Counting down the days till your book reaches the shelves is one of the most nerve-wracking parts of being a debut author. Even after the hard part of writing your manuscript is complete, you still face querying, acquisition, editing, publicity—only to wait even longer for your novel to reach readers.
In this Third Thursday panel, WLT Program Director Sarah Beach chatted with three debut authors—Sarah LaBrie, Erin Quinn-Kong, Cherry Lou Sy—about their publishing journeys in the weeks leading up to their novel releases.
The authors began by discussing when they felt like their manuscripts were truly “done”—and the challenge of ever truly being “done”—and when they were ready to query an agent. Cherry Lou Sy (Love Can’t Feed You) brought readers into her process very early. As a playwright, she describes the process of writing a fiction manuscript as “a simmer, it is a slowburn; it is not like a sauté, which is how I think of writing plays.”
Erin Quinn-Kong (Hate Follow) wrote another (unpublished) novel before her debut, but she realized early into the querying process that it lacked a compelling hook. Through this experience, however, she built a writing community and gained support from her mentor in the WFWA (Women’s Fiction Writers Association), which helped her produce her current novel. Coming from a background in journalism, Quinn-Kong is used to working with deadlines, so after her manuscript had been reviewed and edited by what she deemed to be enough people, she decided it was time to find an agent.
Sarah LaBrie (No One Gets to Fall Apart) wrote her debut book during a period of frustration while writing another novel. She met her agent through a networking event at her alma mater, NYU, and relied on her agent’s expertise to determine when her memoir was ready to move on to the next step of the publication process.
All three writers had different experiences in finding an agent, and in how much editing their book went through. However, all stressed the importance of finding an agent who will dedicate the time and attention you desire for your project and loves your manuscript, as well as, as the author, creating your own supportive writing community for feedback. Sy noted, “you may want the star-studded people to be in your team, but they may represent XYZ and they’re not going to pay attention to you. You want an agent who will look at you like you are in their A team, and they will give you the time of day.”
Quinn-Kong offered valuable advice on finding an agent in the new world of social media, saying “All the big agents on X are not the ones making the big deals [on Publisher’s Marketplace]… do not rely on Twitter as the place to find an agent.” When searching for your perfect agent, it’s helpful to make a list of agents who have represented novels with overlapping qualities or genres to your own work. LaBrie and Sy agree that it’s vital to ensure the team built upon acquisition is suited for your needs, and your novel is appreciated. “Sit with the feedback,” Sy advised, and learn from those around you.
Stepping into the literary world as a debut author marks the exhilarating moment when dreams and reality culminate into your finished project. It can be scary, but remember to be excited, too, and don’t forget that you don’t have to (and shouldn’t) go through the process alone. As LaBrie put it, “You don’t have to do it alone. Your editor is there to make your book better… [your manuscript] doesn’t necessarily have to be at 100%, you might not be able to get it there by yourself; you need a writing group, you need editors, you need other people, you need time.”