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I am sitting on something very hot right now. I am half way through writing a biography about an undercover narcotics officer for a major metro police force who happens to be transgender and just went through SRS.
I know I have had some success self publishing, but this is well beyond the scale of God Bless the Child and Unreachable when it comes to importance and marketability. I admit, I might not have what it takes to make this book the success that it should be on its own. I need an agent, but I have no clue how to find one or where to really look.
This book deserves media coverage and talk shows, I can't arrange that. I am looking for advice. Should I self publish and use the little marketing knowledge that I have. Should I sit on it and wait to see if I can get an agent. Should I just hand the work off and let the subject deal with the details after I'm done. So many questions, no answers.
Comments
Never ever pay to get a book published
You have joined the hundreds of thousands of wannabe writers caught up in the same Catch 22. The best advice I can give you is if anyone tells you what you have is a "best seller" and all you have to do is pay for....? RUN! They will massage your ego and bleed you dry. When your money runs out they disappear.
I used to have a list of agents and publishing companies but times change. Publishing companies merge, drop out, get bought out. Agents loose the fire in their belly and quit or no longer care enough to push a manuscript to a publisher.
What you don't want to do is if you go the publisher route. Do NOT contact any publishers that are not publishing in the genre your book audience may be seeking. Such as skip the romance and science fiction publishers.
You may believe what you have written is the next Tom Clancy story. TG stories so far are not big interest stories except in certain circles. I hope you prove me wrong. I've been out of the publishing business for... Times and interest changes.
I wish you success with your endeavor. Hold on really tight to your purse. There are hundreds of con artists out there who will tell you all the right things to get your last lucky dime. And they are damn good at it.
Now, dig in. Do your research and make your book a best seller. It is possible but you must be smarter than the cons.
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Just some rambling thoughts
Just some rambling thoughts and questions, Katie.
Do you have some sort of agreement with the subject to write this? Is she giving you information that would not be available to other writers? If that's so it might be a good idea to have a written agreement for this "authorized biography". Or is it more an autobiography of "xxx yyy" as told to Katie Leone? Either way. you need a written agreement that specifies who gets the final say on the finished product, who owns it, how the revenues are split.
If this is an autobiography or authorized biography then the best route might be for the subject (who is the one with the compelling life story) to contact publishers. Her pitch would be an introduction of herself, telling the publisher why she would be a great subject for a book, and, she's been working with an author (you), and has a book in late draft. If a publisher takes it on she would be the face on the morning talk shows pitching the book.
I agree this sounds like something that deserves to go the traditional publishing route rather than self publishing. But in any case, get a written agreement with the subject.
On the other hand if I'm wrong and this is an independent biography where the subject has no say in what goes into it and no expectation of profiting from the work, you can ignore that suggestion. In that case she is also free to go to a publisher herself and get them to take on the project and hook her up with another author. Just a thought.
Kris
{I leave a trail of Kudos as I browse the site. Be careful where you step!}
contracts
This is an official autobiography with an "as told to Katie Leone". We do have a contract and a NDA (thus why I am hazy on the details) in place. I am the only person outside of the subject who has access to not only 3 years worth of journals but also a few hours of video journals. I have been watching and writing and reading and writing. This will be a biography, but I swear the content reads like it came from Tanya Allan's sketchbook.
I don't want to go into the details of the contract, but it does state that we have an agreement along with financial breakdowns and the such. I also have a completion date by September, though I douibt it will take me that long. I am already at the half way point (35k words, I am aiming at 80k) and that is just back story before transition. I think this is way important and I would hate for it to be rouned because I'm a dumbfuck.
Katie Leone (Katie-Leone.com)
Writing is what you do when you put pen to paper, being an author is what you do when you bring words to life
Sounds like
Well, I'm usually the last person to recommend someone get an agent (or join the union - Equity/SAG) because up to a point, the benefits you can get out of that relationship are far below the costs or limitations put on you by having it. A good agent is going to cost you. They're going to limit some projects you want to do because of how they can impact others. They might take the money and disappear on you. I've had actors tell me personal stories about all of these situations... and my contact with literary agents from the theater dramaturg desk suggests that things are no different in that area of the business.
That said... if this story is as important as you imply... you should have an agent. If for any other reason than to give you another legal party in whose interest it is for the story to be contained and released in a fashion that benefits you and the source of the story. As opposed to a film producer getting wind of the idea and making a deal directly with the source (or just making shit up and ignoring the actual factual info completely) before you've even gotten the book in print.
Take your time and find someone good. Ideally, someone with a recognized agency. More details (http://www.sfwa.org/real/) ...
Just a thought...
Find a book by a mainstream publisher that's in a similar vein. Look at who was the editor for that book. Send that editor a book proposal (make sure you check that publisher's submissions policy beforehand). See what happens. This also can work for agents, take that same book (or books) that are similar in nature, and see who represented those authors. If there's more than one author with the same agent, you might try contacting that agent with your book proposal.
Maybe I'm just drinking drano... (movie reference, bonus no-prize to anyone who gets it)
~And so it goes...
I was going to add a similar comment
My cousin knows a successful author, in a similar field, that she met while doing a creative writing fair.
While it was a semi-fictional book, it did have a TG twist and was a main stream book, new york time best seller and every thing.
But, we would have to work out how and whom to contact (her, her agent, or her publisher), also I would have to get the contact info from that cousin.
Which is semi-tricky since she does not know I am trans up here. So, if you continue, limit how we know each other, maybe.
But, if you want more info; Katie, contact me tough my bigcloset mail box.
I would not want to give away private contact information on either side with out the parties involved.
But, if I have peeked your interest then I can try to get you some information at least on who you might want to try and contact.
This is only one option, of what way you may go. You maybe surprised what the title of the book was...
Either way good luck.
"Sometimes you need a little space to grow up or start over"- Me
Publicity
Wait until the book is almost finished, and then have the subject contact news media, possibly through a publicist, to get an interview - she's your best advertisement. If she's attractive or at least passable she might be able to find a national TV outlet that wants her story, otherwise it's more likely she'd have to go with local news or gay niche press. And in the interview she just needs to say something about how if people want to know the whole story in depth she's got a book that either is about to come out or just came out.
Sitting on something hot ??
Are you not too old to be riding the range ? :-)