Q&A Thursday

talk to your agent edition

Hello friends!

I have so many questions. So do you. Let’s answer the ones about publishing and writing, at least.

L asks: I have published four novels with several different indie publishers. They all sold a few thousand copies, the most popular one around 10,000 copies... which I was proud of, even if those numbers may be small potatoes to the big players. My agent went out with my fifth novel, which we both agree is by far my best work, and didn't manage to sell it. She first went out to a mix of big 5 imprints (which she said would be a real stretch) and indies, got a bunch of "this is wonderful, but..." rejections, I did a major edit based on the feedback and chose a new title, and then she went out to several more imprints. Still no dice. There are still other imprints she'd talked about submitting to, but after getting all those rejections, and considering my paltry sales numbers--which she thinks is the real reason we're getting "no"s--she's decided it's not a good idea. I'm understandably disappointed. I certainly don't blame my agent, but I do feel frustrated at her unwillingness to keep trying. We've talked about possibly parting ways so I can seek out new representation.

Based on all that, here's a somewhat random question: I've heard of authors with a few (modestly selling) books under their belts using a pseudonym to sort of relaunch themselves as a debut, the benefit being they don't have their past sales numbers dragging them down. Is this kosher? Like, if I found myself a new agent (a big if, I know, though I have someone in mind who has expressed some interest in the past), might she possibly be able to pitch different editors at the imprints that my current agent has reached out to with my heavily revised and renamed book... using an author pseudonym for me? Or is that crazy person behavior?

Halfway through your questions I thought she should try a pseudonym. It is totally kosher. It doesn’t make sense that it works, but it is totally a thing you can do, that