You Had to be a Big Shot

Didn't Cha

Hi friends,

As I’ve been writing my book, I’ve been talking to a lot of editors and agents, friends and colleagues and new acquaintances, about the different ways books are bought and sold. Many agents and editors only see the publishing world from their vantage point, and tbh, there are lots of ways this whole thing works.

It’s had me thinking a lot about auctions and the different ways agents run them and start them. Auctions often, but not always, lead to the big bucks so it follows that if you (the agent, the writer) want a big advance, you just have an auction and the money comes pouring in. Right? Of course that’s not how it works. If it was, we’d all be millionaires.

If there’s an auction (the thinking goes) then people want the book. More than just one house, because it definitely takes two to tango here. So if an agent just says there’s an auction, then the editors will think it’s a hot book and be more likely to bid, right? I mean, sometimes. But, as an agent, if you do that a lot, you’ll become known as the agent who cried auction and the next time you really do have something hot, editors won’t jump.

There’s always stories about the big hot agent with the big hot auction for the big hot book. There’s practically one every week. I am not frequently that agent and I started to wonder why. Is it the kind of client I choose? The kind of book they write? Should I be doing more auctions from the jump? I really thought about it, thought about what I would change, which which books I would do this big hot thing. I found all this was coming from a place of me wanting to be seen as a big shot, and not from a place of this the best thing for my clients and their books. Of course more cash is frequently (but not always!) the best thing for a book. But the overwhelming majority of the time the only thing I can do to get that cash is send the right book to the right editor.

But also, I think that the big hot book/agent/writer path leads to agents (me or otherwise) looking for and selling only one kind of book. The big, buzzy debut or major platform-driven non-fiction, or ripped from the headlines whatever. What about the author who sells four books for $25,000 each and eventually earns royalties and has the sales track record that slowly goes up? And maybe that fifth book goes for $45,000. Maybe the BIG DEAL HOT AUCTION SIX FIGURES author and agent duo try to sell book two, and the publisher says gee, we really didn’t see the sales we needed to on your first book so I’m afraid we can’t buy your new one because the publisher lost too much money on that big acquisition. You don’t have to completely earn back your advance to have hopes of another book deal but it helps if the publisher doesn’t completely lose their shirt on your book. There isn’t one best way this works for all books. And we all shouldn’t be aiming for just that one path to success.

None of this is fair or equitable. I would rarely tell an author to pass up the big offer, auction or no. Take the money and run. Maybe you only have one book in you and it’s smart to maximize that, because you’re really using the book to get yourself on the speaking gig circuit. Or you have one memoir in you and that’s it. Four $25,000 book deals is not enough to live on for four years, or more. But maybe the big shot auction isn’t the only way to sell a book.

Maybe this is me being defensive. Maybe this is me having imposter syndrome. Maybe this is general career anxiety we all have forever. When I think maybe I should be doing something differently, it usually means I’m worried about something and this is just how my brain lets off steam. More often than not I get a few steps down the road of how I would do things differently and end up right back where I started. Things are working pretty great for me, tbh. If I need to do something differently, it’s because a book or client needs something different, not because I need it for my ego or stature or social media stats.

Think of this when you’re perusing the lists of agents to send your work to. Everyone wants the big payday and fancy auction story. I want that for myself as a writer and an agent. But ask yourself what happens next. What happens with the next book? What happens if you sell book two for significantly less ($25,000 not $225,000)? Will you feel like a failure? Will you feel your agent or editor failed you? Will your agent feel like a failure? Must the number go up at all costs? I don’t have answers here. They’ll be different from book to book, author to author, agent to agent. In writing about agents and books, it’s made me examine what people thinks agents are or should be, what agents are or can be, and what kind of agent I want to be.

Luckily, I’ve found I am the kind of agent I want to be. Even if I have to remind myself every once in a while.

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It’s a double pub day over here at Team McKean! Check out these two new books for your reading pleasure!

B&N called Katie Kennedy’s debut adult novel, HEARTS ON THIN ICE, one of the best sports romances of the year so far! Hockey is one sport I know nothing about and I loved every minute of this charming hockey romance. I get to see Katie’s wry humor in our emails, and now you get to see it on the page.

And a hearty happy pub day to Artie, the star of Bobby Finger’s latest novel FOUR SQUARES. The New York Times praised Bobby’s “inviting tone of warmth and decency, his empathy for these people and their world, his bright humor, skillful timing and clever phrasing.” I think this is going to be the omg did you read it yet? 😍😍 😭😭 book of the summer.

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Happy reading, friends.

OXOXOXOX,

Kate