Myths About the Traditional Publishing Process, Debunked!
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From the outside, the traditional publishing process seems so enigmatic. The average person on the street — or even the average person interested in creative writing — doesn’t have a lot of information on how books get on the shelves of their local bookstore. It’s just not common knowledge, so at times it can almost feel like publishing is a secret society that you can’t break into.
I, for one, didn’t know anything about publishing before I moved to New York City. Since then, I’ve worked in the editorial departments at Penguin Random House and Macmillan, assisted top agents at a high-profile literary agency, and currently work with debut writers as an independent developmental book editor. Because I now know quite a bit about the industry, I make an effort to do what I can to educate the writing community and my clients so that the dream of traditional publishing can feel more achievable.
In this article, I’m going to debunk five myths I commonly hear from writers about the traditional publishing process. As long as you work hard and stay patient, getting your book traditionally published can be a totally viable path.
It’s Impossible to Get a Literary Agent
The first myth about the traditional publishing process is that it's impossible to get a literary agent without an industry connection. To backtrack a little bit, your literary agent is your main partner in publishing. They will represent you to the editors at the Big Five publishing houses and negotiate your book deal with them. If you are hoping to get published with a Big Five house, you do need a literary agent, as editors don't accept manuscript submissions directly from authors in the vast majority of cases.
I often see this part of the traditional publishing process discouraging aspiring authors. Admittedly, it can take a long time to find the right agent and you will likely be rejected many times along the way. But it isn't true that you need to have an industry connection in order to secure an agent. Like with any other industry, a connection can help you get your foot in the door — for instance, if you have an author friend who is traditionally published, they can introduce you to their agent.
But agents absolutely read and consider queries from authors they have no connection with. I would argue that the majority of authors on most agents’ lists are writers they had no prior connection with.
As I said earlier, most people don’t have insider insight into the publishing industry. If only those with connections could get published, there wouldn’t be so many new authors coming out with books every year. Thus, don’t let your lack of connections hold you back from querying your dream list of agents.
You Need A Big Following
The next myth is that authors need a big social media following in order to get noticed. I often see writers get stressed over their social media following and trying to build up their author platform to try and get more followers. Of course, if you already have a big following on social media or within a certain community, it will only help your chances of publication. After all, you can market your book to those followers.
But if you don't currently have a big following online, you really don't need to be stressing over it. First and foremost, the agent is going to look at your work and determine whether or not they're intrigued by your book project. If they absolutely love your manuscript, it frankly doesn't matter if you have 500 Instagram followers or 100,000 or none at all.
I personally don't think it's a valuable use of your time to try and build a following from scratch. It is much more important for you to invest that time and energy in strengthening your manuscript itself, whether that means self-editing, getting feedback from beta readers, or enlisting the help of a professional editor.
Only Legacy Authors Get Paid
The third myth is that publishing houses only pay big money to their well-established legacy authors. While yes, it is true that established authors with consistent bestsellers are going to get big checks from their publishing houses, that's because they're making the publisher a lot of money.
But that doesn't mean publishers only pay those writers well. There are countless stories of debut authors getting six-figure book deals for their first manuscripts. I even saw one seven-figure book deal go to a debut author, back when I was working at a literary agency.
It’s not completely realistic to expect to sell your book for a huge sum, and I don't recommend setting those expectations for yourself. But those big deals do happen with new authors and established authors alike via the traditional publishing process.
Only Popular Genres Succeed
The next myth I want to talk through is that publishers and agents only like books in popular genres. With any piece of media, books go through trends — psychological thrillers like Gone Girl have been popular for the past decade, for instance. However, a lot of writers seem to think that if their book doesn't fit into one of the industry's current trending genres, it's going to be impossible for them to get an agent or a publisher.
That is simply not true at all. Think about how those trending genres came to be: a book got published and it was different from what was already out there on the market, which intrigued audiences enough to create a new subcategory. In other words, for every trend there has to be a trendsetter. That means agents and publishers are often looking for the opposite of what's currently on the market; they're looking for what the next big thing is.
If you think about it, it really doesn't help agents or publishers to keep publishing the same types of books over and over. Doing that will make the market more saturated and it means their previously published books will have more books to compete with.
So, if your book is a little offbeat and it doesn't fit squarely within one genre or another, I actually see that as a big strength and many publishing professionals will too.
I actually advise new authors to not stress about genre too much. That might sound blasphemous, but I stand by it, as genres are a construct that help publishers and readers organize and categorize books by similar type. Genres should not stifle your creative vision, which is something I see happen all too often. Write your book however it comes to you and worry about what genre or hybrid genre it fits into later down the line.
Your Art Will Get Stolen
The last myth I want to debunk is one that personally hurts my heart: the misconception that publishing professionals and editors are out to steal your creative control. I often see writers talking about opting for self-publishing because they're concerned that, through the traditional publishing process, an agent or publisher is going to morph their book into something unrecognizable.
While self-publishing is absolutely the right choice for many writers for different reasons, I don't think this particular myth is a fair assessment of how traditional publishing works. Publishing professionals take their role in bringing your book to life very seriously. You have to think about it this way: out of hundreds and hundreds of queries, the agent selected you as a client because they absolutely love your project. And similarly, out of hundreds and hundreds of manuscript submissions, your editor at the publishing house chose your book to invest in because they want to put it in readers’ hands just as much as you do.
These professionals chose to work on your book because they thought it was an incredible story and they want to see it succeed — and that success will be guided by their industry knowledge. Yes, it’s true that your agent and editor will have their own ideas about how to strengthen your manuscript, and eventually they will take the lead on marketing and sales plans for your book, but they do all of this in the service of your project.
I’ve never worked with an editor or agent who felt a sense of entitlement or ownership over their author's work or who forced the writer to complete some kind of major reconstructive surgery on the book against their will. Your publishing team is a true source of support and partnership and they will absolutely respect your creative vision.
These are some of the biggest myths I’ve seen about the publishing industry. I hope that reading through these explanations helps you feel more confident about pursuing the traditional publishing process, if that is the path that you're hoping to follow.
Thanks so much for watching, and happy writing!