This week Kelly and JJ discuss Publishing Relationships, or how connections help the industry move forward. Also what happens if you get orphaned by your editor, if your agent isn't interested in representing your project, and more.
Show Notes
Agent/author relationships
Sometimes you don't know what you want from this relationship unless you're in the middle of one that isn't working for you and that's okay.
Julie Dao has a great post about questions to ask.
Establishing communication boundaries and rules ASAP is generally key. If you are unhappy with your relationship with your agent, let them know. They may not know what's troubling you! (Mostly likely they don't.) Talking things through honestly and transparently is crucial for relationships in general.
Agent/editor relationships
Agents and editors often form go-to relationships with each other when they realize their tastes are similar.
Editors function as the middle man between the agent/author and the rest of the publishing house.
Editor/publishing house relationships
To preface: IT DEPENDS.
Seniority is a factor: the longer someone has been working in publishing, the more power/leverage they have to get more money from marketing and publicity.
Power/leverage comes from trust; the editor has an established track record of projects that have worked.
What We're Reading
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
Iron Gold by Pierce Brown
What We're Working On
Kelly is getting ready to go on submission with one of her of clients
JJ is writing her next book and gearing up for Shadowsong's release
Off Menu Recommendations
What You’re Saying
★★★★★ Best Publishing Podcast —Megseccles
There are so many podcasts about the creative side of writing, but so few about the business side. This has been my go to for facing down the anxiety of the Submission Swamp. Thank you for expertise, your (sometimes grim) optimism, and your openness about the business of publishing.
That’s all for this week! Next week we will be talking about that ever-fraught topic: REVIEWS. So as always if you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below, send us an ask on Tumblr, or tweet using the hashtag #askpubcrawl!
83. Publishing Relationships