How to Write Young Adult (with Wattpad's Finest)

How to Get a Book Deal - adam_and_jane

How to Get a Book Deal

by A.V. Geiger (adam_and_jane)

Have you ever walked into a bookstore and imagined your own story sitting on the shelf? If you're anything like me, you've probably thought about it once or twice. For a small but growing number of Wattpad users, this fantasy is coming true – but the path from Wattpadder to published author isn't easy.

My name is A.V. Geiger (Viv for short), and I'm the latest lucky one to make the leap to traditional publishing. I announced my book deal with Sourcebooks Fire YA in December, and I've received a ton of questions since then about the publishing process. I don't know how qualified I am to give advice, but I can share exactly what happened to me, and maybe you'll learn something from my experience.

The Traditional Publishing Process

First of all, let me explain how the process works for most aspiring authors. There's a common misconception that an author can simply take their book and mail it off to publishers for consideration. It will land on the desk of some editor, who will read it and decide whether it merits publication. If so, the author gets a book deal. Then the novel will be available in stores a few months later, and the author can tweet many adorable selfies while stumbling upon her own book at Barnes & Noble (or Chapters, Waterstones, etc.)

The reality is a lot more convoluted. While there are many small presses that accept manuscripts directly from authors, they generally won't get your book onto the display shelves at the brick-and-mortar bookstores. Amazon, yes. Barnes & Noble, not so much.

If you want to be the kind of author who takes selfies (and holds book signings) at the large book retailers, then there are only a select few publishers who can do that for you, and they hardly ever accept direct submissions from authors. They usually only look at novels that were hand-picked by trusted literary agents. The agents are the gatekeepers who weed through massive slush piles, looking for the next Veronica Roth or Rainbow Rowell.

So how does an author get an agent? You can't just go out and hire one. First, you have to complete your novel, polish it until it gleams, and then send prospective agents something called a query letter. This letter summarizes your entire book and why they should represent it in 250 words or less. The agents receive thousands of these query letters every year. They ignore most of them and respond to the 1% that sound promising, requesting to see the manuscript. Out of those, only a handful will be offered representation.

If an author manages to snag an agent, it then becomes the agent's job to submit the manuscript to acquisitions editors at major publishers. Many of these editors will proceed to ignore or reject it. Even with an agent's validation, many agented authors don't get a book deal on their first try. If the author is lucky and an editor bites, the author will be paid an advance, and the agent keeps 15% (plus 15% of every dollar the book makes from that point forward). If the book fails to get acquired, then no money between agent and author ever changes hands.

Most of the titles you see on the shelves in the major bookstore chains went through this process, but there are exceptions. Occasionally, an author finds a way to cut in line. There are various legends floating around about Wattpadders who found a shortcut, and I was never really sure if these stories were true . . . until it happened to me.

Short-Circuiting the Process

I joined Wattpad in 2013 with no prior writing experience, and I completed five novel-length stories in my first two years. My publishing daydreams turned serious when my fifth book, Follow Me Back, was still a work in progress. The story had about 200K reads at the time – not a monster hit by Wattpad standards, but the #1 ranked book in Mystery/Thriller. Then one morning I opened up my inbox, and there was this message sitting at the top: