Now Hiring: Author

Hey friends,

I have written three half-posts this week and I can't seem to get what I want down in pixels. I'm feeling summer-scattered–distracted by sunshine, longing for vacation, schedule in shambles from end-of-school-year mishegoss. But also, I still want to do good and help all the writers sending up flares with big questions and issues that the internet feeds me everyday. (I have one solution for that: log off, Kate.) And then, fellow agent and friend Anna Sproul-Latimer wrote this in her brilliant newsletter How To Glow in the Dark, that you should all also subscribe to: You're Special, But Not Special Enough. It's everything I wanted to say about the recent conversations about author care and publishing transparency and everything else in the ~discourse* of late. Go read it. I'll wait.

Then I read another social media post somewhere (lol) that's whole point was I thought all my publishing dreams came true with my huge deal but I was so very wrong. Did I click though? Yep. I took the bait.

There was nothing really wrong with that author's experience except it didn't match their expectations. That's a big thing, but one completely and totally solvable (in part by reading my book and this and Anna's newsletters, natch). An agent can help with this of course, and so can a really good group chat. Maybe all these things together. Ever the Capricorn (rising), I wanted to offer some more or less actionable advice to remedy all the things Anna talks about in her newsletter and that we're seeing online, if possible. And I think that a lot of the author heartbreak I saw in that social media post can be mitigated too, if you make sure you meet all (or let's be real, some) of these Not Real But Still Necessary Job Requirements for the position of Published Author.

1. Clear Eyes, Full Heart, Can't Lose: Why yes, I did steal this from Friday Night Lights and it fits here because to be a writer you have to be able to be part of a team. No one's going to ask you to kick a field goal, but you need the ability to work with others on something you all care about, to take feedback to improve your skills, and recognize when it's time to take one for the team. You might be the quarterback on your book-team, but you're not the only one who knows what play to call.
2. Ability to Ask Incessant Questions and Not Feel Bad About It: Publishing and writing involves a lot of "bothering" people. As a writer, you're going to have a lot of questions, especially the first time around. You have to be able to advocate for yourself and ask for the answers you need (whether or not those answers exist is a different thing), even if you have the most helpful agent and editor in the world. We don't know what you don't know until you ask. Even knowing to ask is there anything else I should consider here? is a valuable skill. Speak up. You aren't bothering anyone by asking questions.
3. Thick Skin: If you write a book, someone is going to tell you your baby is ugly. Someone will not love the book of your heart. Someone will completely miss your point and write a one-star review of it on Goodreads. Someone will confuse you with another writer and accuse you of not doing what that other writer did before. An editor will give you feedback that they don't realize cuts you to the quick. Someone will ghost you. Someone will pass on your work for completely unfair reasons. It is imperative you learn how to weather these storms the best you can. You don't and won't become an unfeeling robot about these things, but you should find a way to not let them devastate you beyond repair. The goal is not no feelings or being completely unbothered. The goal is to make peace with them and continue on your own journey.
4. Mode of Self-Fulfillment Other Than Publishing: Publishing will not love you back. Publishing will not fix your heartbreak. It will not stick a finger in that mean teacher's face and say SEE?? I AM A GOOD WRITER. Publishing will not fill that hole in your heart. You cannot wear Publishing like a medal on your chest for all to see. Publishing will not prove your worth. Publishing will not cure you of anything. The person you are the day before you get a book deal and the day after you get a book deal are the same person, just now with homework. If you are waiting for Publishing to heal you, you will be waiting forever. Please examine yourself to make sure you're not pinning all your hopes and dreams on this.
5. Alternate Income Streams: Few writers can live exclusively on their book earnings, especially starting out. Take a look here at last week's post on how the money works. Even six-figure deals are not quit your job money. This is normal and common and something we all are annoyed about in publishing. You know when you'll be able to quit your day job after it happens, not before.
6. A Let's Give It a Shot Attitude: Most books do not get published. Most authors do not publish the first book they write. Agents reject most submissions they get. Editors reject most submissions they get. Most writers sell a modest number of books. The overwhelming majority of books do not hit the New York Times best sellers list, get picked for a celebrity book club, or made into a movie. Many writers don't publish more than their debut. You can look at this and say why bother? and that is a fair assessment. Or, you can write your book and say let's give it a shot. If that doesn't work, try something else. If your happiness hinges on a 100% success rate, you will be unhappy publishing any book.
7. Comfort With the Unknown: There are a lot of unknowns in Publishing. What is the algorithm the New York Times uses to populate its best sellers lists? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ What's the best way to market a mystery novel? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Why did this book about blacksmiths with a pink cover sell more copies than this other book about blacksmiths with a pink cover? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ We don't know all these answers because there is a big disconnect between the marketing publishers send out into the world and the affect it has on actual readers buying books with money. The alternative is tracking everything you look at, click, interact with, and think and tying that to your bank account or your library card, so we can see exactly which post resulted in which specific sale. No one wants that. Sometimes you see 50 posts about a book and buy it six months later at that cute bookstore on vacation. Did those 50 posts work then? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
8. Rejection Tolerance: You will be rejected by agents, editors, book clubs, reviewers, other writers, conferences, contests, awards committees, other editors, foreign editors, journalists, movie executives, and who knows who else in your publishing career. The most famous author you know has been rejected by more than half that list and will be rejected by the remaining in the next five years. You will be accepted by a bunch of those people for one book and rejected by all of them for the next and then accepted by half for the third. If this makes you want to crawl under the rug, figure out a way to tolerate this best you can, however you can, or do not participate in the traditional publishing world. Rejection sensitivity is a real thing, I know. But rejection is a part of Publishing and there's no way around it. You have to take care of yourself, first and foremost, because Publishing cannot change the rejection part.

So, what do you do if you don't meet all or most of these requirements? Let's be honest, no one does. But knowing in which areas you need more support will help you SO much along the way. Are you really sensitive to rejection? Knowing that is half the battle, and you can prepare yourself in the situations you know rejections are incoming (when you're on submission, querying, etc). Are you a complete pessimist? Well, you probably can't change your whole personality, but when you recognize yourself spiraling down the what's the point this will never happen I'll never get XYZ, you can try to shake yourself out of it a little, whatever way works best for you. Personally, a hey Kate you're doing that thing again said to myself can derail my spiral long enough to at least do something else, if not cure me of the spiral altogether. Everything here is about knowing how YOU react to all the different scenarios publishing can throw at you. You cannot control how Publishing responds to you. The thing you can control most is yourself.

XOXOXOXO,

Kate

Who am I and what is this? This is Agents & Books, a twice-weekly newsletter about writing, publishing, and the creative life. I've been an agent for almost 20 years, most of it at the Howard Morhaim Literary Agency, and I'm the author of two books: Write Through It: An Insider's Guide to Publishing and the Creative Life (Simon Element, 2025) and a picture book called Pay Attention to Me!, with illustrations by Rob Justus (Sourcebooks, 2026). If you haven't already, become a subscriber today. $5 a month or $50 a year. Same price since 2019! Need to cancel? Look here.