The Passionate Pen Presents... First Sale Article!

Oy, the should word. Most of the time it comes out of the mouth of someone who is telling me what to do. And ninety-nine percent of the time, what they think I should be doing is something that they do personally. What's worse, is that most of the time, they are also not taking into consideration my thoughts, feelings and experiences before they tell me what I should be doing. So rarely will you hear me use it. But this is one of those times.

Recently on a list I'm on, someone asked what a publisher should do, what a literary agent should do and what an author should do. I wrote an answer a bit off the cuff and a couple people said that I should post that somewhere for easy access. So here it goes. This is my take on what everyone's job is in the scheme of things in the publishing world. I warn you, I probably missed some things:

3. Put your work into whatever format you have agreed upon at no cost to you. If additional formats are required/called for, they should put your work into those formats for you at no cost to you.

4. Distribute your work. You should not be responsible for getting your book listed or put into bookstores.

1. Choose editors/publishing houses that will be the best fit for your story, style and voice.

2. Send your work out to editors. Once you are represented, you should not be sending out your work to publishers yourself. That is your agent's job. The only time this is not true is if you final in a contest or have an editor appointment and are asked to submit. But even then, I would send that submission through my agent.

6. Be a buffer between you and your editor on business issues so that you can keep your relationship with your editor all about the book.

7. Answer questions, sometimes hold hand. (My agent also tells me jokes, I send her Neil Gaiman links and we sometimes get off on philosophical discussion about the Star Wars and Marvel universes... but that is not required).

Some agents also involve themselves in plotting, making story suggestions and some editing. Depends on the agent and where you are in your career.

3. Once your book is sold, create a reasonable marketing plan to supplement what your publisher is doing.

2. DO NOT pay an agency reading fees, editing fees or any fee. Your agent should ONLY make money when they make a sale for you and collect their 15% from the advance/royalties

3. Be responsible for any of the duties assigned to the publishers/agents above (unless you are unagented and then you will have to represent yourself).