Getting Published: A Bestselling Author Reveals All | Reedsy Live

What's it like to be a writer and navigate the stormy road to publication? Find out from NYT bestselling author Caroline Leavitt.
FIND REEDSY HERE:
Caroline Leavitt profile: reedsy.com/caroline-leavitt
Blog: blog.reedsy.com
Facebook: / wearereedsy
Twitter: / reedsyhq
Instagram: / reedsy_hq
MORE FROM CAROLINE ON REEDSY:
How to Structure a Novel Before You Write It: blog.reedsy.com/live/structur...
How to Revise Your Novel (and Have Fun Doing It): blog.reedsy.com/live/revising...
Getting Published as a Debut Author: blog.reedsy.com/live/getting-...
RESOURCES:
Book Editor: reedsy.com/write-a-book
Reedsy Discovery [indie book reviews]: reedsy.com/discovery
Webinars: blog.reedsy.com/live/
Bestseller Podcast: blog.reedsy.com/podcast/
Prompts & Writing Contest: blog.reedsy.com/creative-writ...
Writing Exercises: blog.reedsy.com/writing-exerc...
Writing Contest Directory: blog.reedsy.com/writing-conte...
Literary Magazine Directory: blog.reedsy.com/literary-maga...
Reedsy Learning [free courses]: blog.reedsy.com/learning/

[@tararama]

I attended the LIVE and took notes, here they are!
5:05 Writing
- Write the book that ‘haunts’ you, not to the market
- You need a premise (helps communicate what your book is about)
- Write the skeleton blurb
08:47 After the draft
- First chapter: Start in the middle (not description) of the problem or inciting action
- First chapter asks a question (Jaws example: will the town survive); Last chapter (Jaws example: the town survives)
- Line editing (what you do with the language): distill everything to it’s most powerful
- Show not tell (unnecessary adjective and adverbs) - see if you can replace it with a strong verb
12:10 Before the agent
- Have someone else read it (beta readers = not friends/family) like writing group, published authors
- Novel sweet spot 60.000-95.000 words; anything over 100K is too long (increases cost to publisher and reader)
13:12 Hire a development editor
- To get a set of fresh eyes
- They’ll check pacing, characterisation
14:35 Self publishing
- Recommend for certain genres (bodice rippers, sci-fi, romance, self-help); not really for literary fiction
- No gatekeepers
- No agent to self-publish
- Complete control
- More money back
- Competition is higher (anything can be published)
- Harder to book events
17:16 Big 5 Publishers (USA) Random House, Hachette, Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster, MacMillan
- Big 5 have smaller imprints
- You need an agent
- Name recognition
- Bigger advances
- Less control
19:44 Smaller Publishers
- Need an agent
- Prestigious
- No huge advances
20:20 Hybrid Press
- You pay them: 5.000-10.000 dollars to get published
- They’ll do your publicity
- Make sure they’re not vanity press (get transparency)
21:00 Agent Search
- Make a list of 60 agents (recommended to query all at once) - you can start making list before book is finished
- Agent Query (website)
- Poets & Writers have a literary agent database
- Read acknowledgements in books
- Google search the agents (Twitter)
- Publish short stories/essays to increase visibility
- Social media
- Website
- You don’t pay agents (except sometimes a reading fee)
24:55 Query Letter
- 1st paragraph: about the agent, personalise
- 2nd paragraph: pitch the story / comp titles
- 3rd paragraph: about me
- 4th paragraph: thank you
- Wait time: more than 3 months you can check on the status
- Send it on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday
28:57 What kind of agent do you want.
29:25 The Book Deal
- Expect further editing
- It takes about a year before it’s published
32:09 Publicity (book ahead of time); get blurbs (reviews from well known people); publishing houses don’t do this like before; they’re expensive and research them.
34:47 Rejection
36:05 Writer’s community
- Write personal message to a writer
- Show up at readings
- Help other writers, praise their work
- Your writing career will not look like anybody else’s

[@juddhoffman8438]

Thanks!

[@LisaThomas-TheLiquidator]

Thanks a lot!

[@donnjennie]

How generous of spirit! Talk about Writers' Community!

[@peterkurtson]

I appreciate your notes :)

[@helenatrooperman4923]

I use Reedsy for my dev, copy edits and they’re amazing. I’ve learned so much from my editors for sci-fi.

[@TheGoodBooksAgency]

Well she's amazing! Thank you so much, Caroline Leavitt!! I watched the video twice! And thanks to Reedsy!

[@hollytreelodge]

This talk was interesting. Notes taken. Thank you.

[@OddlyEndearing]

This was a fantastic video! So informative. Thank you, Caroline and Martin.

[@mamanbarrett]

Thank you for this. Barrett Ashton Anders from Palm Coast Florida.

[@Charadan]

Great video! I learned a lot! Thanks!

[@michellethornton7926]

Thank you so much for this information! Can't professionals in the publishing industry figure out your comp writers? It's agonising to compare yourself to a high-selling author as an unpublished writer! (rhetorical question)

[@Reedsy]

It's best not to think of it as "I'm the second coming of James Patterson," but more like, "readers of X will love the protagonist and readers of Y will enjoy the humor and tone". Agents tend to prefer authors with an understanding of the book market and where their title fits in it - in part because they know it'll be easier to communicate with those authors and have similar expectations.

[@LisaThomas-TheLiquidator]

Try TSNOTYAW podcast. You leave a message describing your book and their expert bookseller contact records an episode with suggested comps…

[@hiren_bhatt]

After watching this video I felt as if I was transported to 1994 before Amazon and online publishing and ebooks became a huge phenomenon! 😅

[@hikkipedia]

I'm sorry but her info on self-publishing is mostly off. Indie romance authors are absolutely huge. The vast majority of authors making six and seven figures are self-published romance writers. On top of that, TikTok has caused a massive boom in dark academia and romantasy, largely with indie books.

[@donnjennie]

I believe she specifically addressed exceptions such as that in the indie world.

[@b.t.3406]

So many of my favourite authors would not be published today because of today’s culture of censorship and political correctness. Self-publishing is probably a better pick for free thinkers.