There are many blog posts and articles on GETTING published and far less information on WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ARE PUBLISHED.
To help balance this out I’m going to focus the next few weeks on what happens AFTER you get published.
Why start here and not with “how to get published” or “traditional vs self-publishing” or even with “do I want to be a published author”? Well, I’ve always believed that when we choose our actions we choose our consequences. If you don’t know what is possible from making a certain decision, you aren’t going to pursue it. So let’s shed some light on the murky area of what happens after your first book hits the shelves.
First off … publishing is a very fluid and mercurial industry and no two people have the exact same path to publishing. There’s a lot of variables at work, so keep yourself adaptable not matter which market your pursue publication in.
Launch Day and The Following Weeks
The period around the launch of your first book (and every major title thereafter) is spent publicizing your book. No matter how you are published, you’ll be expected to be available to the public in some way. Scheduled tweets, maybe a Reddit AMA, Facebook chats, Instagram book tours… your job right now is to get your title in front of as many eyeballs as humanely possible. Your publisher may provide contacts for this tour. If there’s enough money and interest you may get booked for radio, TV, web shows, or podcasts but don’t expect that, especially for your debut.
For most authors debut week is time for a launch party with friends, maybe a signing at a local bookstore, and generally basking in the glow of accomplishment and the sea of anxiety over what comes next.
In preparation for your launch you need to designate one friend (or family member) to be your Review Reader.
DO. NOT. READ. REVIEWS.
The book is out. It’s over. You are not changing anything. Move along.
Your Review Reader’s job is to read through the reviews and send you screen caps of the good ones.
Your job is to stay off GoodReads and Mute/Block/Unfriend anyone who sends you negative reviews or tags you in reviews on social media.
The Next Book
If you’re lucky and have been working hard you will have a contract for your next book before the first one is out. If you have an agent and you’re writing a series you probably sold the series in a 2-3 book deal (or tried to).
If Book 2 Is Under Contract… get writing! Your deadline isn’t that far away and, with publishing, you might be working on Book 3 of the series when Book 1 debuts. This is fine and normal. A healthy publishing career usually has a book coming out 6-24 months after it’s written which means the author is 1-5 books past writing whatever is releasing right now. Enjoy your debut for a little bit and get back to work!
If Book 2 Is Not Under Contract But You Have A Series… now is the time to contact your agent (big press) or editor (small press) and pitch Book 2 if you haven’t done so already. The best time to do that was several months ago, but maybe you didn’t have the idea yet, or maybe your small press wasn’t acquiring for some reason. Now that Book 1 is in the wild, circle back to Book 2 and try to get your contract.
If There Is No Book 2… maybe you wrote a stand alone. Maybe you write kidlit or picture books. Maybe you wrote non-fiction. Whatever the case, if your debut was not the start of a series you have just become the queen in the chess game, you can move anywhere. For some people that one book was all they wanted. It’s their magnum opus and they are happy to never write again. If that’s you, sit back and celebrate! You did it! If you were writing something non-fiction like a coffee table book, essay text, cookbook, or some other literary non-fiction non-textbook it’s time to start sketching out your ideas for your next big project. This may have already happened, if so, yay! If not… time to plot.
Pitching Your Next Book
Whatever your situation – small press, big press, agent or not – having a book published gives you an inside track to publishing. This won’t guarantee sales, best seller lists, awards, fame, fortune, or even a livable income but it will help you skip over some of the slush piles (some, not all).
Agent On Your Side… if you have secured an agent you should have already discussed your plans for your next book. If you haven’t yet, ask your agent how they’d like your next piece pitched to them. Some agents want the first fifty pages. Some will want the first three chapters. Some may only want a synopsis and a blurb. Whatever it is, you need a clean, solid pitch for your next project. This isn’t something you want to rush because it’s very likely that your agent will shop your next book On Spec, which means they will be shopping the pitch, not the finished manuscript.
In-House Author… with or without an agent your are now an In-House Author for whichever publisher you’ve published with. This will, bare minimum, means you skip the slush pile. In some cases it will mean the editors will reach out to you. A small press might ask you to revisit a series that’s suddenly selling well. A larger press might be on the hunt for a specific style of book and reach out to either agents or you. Either way, it means you have an added advantage that you might really need if something happens to your agent. If you’re an in-house author most editors will let you pitch your books to them without an agent.
Writing Intellectual Property
Now that you’re published and have an agent there is a possibility someone will approach you (like through your agent) to ask if you’re interested in writing IP.
This is one of the very few opportunities that is available to traditionally published authors that self-published authors are unlikely to have come their way. Indie authors who get book deals off previously self-published books might find it, but the general appeal of self-publishing (the control, the ability to set your own hours, the chance to write whatever you want no matter what) is the exact opposite of writing IP where the author has almost no control, very tight deadlines, and is expected to write to the vision of someone else.
Delilah S Dawson has an excellent Twitter thread on writing IP if you want the details from someone who has written IP.
What will it look like if it comes your way? Most likely an email from your agent giving you a few details about which IP, what setting they want, and which characters they want. And then you write up a pitch or five, send them back and see what happens.
What If The Book Flops
The eternal question at the back of every debut author’s mind is WHAT IF I FAIL?
What if the book doesn’t sell?
What if no one likes it?
What if no one wants me to write ever again?
This is when, in the wise words of Faith Hunter, you change your name and start fresh.
Actually, this is the recommended formula for surviving publishing: Change Your Name + Write A New Genre = A New You!
Interest in genres comes and goes. Books stop selling. A trend dies. And you’re left with a tattered career. Cry for a minute, wipe your tears, change your pen name, and write a new genre. It happens all the time. It’s very common in publishing. It isn’t scandalous or indecent. It’s a way of surviving and convincing the marketing people that you don’t have a ton of baggage attached to you. Don’t worry about it.
As long as you are willing to write another book you can have a career.
When you want to stop writing, stop.
You are in control here.
What Not To Do
And, just to round off everything, a quick list of things that will get you blacklisted.
- Plagiarize – don’t do it. The internet exists. You will get caught. Don’t risk it.
- Become Public Enemy #13,421 – if you were public enemy #1 you might get another book deal, but if you are the badly behaving person trying to get a worker fired for having a lunch break the public will have no sympathy and no interest.
- Miss Your Deadlines – your debut was probably written before your editor ever saw it, but Book 2 probably wasn’t. Which means Book 2 is on a deadline. You need to hit that deadline. You need to build a reputation of being a reliable author who gets their work done.
- Become the Problem Child – picking fights, belittling interns, raging at your agent, fighting with reviewers… that’s not going to help you at all. This is why you have your Review Reader. This is why you go to your agent if the publisher does something wrong. This is why you log off the internet when someone is trolling you for a scene in your book. Take the high road and walk away from it all.