Published on 12, July, 2020
Having finished my book - a memoir centred around the six months I cared for mum in her final illness, but also covering growing up with Asperger's, family dynamics, the state of social care, and love! (all relevant topics for society today, I'd have thought) - I decided to check around for an agent to send it to.
I now discover that for most literary agencies, narrative non-fiction works shouldn't be written first! What you're supposed to do is submit a proposal - anything between 25 and 50 pages long - plus a report showing how you've analysed the market with similar books, then pitching your 'proposed' book in terms of how it competes with those books! Then, if they like that, you get commissioned to write the book!
I rang a couple of agencies, but they confirmed they refuse to handle narrative non-fiction submissions in the same way as for fiction. Don't send an excerpt, because it won't be read. Write a proposal. I spoke to a one-time literary agent friend about it, and he went on about how agents will barely look at unknown writers any more (even if they've been published), and how bleak things really are out there for writers in general. He also thought the book was too long for a memoir, at 150k words. That's a nonsense, I think - though attention spans aren't what they used to be, of course. I need to say what I need to say, and I need that number of words to say it. There's not a word wasted, either.
Self-publishing - Amazon for Kindle, etc - is probably the best route. But then you have to be sure of your legal footing with content, and have to do all your own promoting, etc.
I'm not surprised so many writers give up in despair. It's always been hard, but it's now much harder.
It's been a labour of love, though, and it's the only thing in my life that I had to write. I always said I was going to do it no matter what, for that very reason. I should try to focus on that. I think it has a lot to say to other people... but maybe it'll just have to be for me after all.
And mum, of course.
I recommend taking a look at Unbound (https://unbound.com/).
Thanks, Caretwo. I had some dealings with Unbound when I was contributing to ABCTales. I have some friends from there who published that way.
More and more of my dispirited writer friends are going down the route of MA courses in Creative Writing, because so many people now are being picked up from these - particularly the more reputable ones, such as at UEA. The courses usually have strong connections with agency talent scouts. Two people I know have become hugely successful by being cherry-picked from these courses. It's very unfair, I think, because not everyone can afford to go down this route. And not everyone wants to, either. I know I certainly don't. One guy I know, from ABCTales days, had a phenomenally successful first novel published after being picked up from an MA course. But he was then tied into a 4-book deal... and he really struggled to deliver. His next novels vanished without trace. I have a friend who gave up on hers because it became clear that they wanted her to change her content to make it more appealing commercially. She sent me one of her critiques. The teacher was an idiot! A 'market-shaper'!
Personally, I go with the writers who buck the market demands (or what the agencies determine are the market demands) and do their own thing. It's a long, lonely and demoralising way to go, and it takes a lot of stamina and guts. But at least you remain true to your own principles that way.
So maybe I should stop moaning, really...
It’s good to explore all avenues. Talking about it helps you get a clearer picture.
Getting there is the easy part, getting clear on what you desire, with certainty, is the hard part. But the effort you put into discovering this, is worth more than the end goal or the journey, because it’s the thing that gets you started on the journey and then, the destination really does become almost secondary. Because in your heart, you already know the end goal, it’s already happened in you head and heart. Now’s the fun part, being part of the unfolding, the journey that takes twists and turns but gets you to where you already know you’re going.
Yeah. I'd agree with that.
When you know what you want, you don’t see obstacles, you see possibilities. The trick isn’t to overcome obstacles, the trick is to know with certainty what you want, so that it becomes a burning desire, and then you don’t see obstacles, you see exciting possibilities to explore, that might take you one step closer to getting there.
If what you write is something you desire 100%, it will happen, it can’t not. The writing down and getting clear on stuff is a process and helps you to discover if what you want is 100% and why.