Q&A Thursday

Hi friends,

It's Q&A Thursday! Only two more left in 2025 so get your questions in now!

Anon asks: I have a question about option novels and the current landscape. I've been hearing that it's increasingly difficult to sell your option to your current publisher. Of course, this topic is riddled with nuance for instance whether you try to sell it before you debut (and therefore before sales numbers are available) or after. But I've been seeing a number of debut literary authors being essentially dropped by their publisher after their first books. Something interesting I heard from one agent was that, at least when it comes litfic, she said she finds her clients typically only have trouble selling their option if the second project is AS quiet or MORE quiet than their debut, that the second project needs to have an even stronger hook than the first (i.e lean more commercial). I'd love to hear your take on this and what you're currently seeing on this front!

Unfortunately, I'm hearing this, too, but it varies so greatly author to author, genre to genre, I hesitate to proclaim Option Are Hard Now in a way that would be helpful to other authors. I guess it's helpful to hear yes, I am seeing this, too, so yes, I am seeing this, too.