BFLA Open Week: What happens once you’ve signed with an agent?

Written by Sian Ellis-Martin

When you’re writing your first book, it can be difficult to see past the goal of finding representation with an agent. But what comes next?! Below is a non-exhaustive list of what you can expect from working with an agent, how your book is sold to a publisher, and what happens once you have a deal. Sometimes these things happen in a slightly different order – particularly once you have a publication deal and lots of things start happening simultaneously.

Edits from your agent

Although your agent already loves your book and writing (they’ve offered you representation after all!), it will usually take a few rounds of edits to get your manuscript ready for submission to publishers. Your agent will discuss those edits with you, and you’ll likely focus on the larger, structural edits first such as plot and narrative threads, character, pacing and general structure of the book. Once you’re both happy with the work you’ve done on a larger scale, your agent will usually do a line edit of the manuscript to check for any smaller issues to do with spelling and grammar.

Your book goes on submission

While you’re editing your manuscript, your agent will be doing all sorts of things in the background in preparation for submitting your work to publishers. Agents and the rights team will be pitching your book to editors when they can – at day-to-day meetings and at book fairs. Closer to submission time, your agent will draw up a list of editors that they plan to submit your work to and, once the manuscript is ready, they’ll send it out via email along with a submission letter.

As well as trying to secure a print deal, your agent will also be actively trying to sell other rights in your work, such as audio, radio, film and television (if these rights are covered by your agency agreement). If you write short stories, they may also be able to help you with submitting those stories to prizes and short story publications too. For more information on rights, see Roya’s piece from Open Week 2022.

Waiting

We often see news of overnight book deals, publishers pre-empting books for seven figures and hotly contested auctions with multiple publishers and massive advances. Sometimes books sell that way, and it’s really exciting when they do! But it’s not always the reality of the book selling and buying process, and sometimes you’ll wait a while before you hear that an editor is interested in acquiring your book. That’s completely normal – editors often have bigger reading piles than they have time to get to, and more hoops to jump through than your agent would have had when they signed you – but it can understandably be a frustrating and worrying time. Rest assured that your agent is on top of things, continuing to pitch your book, and will update you when they have news.

Agreeing a deal to sell the book

There are also multiple ways for an offer to come about. You might receive offers from multiple publishers, which means your book will be sold at auction. You might receive a pre-empt offer, which is where a publisher makes an offer but sets a deadline by which that offer will expire (this is usually an attempt to take the manuscript off the table and avoid an auction situation), or you might receive one offer.

There are also lots of variables within an offer itself, including how many books the publisher is offering for, advance level, royalties, bonuses and subsidiary rights splits. These main terms will be outlined at offer stage.

Your agent will be ready to handle any outcome of the selling process and will explain the ins and outs of each offer to you to ensure that you are equipped with all the knowledge you need to make the decision that feels best for you.

There’s always a chance that your book unfortunately does not sell, and your agent will be able to discuss a plan for next steps with you. You can read Isobel’s Open Week 2022 article here if you’d like to know more about how publishing is sometimes a long road to success.

Publisher contract

Once you’ve agreed a deal with your new publisher, your agent will negotiate the full contract with them. Contracts are usually based on a boilerplate – a template of agreed wording – between the agency and the publisher but if this is the first deal the agent has done with that publisher, they will need to negotiate the boilerplate first, which may take a little longer.

To find out more about the money side of your publishing deal, take a look at Juliet’s Demystifying Money piece from Open Week 2022.

Edits from your editor

While your agent is negotiating the contract, your editor will start to write up their editorial thoughts – yes, more edits! This will follow a similar pattern to the edits you undertook with your agent; first, the larger, structural edits, and then, once those edits are complete, your book will be passed on to the copyeditor and/or proof-reader who will check for any inconsistences, factual inaccuracies or spelling and grammar errors. You’ll be asked to check and approve the edited manuscript.

Proofs

Sometimes (but not always) a publisher will produce proofs of your book. Proofs are an early hard copy of your book – it may not have the final cover or be the very final text – which are sent out to early readers for review. This includes other authors, book bloggers and reviewers for newspapers, magazines and websites. It’s a good idea to have a think about whose hands you’d like to get the book into and to share that with your publisher when proof discussions are happening.

Choosing a cover

Alongside your edits, you’ll also engage in conversations about the book cover. Although a publisher usually makes the final decision on your book cover, they’re always happy to hear your thoughts and ideas too, and will usually seek your approval before they go ahead. This can be a really fun and exciting part of the publication process! Don’t forget to discuss the cover options with your agent who will have valuable insight too.

Marketing, publicity and promotion

Your editor will usually set up a meeting between you, your agent and the publishing team working on your book, including the marketing and publicity professionals tasked with looking after your book. In this meeting, they’ll outline their plans for promoting the book before, during and after publication. It’s also an opportunity for the publisher to outline what might be expected of you in the lead up to and around publication – this could include events, signings, social media posts or any other promotional activity.

Around this time and in the lead up to publication, your agent will ask the publisher about numbers: how many books have been ordered by the main retailers? What level are pre-orders at?

Publication

The big day has arrived! Your book will be in the bookstores (and possibly supermarkets) and available to buy online too.

After publication

In the weeks after publication, your publisher will update you and your agent on the sales of your book and any post-publication reviews that you might receive.

If you agreed a multi-book deal, you’ll probably already be writing your next book but if not, you and your agent will have a plan for selling the next one!

BFLA Open Week: Getting into the publishing industry

Written by Tabitha Topping

I don’t think that I had the typical experience most publishing hopefuls have when trying to get into the publishing industry.

I had had a couple of unsuccessful job applications in the past, but I had submitted those when I was pretty much straight out of school and lacked the skills and experiences for any sort of job, let alone one in an industry as competitive as publishing.  

Instead of labouring away at fruitless applications, I spent time working in both the retail and customer service industries before landing myself the often-romanticised role of bookseller at my local Waterstones branch. Though I’d argue that all my jobs have helped me develop skills needed in the publishing industry, it was this role as a bookseller that proved most beneficial. I saw what went through the tills; I spoke to customers about what they were excited about – and often, in the small Northern town I worked in, it was very different to the books I saw being reviewed in the newspapers. In short, I learned a lot.

Though I loved my job and the people I worked with, I still hankered after a role in publishing. I resolved to keep an eye out for any opportunities and happened to see a tweet about the Blake Friedmann Open Doors Project. I thought that I might as well apply – what did I have to lose? Apply I did and no one was more surprised when I succeeded. (You can read more about my time as an intern here.)

After my experience I was fortunate enough to be offered some freelance work by the agency, which I carried out alongside my university studies. Then, in the August of 2021, the role of Book Department Assistant came up. I applied and was ultimately successful, starting in my role a mere fortnight later. It was all very straightforward and felt quite surreal - aside from the pandemic postponing my initial internship, there had been no bumps in the road.

However, I know that getting into the industry can be really difficult for some, so here at the agency we have compiled some tips on the best way to do that:

  • Follow publishers and literary agencies on social media to keep updated on what is going on in the publishing industry. If you want to be an editor follow editors, if you want to be a literary agent follow agents.

  • Spend time in libraries and bookshops. What are people buying? What are people reading? It may surprise you. When I was a bookseller, I was constantly surprised by what we sold and what we didn’t. Having a good knowledge of the current market is indispensable in this industry.

  • Read The Bookseller. This is our trade magazine and in addition to just general publishing news has a lot of job vacancies advertised there. 

  • Get experience! This is easier said than done, I know. However, most roles within publishing rely upon so called ‘transferrable’ skills that can be acquired in any industry. Just make sure you make it clear in your applications how this experience matches the job description.

  • When applying for jobs, make sure you read the job description carefully. Tailor your cover letter to each job you apply for, highlighting your relevant experience.

  • Read! This is especially relevant if you want to work in editorial or agenting, but as I said before, having a good knowledge of the books currently selling is essential to succeeding in this industry.

  • Be open to the departments you apply for, as some departments are a lot more competitive than others. Working in any department will give you valuable knowledge and experience that you could then use to get a role in your dream department, whether that is editorial or sales. It’s all about getting a foot in the door, after all!  

  • Check publisher websites regularly for recruitment initiatives and job opportunities. Lots of publishers and agencies regularly run schemes designed to help people get into the industry – our Carole Blake Open Doors Project is a good example of this.

  • Don’t get disheartened! A lot of the time it comes down to luck and timing – there are only so many publishing jobs, after all! Not getting a role in no way reflects your value as a human being, and its important to remember that!

 

Some Useful resources

Book Trade Charity: www.btbs.org

The Spare Room Project: www.thespareroomproject.co.uk

The Society of Young Publishers: www.thesyp.org.uk

Book Careers: https://www.bookcareers.com/

Twitter accounts to follow

@PublishProfile  

@SpareRoomProj

@bookcareers

@SYP_UK

@_CreativeAccess

@Inspiredjobs

@_indie_insider

@popublishinguk

@publishing_post

@pubinterns blog

@jobsinbooks

@_TheFlip

@bookcareers

@jobsatharper

@hachettecareers

@prhcareersuk

 

YouTube accounts:

Ain Chiara (https://www.youtube.com/c/AinChiara)

Eleanor Marie Rose https://www.youtube.com/c/EleanorMarieRose

Leena Norms has a great playlist on her experience in publishing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tvhRRZ-P9c&list=PLb1-lu-abhnXgFekR6TdCYb3Eq3WC0N2n

Booksandquills has another great playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlZzKd2u4d4&list=PLaGhIHM9WMtY-_mASFeld4CwCxTTT7E7h