33 Agents Queried, 3 Interested — I'll Take It
After He Said Cancer | Memoir Update
It has been nearly 6 weeks since I sent out a query letter to literary agents to gauge their interest in my memoir, “After He Said Cancer”. In a first round of queries to 33 agents, I received two requests for more material, one request for a full book proposal, and three rejections. As many agents simply won’t respond to query letters, I will assume the answer is “no” if I still haven’t heard from them in a few weeks.
Publishing is a tough business, especially for a personal memoir. I am quite happy with the interest shown by these three agents, even if they ultimately reject or ghost me. Getting to a place where three agents considered my book for more than a minute before pushing the button to reject is truly a victory.
I am getting ahead of myself. Let me back up.
Some of my readers might be unfamiliar with the publishing industry and why I would want to “query” a literary agent in the first place. This post will bring you up to speed on this point. Next week, I will share my agent query letter and the responses that I have begun to receive, both positive and negative.
Querying a literary agent is the first step toward publishing with one of the 5 largest publishing houses, affectionately called “The Big Five”: Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan.
The “Big Five” dominate the publishing industry. Four of five general trade books sold in the U.S. come from a Big Five house. Their books are the ones on bestseller lists and dominate bookstores. Getting into a Big Five isn’t a guarantee of book success, but it goes a long way.
The Big Five won’t accept unsolicited submissions from authors. You need a literary agent to help you get your book through the door. Agents have established relationships with editors at these houses and know which editors are looking for what kinds of books. When an agent takes you on, they submit your manuscript to editors they think are a good fit. They negotiate the publishing contract on your behalf, the financial parts of the deal, the subsidiary rights, and many other terms.
Most agents will work with you editorially before submitting to an editor to help you strengthen the manuscript so it’s in the best possible shape. They also think about your career arc, advise you on what to write next, how to position yourself in the market, and when to make strategic moves.
Right now, I have a busy day job as a physician-scientist, but one day I will retire. Knowing me, I will likely pivot to writing creatively full-time. Landing an agent that is invested in my long-term writing portfolio (outside of my scientific manuscripts) would truly be a dream. Beyond this memoir, I would love to write suspenseful fiction with a medical angle – perhaps something about infectious disease pandemics, crime with a medical twist, or a forensic genealogy case to identify an unknown killer.
Although finding an agent that would work with me for many years is the goal, I don’t have to get there with this book. Rejection is the norm in the publishing business. Selling a personal memoir is VERY DIFFICULT these days. If I started with a medical crime novel, this road would have been easier.
So, what if the agents on my list tell me they aren’t interested? Or, simply don’t respond to me at all?
My next best option is to query a smaller press. Unlike the Big Five, which are focused on selling books in large volume, smaller presses tend to publish memoirs from “ordinary” people whose stories are compelling. Even if I don’t have a massive social media following or existing fame – which I don’t – a small press might be the more realistic path to traditional publication.
Editors from smaller presses tend to invest more deeply in each manuscript and help writers produce their best work. This is a plus for me as a debut novelist. Many beloved, award-winning memoirs have come from smaller presses. If a smaller press picks you up as an author, it’s not a consolation prize. It might be a better path for me to get into traditional publishing. The downside is that a book published by a smaller press might be more difficult to get into bookstores.
This is where I will need a marketing plan, but I am getting ahead of myself.
First, I need to wait a few more weeks for replies. If I hear nothing, I will query a new list of agents, while I begin a round of queries to small presses. In preparation for this next step, I spent an hour on the “Writer Beware” website, which publishes warnings about contests/awards, editors/editing services, literary agents, and small/vanity publishers. It was eye-opening, and I recommend you take a look.
I leave you with the mantra that I will repeat to myself over and over in the mirror over the next few weeks…
Landing a book agent or a contract with the Big Five is not a reflection of anyone’s skill or worth as a writer. It is simply one option for publishing, and there are plenty of options.
Resources for Writers:
1. Writer Beware website: https://sfwa.org/other-resources/writer-beware/
2. Absolute Writer “Water Cooler”. A blog to share experiences and observations about publishers, agents, and producers. One can peruse their index to find agents one has on a query list. Very helpful! https://absolutewrite.com/forums/index.php?forums/bewares-recommendations-background-check.22/
If you would like to read other posts, here are a few:
How It Began. This story is the origins of my Substack and tells of the first moment when we learned of my husband’s breast cancer diagnosis. https://www.afterhesaidcancer.com/p/how-it-began
Canary in a Coalmine. The cluster of cancer cases — including male breast cancer — at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and the link to contaminated water. https://www.afterhesaidcancer.com/p/canary-in-a-coalmine
That Ribbon. The gendered stereotype of breast cancer and my emotional response as a wife of a man with male breast cancer. https://www.afterhesaidcancer.com/p/that-ribbon
The Day He Nearly Died. The story of my husband’s near death in the middle of chemotherapy from a blood clot. https://www.afterhesaidcancer.com/p/the-day-he-nearly-died
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Love the transparency and the peak behind it all. Cheering for you on the journey Kristina.
I’m going to an event at IUSimon Cancer Center in Indianapolis on July 9th where they will be discussing current research on breast cancer. Dr. Hari will be discussing his research on men’s breast cancer…if I can I will try and tape it and send it to you…if you want me to. Pat Buntrock