Literary Agents Debunk 7 Major Publishing Myths

I debunk 7 major publishing myths

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Have you ever heard people claim that agents don’t even look at the slush pile? Or what about that your manuscript has to be absolutely perfect, or it will automatically be rejected? I see traditional publishing myths like these circulating online almost every day, and they can be so discouraging for aspiring authors. So, today, I’m setting the record straight and debunking these myths with facts straight from the source. Here’s what agents at top literary agencies had to say about these claims and their insight on how the industry ACTUALLY works.


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MORE WRITING AND PUBLISHING ADVICE:
 
7 TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING MYTHS DEBUNKED BY LITERARY AGENTS:
01:05 – Myth #1: Agents don’t sign authors from cold queries
02:35 – Myth #2: Your agent will drop you if your book doesn’t sell   
03:59 – Myth #3: Agents want manuscripts to be perfect
05:59 – Myth #4: Agents only want books in trending genres
06:49 – Myth #5: Publishing is a cutthroat business
08:13 – Myth #6: Agents never sign clients from revise and resubmits
09:34 – Myth #7: Agents want to change your vision for the story

ABOUT ME:
My name is Alyssa Matesic, and I’m a professional book editor with nearly a decade of book publishing and editorial experience. Throughout my career, I’ve held editorial roles across both sides of the publishing industry: Big Five publishing houses and literary agencies. The goal of this channel is to help writers throughout the book writing journey—whether you're working on your manuscript or you're looking for publishing advice.

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MUSIC:

[justkisproductions]

I'm trying to get started as an author at 41. I already got my first two rejections. When I told my wife, she said oh baby I'm so sorry. I'm not, As an entrepreneur I know that the more no's you get can only lead to a yes. I'm excited to have been rejected because it means they're reading it!

[rowan]

At times it does feel like my stories isn't holding up with what agents want. I still keep on writing and hope that an agent will finally accept. My goal is to write exciting stories many hopefully can enjoy and quit my crappy retail job.

[Yoshua.Garcia]

I love writing and I always had. Nothing feels me with such much joy and love than writing. But querying had made me bitter and I wish I never began to write. I feel as a failure and I know what people tell me that “they were not the right agents” and “this doesn’t represent your value as person” and such. Sometimes I wish I could die and just live in another world/dimension where I can only write and nothing else. Where I don’t have to worry about my job, rent, food, chores, etc.

[Johnny]

My concern about the trends is that, sure, you shouldn’t just write to meet one…

But a manuscript that’s a 7/10 but meets a trend might get through, but it takes an 8/10 or 9/10 to get through if it’s not trendy.

[franciscoojeda]

I am not doubting the speaker on this video but I have queried 109 times and gotten two (2) responses. These queries were for two novels and four collections of short stories. I am willing to give the benefit of the doubt but...two responses out of 109 queries! Out of the two responses, one indicated they were not accepting new material. Period. Dead stop. No other explanation. The second one indicated the following (quoting): "You need to read and write more to develop the skills for someone to take you seriously." I have this framed on my wall to ensure I never forget this agency and agent. This is not about the process of querying or even a criticism of the publishing industry, this is about a lack of professionalism. I wish all writers better treatment than I have received. Good luck.

[webbsamples]

One of your very best Alyssa. Very Helpful.

[larryduncan]

This is great information. Especially considering how many other people there are on YT right now, claiming to have experience in the industry and making it sound like agents are just super petty gatekeepers.
I just watched a video yesterday by someone claiming to have experience in the field who said the agents they worked with would rarely read past the first line of a query letter unless it was worded in a very specific format. They just deleted anything that didn’t match their preferred format without ever even looking at the manuscript or even the synopsis itself.

[eruvandib.]

I appreciate this video very much. Sometimes, I've seen fellow writers just about act like everyone in the publishing industry is mean, evil, or just plain mercenary. Rejection hurts and can get frustrating and discouraging, but that doesn't mean the person who rejected your story is bad or mean any more than readers are bad or mean for not connecting with any given book that we may read. We writers are an emotional lot, and that's part of what makes us good at crafting story, but I for one know it's important to not let emotion make us ignore facts that, like you said, agents and publishers are people who love books too. They just aren't superheroes and can't take every one of the thousands of books that come across their desk.

[FlashUltra_]

I guess my question is: these myths exist for a reason which means we all have thought or felt that these myths were/are real. so why have we felt like they’re real? Did they used to be and things changed?

[bevgreen]

As an unpublished writer, I've seen many of these myths talked about on other channels. I believe you know what you're talking about because you've been in the business. My question is, why are you no longer in the business? Did it burn you out? Were there other things about the business that made you leave? Also, I'd like you to address the issue of male authors apparently not getting many deals these days. Is that a myth also? As an older male writer, it makes me wonder if it's worth the effort to try tradpub, or whether I should do Indie.

[yardsalestanleyplayers]

AEVITAS agency tossed in my face by Matesic. Anne Lennox, lead singer R&R band, she says, Work Work Work... and she's right.

[Tygertyger]

It isn't agents, or even editors, that you have to worry about trying to change your story. Hollywood will do that, if you're lucky enough to get a movie deal.

[joefraracci]

In the bad old days women had to use pen names or their initials to get published. Now we have equality but as George Orwell noted some writers are more equal than others.

[UsImgincre]

Wonderful video Alyssa! It's just what I needed to hear! I'm planning on sending queries out next year for my novel.

[RichardJBarbalace]

I understand that many novelists and non-fiction writers have agents, but is that typical for other types of books? Should you have an agent if you only write short stories? Should you have an agent if you write poetry? I attended a poetry workshop at a book festival this weekend, and do not think I met any poets who have agents.

[blackiemittens]

I think many of these myths may be to frustrate or scare authors toward Self Publishing as being their Only option. It is valid for some and proven successful, but it leaves those writers who focus mainly on the Writing, a bit out in the cold. Thanks for sharing this info. It's encouraging to know at least some of the hurdles may not be there.

[exdejesus]

This is so helpful. Sometimes it seems like the submission process is adversarial -- us vs. them. Just having the concept that agents can be on the side of the writers, and genuinely want to help guide them to writing and publishing their best work, is so encouraging.

[lilrosetattoo]

This was really encouraging. I’m in the process of writing a 4 book fantasy series and I know that’s a tall order as a debut. So I started developing a standalone which I’m also excited about. It’s nice to know that if my series doesn’t find a home out the gate that I can keep working on it and it might find a home at a later date.

[rsybing]

Sorry, I know what literary agents are going to say. But a year of rejections later, I need to be convinced that their actions back up their words. And I understand the pressures of the market are significant, all I'm saying is mere reassurances here aren't encouraging. Now, if you have other advice besides "just trust the process, keep doing what you're doing, " I'd be interested. No hand holding is necessary, just some actual advice beyond just grinding through rejections.

[RecklessDeck]

Is it possible to finds a literary agent that will work with an author on both novel and scripted podcast formats? Or do you need two separate agents for this?