Some Humbling Statistics About Getting Your Book Published
I attended a workshop led by Sara Megibow from the Nelson Literary Agency a while back. Here are some humbling statistics she passed on to the attendees:
Did you know that a literary agent may receive thirty-two thousand query letters a year? And that out of all those queries, she’ll ask for sample pages from maybe twenty-five hundred of those submissions? She’ll read maybe ninety-eight full manuscripts out of those twenty-five hundred. Now, for the fun part. Take a guess at how many authors she might offer to represent out of that thirty-two thousand. Come on, I dare you.
Nine.
And how many books out of those nine do you think might sell?
Five.
Five out of thirty-two thousand. Pretty depressing odds, huh?
Okay, have you scraped your jaws up off the floor?
Now, let’s assume you’re one of the lucky nine. You’ve got your agent. What happens next? Well, assuming your agent finds an editor who’s interested in your book, they may take up to six months to negotiate the contract. Did you know that book contracts don’t typically include a clause that the editor will actually “print” you book? I mean, in times past, if an editor bought your book OF COURSE they meant to print your book. Not true anymore now that ebooks are so big.
So, you’ve got your contract, your editor has agreed to print your book, now it’s time to start sending your relatives to the bookstore, right? Nope. It can take two to three years for a book to get on the shelves once it’s sold.
Two to three years.
Wow.
So, I guess the question to all of us writers is: why are we wringing our souls out on the page just to be smacked in the face with such lousy odds?
I can’t answer for any of you. All I know is, there’s a scene I’ve got to finish before critique group and only an hour before my two-year-old is bound to wake up from her nap. That’s a statistic I can’t ignore.
That’s why this is so much fun. For a writer to make it to the bookstore shelves is a unique accomplishment. Many are called, few are chosen.
1Kevin has a strange definition of fun!
I think it’s the secret belief of writers that they, deep down, are actually special. Yeah, yeah, we know the statistics, but *our* book is different. You’ll see.
2Following on the last comment, that’s why self-publishing is so much fun–not groveling for the attention of agents/editors/publishers. After going through that traditional publishing rigmarole, then you’ve still got to do your own marketing. Short circuit the whole process through self-publishing.
Enjoyed this blog, so I linked to it on my own blog at http://derekblass.wordpress.com/
3Thanks for visiting us, Derek
His blog has an excellent post, Tip #3: The Cost of Doing Business, about the expenses involved in self-publishing, with excellent advice.
Getting a book contract that does not guarantee the printing of your book sounds about as useless as the legendary example of “buying a fish a bicycle”.
4I would like to think I could improve on the odds of 5 to 32,000 queries to published books by a series of steps. Narrowing the fields would be the challenge. For a given genre knowing the stats on best sellers and comparing one’s work to that published world would be a first step. The trick would be to fit the genre yet show a unique difference.
The next step might include doing homework on agents and assessing who is connected and regularly used by publishers. Now, pardon me, that comment really sounds text-bookish. I am guessing the major writers in our area see great value comingling with other writers and becoming alert to signs that agents want to acquire a new horse in the stable. Hope that picture isn’t offensive to anybody, or any horse.
An alternate thought is, at least for us newbies, to plan on the independent publisher or print-on-demand route. Cranking out two technically well done novels, then following up with short stories or essays to magazines would, at least, be a start to a well-rounded bio.
It’s fun to ponder. Who know? Only the shadow knows and he/she ain’t talkin.
5And that, my dear, is exactly the reason. We write because we must. Because we are the keepers of stories that scream to be told. We are the bards.
6I can’t speak for all of you, but if I don’t write, if I don’t pour my soul onto the page, if I don’t strive to share the words, the story, the vision – I don’t sleep. I can’t. The words simply won’t let me.
I remember reading Richard Bach as a child and he said a similar thing. He never wanted to be a writer. He swore every book would be his last, but then one night he would wake up with a story that just wouldn’t leave him alone. He couldn’t eat, he couldn’t sleep, he couldn’t function until he got it down and sent it into the world.
If that doesn’t sound like you – if you’re not doing this because you just can’t live if you don’t, please, for all our sakes, stop. Get out of the way. Then maybe the rest of us will be 5 out of 15,000 instead of 5 out of 32,000!!!
I jest. We write because we love it. We write because we have a story to tell. We write because we can.
All are welcome in this “race”. But yes, if you are writing for fame and glory, stop holding your breath, you’re going to need it
Brilliant and depressing post. Linked to my blog:
http://betterwritethanwrong.blogspot.com/2011/06/tuesday-tantrum-stats-that-suck.html
Strangely, this only makes the struggle that much more worthwhile!
7The stats in your blog post would be even more depressing, were in not for the fact they constitute an even better argument for aspiring authors to go “indie e-book”.
Derek Blass:…why self-publishing is so much fun–not groveling for the attention of agents/editors/publishers.
8Not to mention the fact that you get to publish your story exactly as you wrote it, unfiltered by any of the industry’s “marketing” concerns.
Yikes! I’m naturally drifting toward a mom-comment, “It’s not whether you win or lose…”
Well, #@%&, I want to win! And if I don’t, uh, wait, nope – I still want to win.
And a round of applause to all of us who are passionately throwing our hearts and souls on paper!
9Like with anything else change comes slow and hard. I for one am glad other options are available today besides just traditional publishing.
10I hope you don’t mind my asking, but where did these statistics come from? I know you mentioned you got them from a writing workshop that was taught by Sara Megibow, but do you know where she might have gotten them?
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