The Publishing Game

An Introduction to The Rock Game

Hi friends,

We had this thing in my family. We called it the Rock Game, but it wasn’t an actual game. It was a metaphor my exasperated mother used when I would say “I’m bored” and she would offer me ideas on what to do. This did not go on for long, because it is annoying (oh how I know now as a mother myself) and because she would say she wasn’t playing the Rock Game anymore.

I always pictured it like this: someone on a wide beach covered in rocks. You, the questioner, says:

“I want a rock.”

And your mom, or friend, says: “Do you want this rock?”

“No,” you say.

“How about this one?”

“No.”

“This one?”

“No.”

ad infinitum

I say this to my clients a lot and no one’s ever said oh yeah! My mom said that, too. Maybe mine made it up. Maybe I did. What’s memory, anyway?

My whole point here is that we cannot play the Rock Game in publishing. A writer cannot say to an agent, whether their agent or someone not their agent, how about this rock? or this one? or this? in quick succession. An agent cannot say to an editor? How about this or? Maybe this one? Or this one? in quick succession. Mr. Morhaim himself says you’re only as good as your last submission, so we, as agents, have to send out books with impunity. I cannot send things to any old editor, or all of them. If I continually strike out with an editor, I’ll probably not send them more things in the future. There may just be something off in our chemistry, in the kinds of books I think they like and the kinds of books they like and/or can buy. Submission lists are important and this is not an exact science, so we’re all just doing the best with the information we have.

If you continually strike out with an agent you’re submitting to, and I mean like five, six, ten times, not just once or twice, maybe they are not your agent. As funny as they may seem on Twitter, as much as their #mswl matches with what (you think) you’ve got, they just might not be the agent for you. The good news is there are hundreds of other agents, and for me hudrends of other editors.

What’s lurking under both these scenarios is tell me what to write and I’ll write it. I get that so much, espeically now, when people are stressed, opportunities seem scarce, the internet crows about cool new things it looks like everyone else has access to. Believe me, I know. Many years ago I auditioned to write a cheerleader YA work for hire project. I didn’t get it. I would do that in a second now (or so I think) because what could be better to a person who wants a book deal than a ready-made book deal?

A chunk of the deals I’ve recently done have been work for hire projects, meaning an editor came to me (or my client) and said we have this thing and we might want you to write it. Often the writer writes a proposal or chapter on spec (i.e. for no pay) and the book has to go through an approval process like any other. But the idea came from the publisher and thus doesn’t belong to the author. These can be great opportunities. They can be lots of money or a little. They can launch careers or make a modest ripple.

Getting these gigs is not a reverse Rock Game, where the clients are the rocks and the publisher is asking for options. Usually it’s clear who’s right for a project, because they have specific experience or skill or education or writing credits. As much as any writer can write almost anything, it doesn’t usually work out that way when it comes to actual publishing. When an editor comes to me and says I need a person who can do this, I usually only have one, maybe two, rocks to show them.

(Clients, if you think I am talking about you, I am not. This is coming from a conversation I had with a non-client friend.)

What does this mean? That most of the time, the ideas have to come from you, and you’re not necessarily going to know how they are received and you can’t control how they are received so so you might as well write what you like, focus on your one rock and polish it to high shine. It might work, and it might not, and if it doesn’t, you’re still on that beach, covered in rocks, picking one for yourself. I do personally believe that a writer has infinite ideas. They just have to find the right one. A writer does not have infinite publishing opportunites. That’s a whole ‘nother game.

OXOXOX,
Kate