Acquisition time?

[I. J. Parker]

I've just been told by my agent that nothing will be submitted to publishers until after the New Year. Anything sent them before then would just sit and gather dust. It's not the first time, she's told me this, and in fact my contracts usually appeared in the spring. I'm also told that not much happens in the summer months because that is vacation time for employees.

So, I'm trying to get my head around the fact that for only about 3 or 4 months out of the year editors take a look at submissions. If that is the case, it's little wonder that they are so quick to turn down books and that they make such wrong decisions with others. They must be swamped.

It's bad news for me and will cause a longer break in the sequence of the series than I expected.

Does anyone here have more insight into the workings of the publishing world?

[I. J. Parker]

Thanks, that's very reassuring, Dave. Well, I suppose not really when you're trying to sell books, but I would also like to have faith in my agent. One develops a complex after a while and worries that pople don't really care because there's not enough money to be made.
My feeling is that I may have a really great book somewhere in the future . . . but of course it needs to get a chance first.

[Benjamin Sobieck]

Maybe your agent is talking about the houses he/she has a working relationship. If this is the case, I'd say it's a smart use of time. I wouldn't want my agent (if I had one) to blow time cold calling unfamiliar houses.

Spend time with regard to quality, not quantity. That's some of the best advice I ever received.

Either way, I hope this plays out to your advantage.

[Bob]

I agree with Benjamin,

I talked to a couple traditional small press (not POD or Vanity or Ebook) editors I know. They take submissions all year. The exceptions being time off at the holidays, summer vaction (when they bring them on the Kindle but don't get to the same number), conferences and speaking engagements. But they make up for lost time before and after scheduled absences.

Of course, if they have a big new release their priority is to that release, but again, they plan around that event.

Smiles
Bob

[I. J. Parker]

Thanks, all. You've been very kind. I think we have exhausted the big houses in the past. These days, they'll certainly not want to touch the series. My agent is one of the best agents in NYC. She doesn't normally deal with smaller houses, I think. And that is where we need to go, here and in the UK, and we also need to accept smaller advances.
I'm just trying to keep the series alive, partially for all the people who write me, and partially because the character is too much alive for me.
I'll wait till spring to see what happens to the series. Meanwhile, I'll try to put out some electronic versions of a couple of other novels and the short story collection.

[Dan Coleman]

I think the end of the publishing process might have something to do with the speed at which certain players work in it. With print, even to some degree POD, you can't get a book to the printer(unless it's something timely, a huge subject or writer that trumps all else) for a quick publication date. So what's the hurry? Everybody's waiting for the printer. And with hundreds of players bottle-necking the operation, why kill yourself.

Too, we're not dealing with factory production workers stamping out widgets, where we know exactly who is producing what, and who goes home if he doesn't. We're dealing with something nebulous, a product line with many uncertainties, high risks, trust in people whose abilities we're not sure about, thus caution and reluctance to move ahead quickly. And it's all mental, more a soft, even candy-ass occupation or field in which the the hardest thing anyone does is go for a cup of coffee, or a meeting, and the only calluses you see are on somebody's rear end. Assuming you get a close look at the rear end. I think it has something to do with being a culture that breeds laziness and slow movement. Of course, it's all great work if you can get it. Ask any bureaucrat. I think agents would like to see things move faster because they're working on commission, but the salaried folks at the publishing companies don't really care, since they get paid Friday, whether or not a book gets published this week.

I think a close working relationship between scheduling prints, market tolerance, and the perfectly- suited salaried worker create and sustain the slow pace.

[Anne Frasier]

I think it depends on the agent. One agent told me he doesn't submit Nov, Dec, Jan. Another agent told me she submits throughout those months.

[I. J. Parker]

Thanks, Anne. You may be right.

[Anne Frasier]

My agent just told me she's waiting until January to submit my manuscript. :)

[I. J. Parker]

Aha! Thanks, and very good luck to you!

[Robin Richmond]

As A BOOK DEALER I have found publishers unhelpful.They do not wish to sell books. I find the American publishers better than British publishers.Authors I can sell are often frozen out as they do not sell enough but they do not sell because no one knows about the book.Any author who would like publicity especially in UK please make contact [e-mail]

[I. J. Parker]

Thanks, Robin. Mingbooks have been very responsive to me in the past. Sorry about this business with Penguin giving up on the Akitada series, Robin, but we'll surely find another publisher. My books are beginning to catch on in the UK finally, and I'm trying very hard to get my agent to contact British publishers also.