B*

All of us hope to find an agent who has a commitment–a commitment “sometimes verging on insanity”–to support our work and to sell our projects. That said, I understand (as all writers must) that agents have limited time and must keep selling projects in order to stay in business. Writers have more leeway (since none of us should reasonably expect to make a living through writing alone); we can be passionate about the work we’ve done, or plan to, until we drop dead–and I mean that literally.

But it also helps to have some discipline about what to pursue, and how to allocate one’s time and energies.

I often put aside shorter pieces–essays or short stories–because with those projects I can grasp pretty quickly whether the idea, or my approach to it, is working. Sometimes I can go back to it, sometimes it’s best just to forget about it.

Books are different. The first book was hard to sell (and even harder to write), but my co-author and I were persistent because we knew the material was good and we trusted our ability to figure out how to tell the story. We approached agents, and despite many encouraging words from several of them, we had to take the project to publishers without representation.

I’m working on two books now. One is under contract to a university press–again, it was sold without an agent. The other book–still unsold–is about the 1932 baseball season. I have worked almost five years on the project, and I believe it will eventually find the right publisher. I am lucky to have an agent who believes in the project. But I also know it’s my job to accept her guidance in terms of shaping the book and proposal so that she can match my idea with a publisher who will see the potential worth of the book.

If a book doesn’t sell, would I rethink it? Yes, definitely. But after spending five years researching, thinking, and writing, would I give up? I’d have to say no.

My energies are not wholly consumed by that one project, however. While I’m querying it, I’m writing another. It’s a sequel to the first, but I’m writing it to stand alone in case the first doesn’t go anywhere. I can’t bring myself to give up on this story though, and until I’ve gotten a rejection from every single person who might be interested there’s always the chance there’s someone out there who will believe in it enough not to give up either.

This is something I frequently focus on with writing students who are having their work peer reviewed: Yes, as the writer you have the option of ignoring feedback with which you don’t agree. However, if more than one person mentions the same issue(s), odds are there’s still more work to be done.

That doesn’t make hitting the pause button on a beloved project any easier though.

Rob Sawyers’ notes on Heinlein’s 5 rules: Very sage stuff
http://www.sfwriter.com/ow05.htm

Basically it’s what C said….try everywhere. Though like Sawyer (see link) I’d have an amendment. By the time you’ve exauhsted all revenue streams you should probably have written something else, so shelve the one that isn’t selling and send out the new one.

Rinse. Repeat.

This topic caught my attention right away. A good write.

I like that you trust your gut and work hard to sell the story.

Fear is paralyzing. Many companies are taking less risks and I think this may be the root cause rather than an inability to sell a book. There are reasons why you need to be vetting the new publishers. Reputation means everything and what are theirs?

My queries are exclusive. As a client, I’d want your take on why the book is hard to sell. What are the rejection reasons? Sometimes we need our colleagues take on the situation–What would you do? I am unfamiliar with your kind of work flow & if you’re able to share with a colleague. Get their feedback too. Trust your gut. You’ve been in this market and an expert now too. Good luck with your decision. I wish the best for you and your client.