Dear Editor…
My agent isn’t sure there’s enough of a market for my new picture book manuscript. I’m thinking of subbing it on my own (my contract with my agent is very flexible in this regard), and trying for smaller, independent presses. Here’s where I get a little confused as a writer. The agent is supposed to know the market, so do I just take her at her word for it and abandon the project? My writing group thinks it’s a good story and, my agent did say she thought it was very well written, so I’m not quite ready to just toss it aside. Once upon a time, nobody thought there was a market for boy wizards either until one publisher took the risk. Just wondering if you have any thoughts or insights on this.
Thanks,
Y. N.
Dear Y. N.…
The key factor here is that your agent gave the writing itself a thumbs up. She’s not afraid this project will hurt your reputation; it’s clearly a numbers thing. Knowing that, I say do your round of smaller press submissions. A small press isn’t as dependent on huge yearly sales as a Big House (although they’d sure love to score huge sales) and so may be that risk-taking house you’re looking for. Either you’ll get a book deal (yay!) or you’ll get peace of mind that you’ve given this story a shot at the bound cover.
Happy writing!
The Editor