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10/01/2010 @ 6:25PM |12,827 views

Literary Agents Open the Door to Self-Published Writers

The top dog at one of the most successful literary agencies in New York says he’s in hot pursuit of self-published books to represent to mainstream publishers.

“Absolutely, yes!”  That was Jim Levine’s unequivocal answer when I asked him recently if he was accepting self-published submissions.

Levine is a founding partner at Levine Greenberg Literary Agency, among the top five overall most active agencies in the business, according to Publishers Marketplace.  And he’s on the crest of a wave of agents beginning to represent authors who’ve self-published and are seeking mainstream commercial publication.

A notable shift in attitude

Levine’s attitude is a notable shift, since in the past, most agents shunned self-published books as tainted goods and a tough sell. Levine says that’s changing.

“Usually when we take on a self-published book we sell it,” he said. “We sold Jason Kaplan’s Things That Suck to Andrews McMeel Publishing, Jeff Rivera’s Forever my Lady to Grand Central, Dane Sanders’ Fast Track Photographer to Random House, and Ivan Sanchez’s Next Step to Simon & Schuster. And that’s just off the top of my head.

So we’re happy to take a look at self-published books. Of the more than 10,000 proposals we get every year, a few hundred are self-published and that number is growing. Sales track is key. If the author has sold 5,000 copies in the previous year, it interests publishers.  And if an author has sold that many, she or he probably has some sort of platform.”

The times they are a’ changing

Literary agents have been the missing link for self-published writers trying to break through into mainstream publishing.  When I recently interviewed Keith Ogorek, VP for Marketing at the self-publishing conglomerate Author Solutions, he said agents with old-school attitudes were the biggest obstacles for his authors pursuing commercial publishers.

But new attitudes are taking hold, especially among younger up-and-coming literary agents. Check out these three agents and their positions on representing self-published authors:

Nathan Bransford, the popular publishing blogger and agent for Curtis Brown in San Francisco:

“I definitely am on the lookout for self-published books, and have clients who started out self-publishing. I wouldn’t say that I have strict criteria for which self-published projects I take on. It’s all case-by-case.”

Bransford reports selling a previously self-published book on humane dog training, which will be published next year by New World Library.

Terra Chalberg at the Susan Golomb Agency:

“I would absolutely handle more of them, on a project-by-project basis. The self-publishing aspect, for me, only factors in as a sales tool in one extreme or the other – that is, if it hasn’t sold many copies and is “like new” or, if it’s sold so many copies it’s worth the investment (as happened with the self-published book The Shack, which sold a million copies and reached #1 on the NY Times bestseller list, before selling another five million copies since Hachette picked it up for mainstream publication.)

So, it doesn’t matter one way or the other to me or to the editors I’ve encountered. I wouldn’t ever turn a compelling project away because it had been self-published. It holds no stigma for me.”

Rachelle Gardner, an agent with WordServe Literary and also the author of Rants and Ramblings, a smart and well-written blog about writing and the book business:

“I haven’t taken any on yet, simply because I haven’t received any that impressed me enough. But I’d definitely consider it. My criteria are exactly the same as with any other project coming across my desk: Do I think I can sell it? Do I believe in it? Do I think I’d be a good fit with this author? Does the author have an appropriate platform to be able to market this book?

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  • The general norm that pervades the internet has always been to view self-publishing as an area that reflects the weakness of the self-published author in not being able to deliver a book that sells. Agents may also look at a self-published writer as the one who likes the easy way out and is difficult with edits and the like. And the more self-published books one has in their portfolio, the more the negative impressions build up on the self-published author. This article, I must say, offers a reprieve in that it highlights an industry that is moving along with the times and is showing change in the most positive way. I have never looked at self-publishing as the way but I will keep in mind that the idea that a self-published author likes the easy way out and is not “good enough” for publication, is changing.

  • rosemartland rosemartland 3 years ago

    I’m a self-published author in Canada. In this country, publishing has been a brutal process for the past 5 years. To get a traditional book deal, all the big house and most of the mediums require you to have an agent. With less than 30 agents in the entire country, it has been difficult to get representation and most of the agents required an author to have a trackrecord – impossible to do if you can’t get a deal.

    Self-publishing has made some huge leaps forward in the past 5 years. Costs have come down dramatically. Online sales+ebook options make it possible for authors to bypass both agent and publisher, so there has been an increase in SP success stories. That agents and publishers are becoming accepting of self-pubs shows a dramatic change in thinking. With luck, this will help quality books reach broader markets.

    Jeff Rose-Martland
    author of Game Misconduct.

  • jodyirein jodyirein 3 years ago

    Hi Alan,
    It still comes down to the quality and marketability of the individual book. Always was, always will be, I hope. As an agent I’ve obtained more than a million dollars in advances from major publishers for my self-published clients (You Mean I’m Not Lazy, Crazy or Stupid by Kate Kelly and Peggy Ramundo, still in print and earning royalties at Scribner after 10 years, Think Like a Genius by Todd Siler sold to Bantam, Lost and Found by John Jenson sold to Hyperion, etc.) As an editor some of the most successful books I acquired were originally self-published or very small presses–Do What You Love, The Money will Follow by Marsha Sinetar, Outgrowing the Pain by Eliana Gil, both at Dell–and we’re going back over a career spanning over 25 years. (One of the first books I ever acquired was a self-published book on The 3 Stooges that Contemporary Books picked up–another hugely successful self-published book I found was Chase’s Almanac of Annual Events–they’re the guys that first started collecting obscure days like “national pickle day” or “national smile week,” but I digress. Huge book for Contemporary. Self-publishing has exploded of course recently, with price points going down and e-books everywhere–but I think many agents and editors, especially in nonfiction, have always had an ear to the ground for hot self-published books, at least in nonfiction. What self-publishing can do for authors is to document the sales potential of a concept that traditional publishers may have missed. That’s true more than ever–if a self-published book manages to break through the noise and establish a loyal market these days it’s really got to have something special. The trick is determining whether the copies sold are the entire market, or indicative of a truly missed publishing opportunity. The other thing that’s happening now, though, is as the qualify of self-publishing increases, it’s going to be harder than ever for traditional agents and publishers to find the gems. Used to be (remember those days?) that the high quality of some self-published books (and even proposals pre-word-processing) was a great way to quickly determine the commitment of the author and often even was a harbinger of the quality of the prose itself. Soon everything will look marvelous, but very little will merit wider distribution. It’s all just going to get more and more confusing…(which is why I’ve started up BlueInk Reviews to help provide a filter for agents, editors, librarians, booksellers and readers, but that’s another story.)

  • lgrubis lgrubis 3 years ago

    I am about to self publish a non fiction book in the leadership/ values genre. Any recommendation of first class agents who may welcome an evaluation before I take this step?

    www.lornerubis.com

    Thank you for any help.
    Lorne

  • elainecooper elainecooper 3 years ago

    I am relieved to know that Ms. DelBourgo gave a chance to two self-published authors. And I’m sure that there are some authors who do NOT go the extra mile to produce a good book. But for those of us who are serious authors with many positive reviews (including Kirkus) and have worked meticulously with editors and designers to produce a quality, well-written book AND done many venues of marketing, her attitude is one more nose-snub. Many of us truly believe that we have a worthwhile project, yet as unknown authors, would not be given the time of day by most publishing houses. And the current economy has made it quite clear: unless you are a proven author, we will not consider investing in your work. Thank you, Alan Rinzler for a very positive review on self – publishing! Elaine Marie Cooper

  • klnappier klnappier 3 years ago

    I’m an author who has been writing for 20+ years. I’ve been on both sides of the publishing fence, first with Berkley Publishing Group “back in the day,” and now self-pub my paperbacks while my ebooks are with an indie ebook publisher. My philosophy is very basic these days: of course, I would love to have an agent and/or a publisher if there is a genuine sense that I can truly do better with one than without. I’m pretty “small potatoes.” A readership of between 4000 & 4500. But I’m presently being read by more people than when I was agented and with Berkley. Until I can be convinced the traditional route would be more beneficial for me, I’ll be going on my indie way.

  • pearlduncan pearlduncan 3 years ago

    I like the point about marketability. So much in publishing still has to be defined. Very few in the industry have an MBA, so marketing of books is so different from marketing of the other arts. Platform, form example, is a buzz word that’s tossed around but so rarely defined. Other than Facebook friends, a radio or TV show, or previous book sales, I haven’t heard a decent definition of platform. I was on the speaking circuit when my speakers bureau booked me with college audiences, where I spoke to thousands of students. I considered that a platform, but no one had heard of a writer with a book-in-progress who was already speaking to college audiences. So I would like to see more discussions of the business of publishing in relation to marketing and the other arts. From my perspective, authors have a variety of platforms, and so do some subjects. Who in publishing checks to see how a subject is trending? If a subject is trending with an audience, but an agent says, “I don’t know that,” is there a forum where agents and editors can follow what’s trending with readers? One day we may return to the practice where writers write and agents and editors track audiences, the markets for books. The industry needs more whizzes at marketability. As a writer, I look forward to working with people who say, “I know that market. I follow that market.”

  • [...] Ms. DelBourgo’s isn’t the only opinion. Others, such as Nathan Bransford, from Curtis Brown, or Jim Levine, from Levine Greenberg Literary Agency, are of a different mind. Mr. Bransford declared, “I definitely am on the lookout for self-published books, and have clients who started out self-publishing. I wouldn’t say that I have strict criteria for which self-published projects I take on. It’s all case-by-case.” While Mr. Levine, said, “Absolutely, yes!” he did accept self-published authors. (Original article posted by Alan Rinzler, here). [...]

  • vhopkins vhopkins 2 years ago

    After reading this article, I’m somewhat concerned over the focus of agents/publishers on what constitutes a successful self-published author. It seems the criteria to be taken seriously focuses upon the marketing expertise of a self-published author, who must sell “x” number of books to be deemed worthy of attention. Anyone can build a decent platform, but that doesn’t necessarily equate into sales either. However, it’s my opinion that criteria leaves many good writers in the dark who may not possess marketing skills or have the funds to market properly. It’s not unreasonable to think that some excellent writers are being passed over in the self-published arena, who may not possess the charisma of a salesperson. Writers are born first and foremost to be just that–writers. Marketing is a skill that must be learned. The only reason most self-published authors decide to turn toward traditional houses is to obtain the “clout” authors obtain with a big-name publisher behind their work, who validates they are good enough to make the grade. Secondly, the expanded market penetration traditional houses provide is priceless. As a self-published author myself, who hit 1,500 in sales this year, I’m a bit miffed that I would not be considered readable to an agent. The historical romance genre is inundated with authors from big houses, so for me it’s an uphill battle to get noticed. Does that make me a poor writer in my craft? I would only encourage that if some agents are opening their arms, they open them a little wider to embrace further possibilities that stellar marketing is not always the precursor to being a good read.

  • Alan Rinzler Alan Rinzler, None 2 years ago

    VHopkins,

    It helps to have significant sales as a self-published author seeking an agent or publisher’s attention, but having a good book still trumps all other considerations. Agents and publishers are still eager to find the next big debut author, and the best of them read first and then look at the numbers.

    The trick is finding a way to encourage agents and publishers to read the book: friends or family, other clients, writer conferences and previous sales counts.

    Also, sorry to say that big-name publishers do not provide priceless expanded market penetration. Borders is gone, B&N struggling, the AAP reports unit sales in all categories are sinking fast. Only ebooks are increasing exponentially but not enough to offset print losses. So self-publishing is still the best way to go, and many independent authors these days wonder why bother with converting.

    Alan

  • I AM A SELF PUBLISHER. I AM LOOKING FOR A BOOK AGENCY TO PROCESS AND PRINT MY BOOKS. MY BOOKS ARE FICTION AND MOSTLY FOR CHILDREN. I DO HAVE A FEW ADULT BOOKS.
    ALSO YOU WOULD NEED A SISTER AGENCY TO HOUSE MY BOOKS AND DELIVER THEM TO STORES.

    THANK YOU
    ALDORA E. LARKINS

  • danielgeery danielgeery 3 months ago

    I realize this may be a bit self-serving, but I read this article with great interest. I also intend to contact the many names mentioned here and thank the author for writing it. Keeping it short, I published a novel last year that, while it has not seen many readers, has been heartily enjoyed by at least some of those who did, as evidenced by the comments here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1481884662/ref=rdr_ext_sb_ti_hist_1 CreateSpace also gives potential readers a good overview of the book, particularly if you have a look inside. Happy to talk with any agents who may be reading this… and note to anyone else there is also a Kindle version whereby you can purchase a couple of decades of my work (in this area) for almost nothing! Daniel Geery
http://www.forbes.com/sites/booked/2010/10/01/literary-agents-open-the-door-to-self-published-writers/
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