An Unconventional Signing: Unbound
I am a signed author with Unbound! I’ve been waiting for this moment since I was 6 years old.
Now for the unconventional part. My publication is only guaranteed if I raise just over £10,000 in pledges.
And as soon as money is involved people can become laser focused on that issue. Because ‘money’ can be a pretty dirty word when unpublished authors are obsessed with the mantra that the money should always flow TO the writer, not from them. With a number of nefarious vanity publishers out there who do charge to ‘publish’ your book and generally give a tiny amount production service and even less with promotion, it pays to be cautious.
It is exceptionally hard for a writer to get published in the current climate. Talent, poetic imagery, and literary worth are often overlooked for a project that will capture the imagination of the reading public and make the Big Five more money. The implication is that this way they can take a chance on a few ‘riskier’ projects’.
Is this why authors search frantically for an agent? To give them an extra boost in a very tight field?
Consider the two sentences below.
1) All unpublished novelists are looking for an agent.
2) All agents are looking for unpublished novelists.
Almost true.
Point 2 should often read ‘Agents are looking for the next best thing to capture the imagination of the public and secure a trilogy and/or film rights to open our lists for an unknown or two’.
All writers want an agent, don’t they? To be able to write ‘repped by ….’ on contact forms or Twitter bios. Because once you have an agent you have arrived/been vindicated/have exceptional writing skills? Well, certainly those things are probably true but the ‘Perfect Storm’ of acquiring an agent can be quite docile compared to managing the relationship when you have acquired one.
A talented friend has waited eight months for her agent to sell her book and still has no bites from publishers. Another has rewritten her novel four times for an agent who won’t sign her until he sells the book.
They both speak of an overwhelming fear, almost a paralysis, that prevents them from speaking up in case they lose their tenuous place in their agent’s stable.
Then there is the small issue of the Agent/Publisher demands for submission which range from the extremely simple to a Mensa-style focus and concentration test. Writers are often distracted creatures so why make it more difficult for us and adding a sinister disclaimer suggesting that if we deviate from the Rules, our submission may be deleted.
I was so anxious about the last Tor/Forge submission process that I eventually gave up. I can only think it is part of the sledgehammer sifting process.
It is imperative that writers have more than one road to travel towards traditional publication rather than this wide mouth, tiny throat approach.
Unbound signed me through a pitch on Twitter. There are many events like these such as #pitchmas and #pitchfest where you get to pitch (in 140 characters plus the event and genre hastags) your baby to a host of agents and publishers. If they ‘like’ your pitch then you are invited to send in a sample to that industry professional. It is an exciting and viable way of getting your work seen without landing in the slush pile.
But I think it is also clear that writers need to be bolder and consider taking a less conventional path on our journey to that elusive signing and three book deal. A fixed purpose and courage to step out of our comfort zones may be the key to seeing your paperbacks on the shelves in Waterstones if other avenues have not been successful.
After all, the very essence of being a writer is determination, you don’t write a novel without it so take that leap of faith and see what happens.
Good Luck!
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If you are feel inspired to pledge for my novel about the dark heart at the centre of maid culture in Singapore then please click on the link and thank you very much. PS. There are some great pledge rewards too!
https://unbound.com/books/blood-on-the-banana-leaf
Category: Contemporary Women Writers, On Publishing
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