You know what time it is! Black Friday sale time! Agents & Books is no exception. Tell your friends because, today through Cyber Monday December 2nd, get TWENTY FIVE PERCENT OFF (25%) a new annual subscription! (Since you’re reading this as a subscriber already, see below for what I can offer you.) And what a year it will be. We’re going to talk about what it was like getting my author photos done! How I did my copyedits and first pass pages (and what even those things are!!) and how I’m planning the marketing campaign for my upcoming book! We’ll also talk about things that aren’t directly about me and get to more of your Q&A Thursdays, further exploration and debunking of new stuff going around publishing (agent pitch decks????) and more. January marks the SIX YEAR ANNIVERSARY of Agents & Books, and I’m really gonna pull out all the stops.
I want to hear from you, so let me know in this thread what you want to see MORE or less of in the coming year. Has a particular post particularly helped you? Share it in the thread in case others missed it. Sick of hearing about query letters? LMK! Thanks for being a reader and supporting this newsletter. I really love writing it and I’m happy to keep doing so in 2025.
[Ok, so the mods won’t let me offer current subscribers a discount. I’m not saying you should do this, but if you happen to unsubscribe and resubscribe with a different email address, I will look the other way. If you cannot do this and you want to upgrade or extend your subscription a year, do that the normal way, and I will go into your account and extend your subscription by 4 months (25%!) on top of what you already have. I wish I could do this in a costs-you-less-cash way, but the machines won’t let me. This is the best I can do for you loyal folks. Just send me an email at katemckean@substack.com after you’ve upgraded and I’ll go in an adjust your account on my end.]
The Black Friday/Cyber Monday offer is super generous, especially with the bonus months for loyal subscribers—what a thoughtful way to work around the system! For anyone who's been on the fence about subscribing, this is definitely the time to jump in. And for existing readers, it’s such a fun sneak peek at what’s coming next: author photo adventures, copyediting deep dives, marketing plans, and all the publishing myths you’re always ready to debunk.
I’d love to see more on the business side of publishing, like insights into agent pitch decks (that sounds intriguing!) or practical advice on marketing strategies for debut authors. I’ve found your Q&A Thursdays incredibly helpful, so I’d vote for keeping those around! https://geometry-dashworld.co/
Hi, Kate - I did just extend Agents and Books for a year and tried to email your Substack account from my own domain, but my message got flagged and blocked. So here's the message:
Happy Black Friday.
I have just extended my subscription to Agents+Books for a year, and posted to FB Writers Helping Writers group where I am active.
Wishing you and yours a healthy and bounteous season.
Would love to know if it's appropriate to query agents by inviting them to read my work on Substack? I'm finding it a bit incongruous that the prevailing advice on Substack from agents and publishers talks about submitting manuscripts the old-fashioned way, via email, and simply "being patient"... Honestly, I have a 150K+ word manuscript live here on the platform and it's in good shape. I just worry that agents or publishers will not take me seriously if I invite them to read it here, versus compiling it into a PDF and sending. Philosophically, if Substack is the new "disruptive" platform for writers, I should think the publishing world would approach it disruptively, but what do I know? Thank you!
This sounds like it could work but honestly there is a lot of information provided in a query that agents need and/or want that wouldn't be provided in substack posts. Also, reading a blog/online/newsletter is different than reading even an excerpt from a novel so I would think you'd need to do a good amount of editing for it to read well in whole-novel form. I mean, you have to compile and edit it regardless if you want to be traditionally published. Some agents/editors may think that if the whole thing is available for free online, why would anyone buy that book? Sometimes that's true and other times it's not. Many, many, many things try to disrupt book publishing but I don't think this aspect of substack has had a big effect on it. Publishing is notoriously slow to change, for better or worse.
Thank you! Yes, the dread "why would anyone buy this if it's online" is a big question, but seems to be working as a way for authors to get noticed. Perhaps thinking that someone who puts a novel online and is a "one and done" isn't fair: the book could be re-edited, re-titled, developed, tightened, etc, not to mention sequels could be a possibility. It also proves wether or not the writer can write a good story regardless of having a manuscript in contract. Wouldn't that save time in the vetting process? Perhaps scouting a writer before they need to edit and compile a manuscript just to send it off would be beneficial and expedient for both sides? "Hi, I like what you have here and think it has potential, but you aren't ready. Ping me when you do a re-write..."
As Substack is quick and open, it would be ideal for agents and publishers to scout. The writers I know on the platform do want to be published traditionally (like I do) but are stymied by the process and timeline. I think the thinking is that, if we put it out here where the agents are already spending time, it will be found (but maybe that's just a Substack myth). The available content is changing, ergo the methods need to change.
Personally, when I pursued the "traditional" way, my manuscript became such a chore and really sapped my creativity, putting a lot of pressure on something I needed to be fun and exhilarating to maintain the story. (And believe me, I tried. I got to 250 pages in about 3 years and it stopped coming.)The serial format has been great; keeps me accountable, keeps the writing fresh, and I'm not overwhelmed by it. Substack is great for immediate responses and feedback too. It's allowed me to play and let the story evolve in a beautiful way, while getting said feedback. I know I'm not the only one. Just making the case that there's a lot of talent on this very platform and while maybe Substack isn't disrupting publishing, a lot of writers on Substack are certainly putting in effort in that direction. However, it seems the writers are playing a one-sided tennis match... Again, thanks so much for your input!
Ok, so I thought I had figured out all the ways I could make this sale work for current subscribers but of course I forgot that current annual subscribers are already on auto-renew. So if you're on auto-renew and want to participate in this special, email me, I will extend your sub 4 months and we'll go on the honor system that you're not going to just like turn around and unsubscribe before the auto renew kicks in. Is this best for solution (for me)? No. Is it the best solution for you (those who will honor this sale as it was intended)? Yes. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The Black Friday/Cyber Monday offer is super generous, especially with the bonus months for loyal subscribers—what a thoughtful way to work around the system! For anyone who's been on the fence about subscribing, this is definitely the time to jump in. And for existing readers, it’s such a fun sneak peek at what’s coming next: author photo adventures, copyediting deep dives, marketing plans, and all the publishing myths you’re always ready to debunk.
https://subwaysurfersgame.io
I’d love to see more on the business side of publishing, like insights into agent pitch decks (that sounds intriguing!) or practical advice on marketing strategies for debut authors. I’ve found your Q&A Thursdays incredibly helpful, so I’d vote for keeping those around! https://geometry-dashworld.co/
Hi, Kate - I did just extend Agents and Books for a year and tried to email your Substack account from my own domain, but my message got flagged and blocked. So here's the message:
Happy Black Friday.
I have just extended my subscription to Agents+Books for a year, and posted to FB Writers Helping Writers group where I am active.
Wishing you and yours a healthy and bounteous season.
Andy Kass
You're all set!
Would love to know if it's appropriate to query agents by inviting them to read my work on Substack? I'm finding it a bit incongruous that the prevailing advice on Substack from agents and publishers talks about submitting manuscripts the old-fashioned way, via email, and simply "being patient"... Honestly, I have a 150K+ word manuscript live here on the platform and it's in good shape. I just worry that agents or publishers will not take me seriously if I invite them to read it here, versus compiling it into a PDF and sending. Philosophically, if Substack is the new "disruptive" platform for writers, I should think the publishing world would approach it disruptively, but what do I know? Thank you!
This sounds like it could work but honestly there is a lot of information provided in a query that agents need and/or want that wouldn't be provided in substack posts. Also, reading a blog/online/newsletter is different than reading even an excerpt from a novel so I would think you'd need to do a good amount of editing for it to read well in whole-novel form. I mean, you have to compile and edit it regardless if you want to be traditionally published. Some agents/editors may think that if the whole thing is available for free online, why would anyone buy that book? Sometimes that's true and other times it's not. Many, many, many things try to disrupt book publishing but I don't think this aspect of substack has had a big effect on it. Publishing is notoriously slow to change, for better or worse.
Thank you! Yes, the dread "why would anyone buy this if it's online" is a big question, but seems to be working as a way for authors to get noticed. Perhaps thinking that someone who puts a novel online and is a "one and done" isn't fair: the book could be re-edited, re-titled, developed, tightened, etc, not to mention sequels could be a possibility. It also proves wether or not the writer can write a good story regardless of having a manuscript in contract. Wouldn't that save time in the vetting process? Perhaps scouting a writer before they need to edit and compile a manuscript just to send it off would be beneficial and expedient for both sides? "Hi, I like what you have here and think it has potential, but you aren't ready. Ping me when you do a re-write..."
As Substack is quick and open, it would be ideal for agents and publishers to scout. The writers I know on the platform do want to be published traditionally (like I do) but are stymied by the process and timeline. I think the thinking is that, if we put it out here where the agents are already spending time, it will be found (but maybe that's just a Substack myth). The available content is changing, ergo the methods need to change.
Personally, when I pursued the "traditional" way, my manuscript became such a chore and really sapped my creativity, putting a lot of pressure on something I needed to be fun and exhilarating to maintain the story. (And believe me, I tried. I got to 250 pages in about 3 years and it stopped coming.)The serial format has been great; keeps me accountable, keeps the writing fresh, and I'm not overwhelmed by it. Substack is great for immediate responses and feedback too. It's allowed me to play and let the story evolve in a beautiful way, while getting said feedback. I know I'm not the only one. Just making the case that there's a lot of talent on this very platform and while maybe Substack isn't disrupting publishing, a lot of writers on Substack are certainly putting in effort in that direction. However, it seems the writers are playing a one-sided tennis match... Again, thanks so much for your input!
Ok, so I thought I had figured out all the ways I could make this sale work for current subscribers but of course I forgot that current annual subscribers are already on auto-renew. So if you're on auto-renew and want to participate in this special, email me, I will extend your sub 4 months and we'll go on the honor system that you're not going to just like turn around and unsubscribe before the auto renew kicks in. Is this best for solution (for me)? No. Is it the best solution for you (those who will honor this sale as it was intended)? Yes. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯