I think one of the most asked questions I have been getting lately is, “how did you land a book deal?” I mean, shit, I don’t know but let me tell you what I was doing in the time leading up to signing a contract.
I was writing. I am always writing, that’s nothing new, but I was writing with a purpose now; I wanted to publish a book. I am signed to do a children’s book and that is not at all what I was writing at the time. I wanted something for the grown folk. What I’m gon’ do wit sum kids?
I was all over Google. Looking up articles on how to pitch to publishers. Learned that you most likely needed an agent for the big New York Houses. Yeah, I thought I was big time, I mean, you have to, right? Who is gonna gas you up if you don’t gas yourself up?
Right.
So, then I was back on Google, looking up how to pitch to agents. Google again for agents in New York, again, I was swinging for fences, y’all. Or the sun, potato, Ryan Gosling, eh?
I digress…or do I? I have always wanted to use that so I can sound professional and well-put together.
Did it work?
Yeaaaah, it did.
After all that Googling, I now had a folder filled with articles on how to reach out to agents, what publishing houses I wanted to try for, etc.
Y’all, ain’t none of that work for me. I ain’t sayin’ it won’t work for you, but it damn sure ain’t work for me. First off, I lack the patience, and many of these agents, be they from NYC or Texas have a specific type of book they are looking for, have some really long “let me read your pitch/transcript and get back with you never that I don’t like it” wait periods, and many want you to have the work completed.
I wasn’t completed, I only had several pitches. And like 4 chapters done of like seven different books. I was a mess, y’all. Still am. But I am a soon to be published mess.
I won’t tell you to not go the route of traditional publishing, I mean, I am signed by a traditional publishing house, I am telling you that it is some damn hard work. There’s a book in so many of us, and ain’t that many of us being chosen to put it out into the world.
And that is when I went looking into self-publishing. Back to Google I went. There are some costs associated with self-publishing but I think you can keep most of the money you get from your sales. Don’t quote me on that, I don’t know shit. Just feels like you would though. Again, don’t listen to me.
I learned that I could publish through Amazon or some other print-on-demand service. This is where you upload your book onto their site, set your price, and they would print your book for you with each sale. That seems simple enough, right? There’s some other stuff involved in there too that I know I am failing to remember, damn brain! It’s full of pie, y’all, forgive me. There were some hybrid publishing houses I found where you put up some money with them and they will take care of a portion of what goes all into publishing your book, like printing, getting them ISBN numbers, connecting you with illustrators, etc. But I was like if I am going to pay them all of that, what I need them for? I could do it myself.
(no, I really couldn’t
)
There’s some other hybrid companies that didn’t require upfront fees, but did no advances, and kept a good portion of the royalties. But it was really hard for me to distinguish what a hybrid company was…I just classed them all as hybrid if they weren’t traditional publishing houses that offered advances. Again, I ain’t the one you should be listening to here. Google is a close friend of mine and could be yours as well if you just lean into it on this one.
Honestly, they all started to feel like scams even know I know that some of them weren’t, but I was getting discouraged with them. I sent my unfinished pitches and some pages of other books to those companies and it was nonstop calls for weeks. Months. They would take a break and then call me back again. Offering their packages to publish my book. It just all felt like too much and overwhelming. Like too much money and too much I didn’t understand about the process.
If I didn’t sign with Row House Publishing then I would have probably gone the route of self-publishing through Amazon. Saving money to hire editors and illustrators if need be. These hybrid companies are a good option if you know for a fact they aren’t scams. They appear to take a lot of the confusion and work out of the publishing process, leaving you to actually focus on the writing.
How did I get signed?
Hell, like I said I don’t know. But like I wrote earlier, let me go through everything leading up to that contract. I was writing like I always do on Instagram but I changed my focus some. Adding in more stories and poetry. This was deliberate, I wanted to show I could do more than advocacy. That I was MORE than advocacy. Why Instagram, you ask? Well, I am assuming you would ask this cause it feels like a natural question in response. It really could have been Instagram or Facebook, honestly. Platforms that allow you to show off your writing skills with an audience. The audience is important. You all are important to a writer who wants to land a publishing deal.
And I had recently learned that many influencers and bloggers were landing book deals from social media. Because publishing houses, their editors, and agents have social media accounts. They are following hashtags, they are checking out profiles and reading through posts. And they are offering deals to creators in those spaces.
I was like, “whoa.”
No, really… “whoa” escaped these lips. Cause that is a big deal. They were chasing the talent and the talent wasn’t chasing them. I was chasing them. It was exhausting and honestly depressing.
I didn’t know what I was doing but I stalked a few pages of agents, publishers, editors, etc. I wanted to know what they were looking for. And then I realized that I was already engaging with a powerhouse of a human who eventually signed me to her publishing house. I didn’t even really know when the relationship with this incredible person began but I just interacted with her so much that I honestly just think I wore her down and convinced her I was a good writer.
Wear ‘em down, y’all. They on the ‘gram lookin’ to be wore out.
That came out just how it was supposed to.
And it wasn’t just an ability to write decently, not on social media, you have to demonstrate that you have something that an audience is looking for. That’s really all these publishers can see on social media, that’s where it differs from them finding talent that comes to them. They are looking at your words as well as your audience. They don’t know if you have a book in you, they don’t know if you even want to write a book, they don’t know if you even can…they just see that you are putting out content that is resonating with an audience, and that it might be something they could turn into a sellable book.
Are there accounts with lower follower counts that have book deals? Yeah, there are accounts with lower numbers than mine that have two or three books under their belt plus a damn checkmark, they like OFFICIAL official. However many of them had their first book before they had a social media presence. Or at least a presence on that particular platform.
This isn’t me saying you need a large following but you I do think you need an engaged following. They have to know that a book you write will have value enough to people to want to purchase it. This is, after all, a business still.
So, I was found on social media, a few times. The first by an editor for Simon and Schuster, who planted the seed that I could do children’s books. That didn’t work out in the end. But after that seed was planted I wanted to see it bloom. So by the time I was reached out to by Row House, I had my book. That was going to be my first book. I just hoped they agreed. Fortunately, they did.
I absolutely loved every bit of this journey. The ups, the downs, the times I cried with anger and frustration. Because every bit of it prepared me for this moment. The person I am today is because of that journey. I don’t know what will come of this book that goes up for presale soon. I don’t know if I will sell many copies. I am nervous as hell. But I didn’t give up. This book was going to come out regardless. Whether I had to self-publish or not, it was coming out. I just happened to get signed before I finished my plan of putting it together. I literally put out a call for illustrators shortly before being contacting by Row House to talk. I was already interviewing people to do the art for my book. This book was going to get done. Period. But I am happy things played out the way that it did. This was where I was meant to be and this was the path I was meant to travel.
I hope that for all of you thinking about writing that book, whatever it is, you write that damn book. You are a writer. Period. And if you want to publish it, put it out there. Doesn’t matter how you get it out there, put it out there. The game is changing. Publishing doesn’t look the same anymore. You can do well with putting out your work on your own.
Your path won’t look like mine. Mine didn’t look like another’s. Your path will be your own.
Just write the damn book.