But Will You Get Pigeonholed?

How to think about your writing career

Aug 01, 2023

Hey friends!

THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for all your congratulations and excitement about my news last week. It was truly wonderful to read all your comments and I can’t wait to share this journey with you.

Today, I want to pivot from talking about just one book deal to how to think about your next and next and next. (Yes, I know it’s hard to think about something you cannot control but tbh some of you actually do this all the time!!!!) Anyway, I’ve had this discussion with a lot of clients and other writers who worry about getting pigeonholed when it comes time to talk about their next book with their editor, or even just with me. There are two forces in opposition here:

The author who wants to write whatever they want (and/or whatever will be successful.)
The publisher who wants to either pivot away from what didn’t work or continue on with what did work.

Inside each of us are two writers: the one who is an artiste and the one that needs to pay rent. We want publishers to give us money for the ideas of the artiste but the publisher, ha, also has to pay rent. Sometimes the artiste makes all the money. Sometimes we have to do what we gotta do to pay rent. There is no answer to this conundrum. It’s two forces playing tug of war all the time.

Let’s say you had good luck with your first (published) book and your publisher wants to know what you’re working on next. You think what they want to hear is yep! I have just finished another book that’s exactly like my previous one, except different enough for people to buy it, too! What your heart might be saying is if I have to write one more lovesick vampire I am going to explode. The truth is the publisher wants you to write what you want (because we all know that produces a better book) but it would also be great if it would appeal to the same audience as your previous book that sold a bunch of copies. Second books boost the sales of first books, and you (and your publisher) want you to build a following.

Or, if your previous book did not sell a bunch of copies, your publisher might think it could be great if your next book was not that, so they can target a different set of readers.

No, it is not that simple. Yes, none of this makes sense.

If the thought of this makes you want to jump out of a window, here’s some advice on how to think about it and not feel that way. The publisher is thinking about your career in a (mostly) expansive and open-ended way. They know it can’t be planned or guaranteed, but if they can get close, that’s great. They are not saying, even though I know that’s what it sounds like YOU BETTER PRODUCE THE SAME (OR DIFFERENT) RESULTS AS YOUR LAST BOOK OR YOU’LL NEVER WRITE IN THIS TOWN AGAIN. I know it feels dire and precarious when anyone asks about your future books, but try to take it in the only way it can offered—with a big dose of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Publishers would love to hear your general thoughts about your future books in the vein of things like this:

I really enjoyed writing this Regency romance that did pretty good, so I’d like to do another one of those or so. Then maybe tackle another historical period!

Wow, that literary novel I just wrote didn’t work so great. I have another idea with a bigger hook that I would still call literary, imho.

They do NOT want to hear:

Can you just tell me what to write? I’ll write whatever you want.

I refuse to ensconce my muse in the prison of plans. You’ll get what you get and you won’t get upset.

Do you want to read my screenplay?

It might be easier to talk with your agent first about what you want to write in the future and they can help you translate it into something that makes sense for your editor. Your adult mystery editor doesn’t care about your YA romance, so your agent will likely steer you away from pitching that. With my clients I always start from what they want to write because, again, that yields the best results.

Of course, this all makes sense to me, sitting on the publishing side of the table. But as a writer, I have done none of it! Of the books I’ve written (and not sold) there are: two picture books, one YA novel (never shopped), one adult literary-ish novel, and a MG chapter book(ish) series. All that stuff is random!!!!! I wanted to and had to write a bunch of things to see what would stick, both with me and with publishers.

Now that’s I’ve sold a book, and a non-fiction one at that, it’s possible I will be able to build on that, and when I have a new idea for something, I will be thinking about how it might relate to potential future readers. A workbook? A follow up? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ It doesn’t quite matter right now because I haven’t even written the first one yet.

I’m still pecking away at a novel that has a historical angle. I love reading historical fiction, so yeah, if that novel gets off the ground, I could see myself writing future books with some kind of historical element, that would appeal to readers of historical fiction. (But not straight up, 100% historical fiction because I do not have time to do that much research.)

And honestly, if and when anyone asks me this question, that’s a good enough answer. No one is asking you, or me, to predict the future. The stakes are not that high. What publishers (and agents) are asking when they pose this question is what are you interested in? More of this or none of this? It’s not a quiz. We’re genuinely interested.

This is ALSO why you don’t want to just write any old book to get published. If it’s a success, do you want to write MORE of that? You might have a good picture book idea, but if that works, do you want to be a picture book author? Because editors at Knopf are not going to read your Goofy Gorilla Gets a Grape idea and think why yes, I am certain that author can write 1,000 pages on the Cuban Missile Crisis, get me their agent on the horn. Maybe you can! But one book deal is not the gateway to any future book deal.

It is stressful to think about your future books, especially when it was hard enough to get that first deal. You cannot predict the future and you also cannot guarantee success but telling your editor or agent what you think they want to hear. All you can do is answer honestly about what interests you and does not interest you, and go forth, together, from there.

Agents and Books

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