I just spent an hour procrastinating writing while still feeling like a writer. Tonight this took the form of going through all the RWA-recognized publishers who buy historicals and dividing them into three tiers roughly as follows:

First Tier--Tough nuts to crack for a first-time author, but the best places to be in the long run for everything from prestige to advance size to distribution.

Second Tier--Publish a lot of first-time authors, easier to break in without an agent. I'd still be over the moon to sell to any of them, but they're not where I'd want to be for the rest of my career for varying reasons--distribution not as good, rep for small advances, etc.

Third Tier--Smaller presses, I've rarely if ever spotted their titles in my friendly local B&N, but at least I'd be published!

Next time I'm looking for a way to procrastinate while feeling productive, I may try to put together a fourth tier of legit e-pubs and small presses.

This is like picking a college, except that compared to ANY of the publishers, Harvard, Yale, and Princeton will let just anyone off the streets in. IOW, it's confusing and overwhelming. I mean, what do I do with the fact that my absolute #1 favorite dream publisher from the first tier almost never publishes historicals by first-time writers? Or that one of my second tier is currently practically begging for books that sound just like what I write? If I submit to them the instant I finish Anna's story and it sells, go me! I sold my book! But OTOH, I'd never know if I could've sold it to the first tier. But if I wait and exhaust all my shots at the first tier before trying the second, who's to know if they'll still be seeking books like mine?

Still, I'm starting to form a strategy, as follows:
1. Finish the damn book. I can't sell what I don't have.

2. Three of my first-tier publishers seem more open to new authors than the others. Starting now, if one of their editors is the final round judge for a contest I'm qualified for, I'm entering it. And if one of those same editors is at a writers conference anywhere between Vancouver and Portland, I'm there if I can afford the registration fee.

3. After completing #1, aggressively seek an agent. My first choice agents will be ones who work with authors like me and have a track record of placing books with the first tier publishers.

4. If #3 fails, I'll query all the first tier publishers that accept unagented queries. And after them, the second tier.

I like having a plan. I'll probably have to change it several times before I sell, but plans make me happy.

And now I figure I'd better go work on finishing the damn book....

How do you find out which agents place with which publishers?

How do you find out which agents place with which publishers?

With agents that have websites, it's easy--just look at their recent sales list. But a surprising number of agencies still don't have websites, so that's going to take some more legwork. I figure it means paying attention to all the market notes I get through various magazines and online lists, and also reading a lot of acknowledgement pages looking for authors that thank their agents.

Susan, I know I haven't commented much on your tales of the publishing world and so on, but it is all fascinating, and I know I'm going to go back and look at your posts if I ever do get around to finishing any original fiction.

ION, my uncle just got a story published in Glimmer Train! Go him!

Cool, Anne! Congrats for him.

Susan, I know I haven't commented much on your tales of the publishing world and so on, but it is all fascinating, and I know I'm going to go back and look at your posts if I ever do get around to finishing any original fiction.

Thanks! I'm glad to know I'm not the only one fascinated by this stuff. I think I did right to prove to myself I could finish a manuscript before joining RWA and starting hardcore industry research, because it can distract from actual writing. OTOH, I think now is the right time to learn and start building a network for myself. That way, once I have a ms ready to market again, I can hit the ground running. And I think (hope!) I'll be savvy enough to avoid scams or other major missteps.

Congrats to your uncle!

Why is this ending such a bitch?

This was so much easier when I wrote in first person....

I'm debating the wisdom of writing a few scenes from my villain's POV. Maybe three in the entire book, just to give a sense of his motivation, how he views himself as the hero of his own story, and the sense of ill-usage he has from life and from Jack and Anna in particular. I think it'd make that part of the plot stronger, but I'm afraid it'll just seem weird to have a book that's mostly a 50-50 split between two characters dip into a third head for a stray scene here and there.

I think it'd make that part of the plot stronger, but I'm afraid it'll just seem weird to have a book that's mostly a 50-50 split between two characters dip into a third head for a stray scene here and there.

It could be weird, or it could be essential. How is the book structured? Is it all chapters, or is there a part one, two, three, etc.? Could you use the villain sections as transitions between parts? Deliberately set them off so they don't feel as random?

(My mind is thinking of It, and how King used the Derry Interludes.)

Chapters. In my own head it's divided into three acts, but I'm not planning to divide the book itself that way. Well, except that there's a bit of a time/space break between Acts II and III, so I'll need to do something to show that we're in England and it's November now. And the villain actually dies near the end of Act II.

And even if it weren't for the whole dying thing, the places where I feel like I need the villain POV don't fit into obvious transitional points.