On Writing : Questionsl! by Fonda J Kerr

There are a bunch of threads in the Authoring lounge where we've talked about the ins-and-outs of self-publishing. It's a great way to go, but it is involved and there is a definite learning curve how best to proceed. But, genre authors tend to do better than so-called mainstream fiction or literary fiction, so you are right in the sweet spot for content people want. Traditional pub'ng you'll need an agent, so you'll have to deal with that. Traditional publishers won't even talk to you unless you have a full manuscript ready to be read. They will want a proposal, samples chapters, and a long synopsis of the first book in the series, and probably a chapter by chatper breakdown of the other two books as well. If you self-publish, you dont' need any of that stuff :) But, you have to publish the books, make them professional, and then market them, etc. It's a huge job. But, I think the way to go... two good sites to check out that can help: Jane Friedman's site is great, and she teaches a pretty good intro class online that is pretty affordable (http://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/how-to-publish-your-book.html/?ai...). Also, Hugh Howey ... he's the poster boy of success in self-publishing. His site is great and he his blog has lots of great insights, especially his statistical breakdown of author earnings showing how self-published authors actually make money (author earnings report). Anyway... don't know how much you know or don't about self-publishing... but that's the way to go, unless you can find an agent and get a traditional deal. Authors have to be in both places: self and traditional. My 2 cents.

thank you for the advice.

Also - agents tend to be VERY genre-specific. An agent who would handle a serial killer book would almost never handle romance -- or superheroes -- and probably wouldn't even handle, say, cozies. It's an odd part of the business, but there you are.

Okay than my main genre is Suspense. So your saying you have to have an agent for each genre? That is kinda crazy.

Kinda, yeah. :) Well, I know an author who's written several whodunits. All trad-published, all successful. This author then wrote a thriller. The author's agent had no knowledge of/interest in placing such a title. So the author self-published. This is one of many such tales...You might agree that an agent who sold, say, suspense books might not have knowledge of/contacts in the world of children's publishing. But the publishing world is even more segmented than that. So if you find an agent who handles suspense, great. Ask if he or she handles other genres, but don't be surprised if the answer is no. Also, don't expect any agent to actually do much unless you push them hard. And if you get published, expect to spend a lot more of your own energy promoting the book than you would have had to 30 years ago. (Not quite as much as if you self-publish, of course.) This is, of course, NOT meant to discourage you. For now, write the suspense books, get an agent, get a publisher, and then on to the next step. (But do look at self-publishing also. Self-publishing is good for genre crime and romance.)

Get the Writers Yearbook - that lists all the literary agents and publishers. Then find one that matches your genre and request representation.

And yes, what others have said here regarding self-publishing is correct. You have to do EVERYTHING and it can be a hard slog, especially the marketing side. Breaking out into the mainstream and getting your book - no matter how good it is - recognised is a major challenge.