love the job and am paid fairly. But I’m not here to write about them. I want to talk about the responses I get from people outside our industry looking to break in.
I am routinely asked “Questionable Questions” by writers looking to be published. The questions look reasonable – natural even – but they reveal a way of thinking that’s not going to help them get published. I don’t launch into a complicated answer with a stranger at the risk of sounding like a dick. But on my blog I can.
When you walk around a big bookshop, are you grimacing at the parade of new fiction - the samey ‘variety’? Are you disapproving the current bestsellers, feeling the few promoted classics are a mere sop to high culture? Do display tables piled with titles by celebrity authors provoke contempt?
I understand. But I suspect you’re not being completely honest. What’s parading as an objective assessment of the book marketplace is probably much closer to my unpublished book is better than this stuff. What is wrong with this industry?
It’s all about you. Fine. It usually is, for any of us.
But let’s give the book industry a break; it’s a bunch of honest publishers and booksellers trying hard to make a living and earn a profit. Behind each title is a publisher’s faith that it will find sufficient readership to justify their time and money. They’re more often wrong than right. Most books fail to meet their commercial objectives. The few winners that stay on the bestseller lists cover the cost of the also rans.
Yes, they publish a lot of books that are similar to previous books that sold. If you’re facing a market with so much choice, it’s natural to be cautious in your choices. Abundance is the core quality of the book industry.
I agree they play it too safe too often, but we must understand why and respect the challenge they face. We should also recognise that when you look behind the bestsellers, the books by high profile authors and the book’s enjoying media moments, you’ll find a huge diversity of books being published.
I continue to believe that if your book is distinctive and original enough, lures and holds the reader all the way through, you’ll find a decent publisher.
Alternatively, if you’ve got an entrepreneurial gift and some funds, self-publish it and prove them all wrong. But first, decide why you are writing. If you are in search of readers and a viable living, find a good agent. They’ll help you understand how to get published. The beautiful thing about all that abundance of books in the shop is that there’s always room for one more.
[1] Christopher Little, the original agent who sold the first Harry Potter book, died three years ago. He is the agent within their imagining. J.K. Rowling has a new agency handling her business today.