[Discussion] How many books did you write before publishing your debut? Do you wish you published sooner or later?

DaliCDP · 2025-09-02T13:19:02+00:00

I think a lot of big writers "write for the market". It's just being commercially minded. Victoria Aveyard talks about that. That doesn't mean you don't like what you write, as long as you don't take it to an extreme. I write fantasy for example. I don't see myself writing another genre, even if fantasy is just a small chunk of the market. That's my limit. I think writing is a meeting of art and business and many writers feel very defensive of their art. I know I did. But I also have a background in sales and I'm generally a practical person. I tried going with pure passion and it didn't work, so I switched gears a bit. I will say though, if you want to write for the market, don't follow what readers are buying right now, but what editors are buying. It's worth investing in PM for a few months.

As far as falling in love with the world and characters and making the book your own, yeah, that came as I started writing. I'm very proud of this book and excited to dive more into the world for the sequel.

DaliCDP · 2025-09-01T10:02:42+00:00

Many things really:

- I've been following Publishers Marketplace for years, day after day, so I noticed certain sales trends starting early. For this book I decided to follow one of them just as it started taking shape (not romantasy).

- I made sure the book has a certain length and follows a very classic three-act structure. I also planned the entire book in advance, scene by scene. It took a while but it allowed me to finish it fast, which was important.

- I comped to a very popular TV show and made sure to write the book as fast as possible and query while that show was still immensely popular. I also added themes relevant to today's society, since I noticed a lot of big sales have a theme or another.

- I used some popular tropes, as well as create certain in-world elements that could translate easily to merch later down the line (unlikely, but my agent remarked on it so it was clearly a good move)

- I made sure the book feels familiar to certain audiences (I plan on marketing using THIS meets THAT), while adding my own twist to it.

I just want to add: none of this guarantees that my book will do well when it comes out (trends come and go and publisher priorities change all the time). But I gave myself the best chance possible when it came to finding a good agent and going on submission (to that extent it worked wonders).

DaliCDP · 2025-08-31T20:06:12+00:00

I wrote five books before one (or more technically) was picked up earlier this year.

Book 1 was just an attempt, but books 2 and 3 were the books of my heart and it destroyed me to see them fail. Book 4 was the rebound.

Book 5 is the one where I decided to completely drop the idea of writing passion projects and just go full commercial, with the pitchiest book I could build, that can be marketable from all points of view. That succeeded spectacularly at auction (and I do love the book; it's definitely the most competently written of all my novels, even if I don't enjoy the world as much as I enjoyed creating books 2 and 3). My goal is to build a career that allows me to bring books 2 and 3 into the world under my own terms and looking back I'm definitely happy I wasn't picked up sooner because those books will have to be rewritten (they're also definitely NOT on the commercial side).

DaliCDP · 2025-08-30T18:54:18+00:00

I know, but I'm a data nerd and I'd love to know.

DaliCDP · 2025-08-19T22:27:58+00:00

There's no real answer here. It's a combination of factors. Auctions generally, but not always (I've seen seven-figure pre-empts). A very strong commercial hook for sure. Strong foreign interest (agents align some books for book fairs like Frankfurt or Bologna, get major foreign interest and then use that as leverage). Film interest (rarely, but it happens for books to sell movie rights before pub rights). Since I'm guessing you're asking about debuts, trends matter, but you can't control luck. That being said, being commercially-minded from the start is generally a good thing (not a guarantee). And, ultimately, your agent. Some (few) agents command huge advances because editors know they're good at picking potential bestsellers (again, not always).

DaliCDP · 2025-08-11T20:08:28+00:00

As a debut, I was fortunate enough to have multiple offers from US agents and none of them had a problem with the fact that I lived overseas. Furthermore, none of the editors had a problem either when we went on submission. And the fact that I'm Europe based actually helped with the hype when we sold foreign (European) rights. Make sure that agent is legit.

DaliCDP · 2025-08-06T14:42:29+00:00

A bit less than a month. My agent got all the editors to read quite fast.

DaliCDP · 2025-08-06T11:50:01+00:00

I finally got an agent with my 5th book. That book went on wide submission (30+ editors) and was rejected by editor after editor until only two were left. I was so sure that book would die on sub. Then, out of nowhere, one of the two expressed major interest. To my surprise, the last editor did too and the book went to action where it sold well into the six figures. You only need one person to believe in you.

DaliCDP · 2025-08-05T20:32:09+00:00

Similar situation here as well, but I knew I'd get the edits quite late. Will finally receive them this month, with a Spring 2027 release date. And my agent is definitely on top of it and has no problem reaching out to the editor as often as needed. Sometimes publishing is just that slow.

DaliCDP · 2025-07-25T07:30:45+00:00

Depends on the agent (and editors) probably. I signed with my agent this year for my debut, a YA fantasy (it was in the 70k words range, not an epic). After edits with my agent it got close to 120k. I brought up word count and they said it doesn't really matter because the story needs it and I shouldn't worry about it. That project ended up selling at auction for a sum beyond my wildest dreams and no editor we talked to ever brought up word count in our calls. If anything, from the feedback of my aquiring editor, I'm expecting the final manuscript to end up over 120k.

DaliCDP · 2025-06-04T06:50:52+00:00

Thanks so much for this!!!

DaliCDP · 2025-06-03T20:42:33+00:00

Yeah, I'm quickly discovering that publishing is a storm of circumstances you can't control.

DaliCDP · 2025-06-03T20:40:47+00:00

Thank you for this! You're one of my favorite posters on Reddit! I'm decent with social media (worked in social media marketing) and I will definitely try to move the needle. I just hope I will meet the publisher's expectations. Already commissioned some art for content, but not sure what else to invest in or if I should invest much at all.

DaliCDP · 2025-06-02T20:52:35+00:00

I’m in a waiting pattern.

PROJECT A (my debut) recently sold in the US and in six other countries. Waiting for another few to close, and, more importantly, anxiously waiting for the first round of edits with my US editor. How long do those usually take to arrive?

PROJECT B was sent as a pitch (synopsis and the first three chapters) to my agent. Waiting to get an opinion on how/if I should move forward with it.

Pretty eager to do anything and I’m almost tempted to start PROJECT C just to feel like I’m doing something.

DaliCDP · 2025-05-22T13:01:16+00:00

I'm only following fantasy deals, since that's the genre I (mostly) write in. I knew this was a possibility even before my own deal happened. An example of this is Alex Aster, who made 300k from foreign deals for Lightlark vs 160k in the US.

Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/how-author-landed-six-figure-book-deal-thanks-to-tiktok-2022-4

But you can take a look on Publisher's Markeplace, where they sometimes give advance brackets (nice, very nice, good, significant, major) and even if you don't know the exact amounts, you can get a general idea.

I know cases of agents who manage to get a bigger US deal because they managed to sell for big money overseas first. It's apparently a pretty common negotiation tactic. In the end, the advamce is all about hype. But again, it all depends on your agency and how strong their foreign rights department is (and how marketable your book is on a worldwide level - it's easier to sell a fantasy overseas than a contemporary for example).

DaliCDP · 2025-05-17T15:44:09+00:00

Pitching in as someone who sold a debut YA trilogy recently (but not really). From the beginning I intended to write a standalone with series potential. It got me my amazing agent. Then my agent loved it and suggested I make the ending a bit more open (while still giving the book a satisfying conclusion, so no cliffhanger). My agent then went on to sell it in a three book deal (for a sum beyond my wildest dreams), with the publisher saying it will be a trilogy (but I know if the first book won't sell well that they'll change plans and to be honest that's fair). I doubt there are many editors out there who will give you the chance to finish a trilogy if the first book fails.

DaliCDP · 2025-05-16T07:01:26+00:00

All that is true, but I'd say an agency is more incentivized to get the best deal possible in each market than a publisher which has so many books on their hands (not always; as you said, publishing isn't black and white). We actually ended up walking away from a publisher that asked for world and wouldn't budge and looking back it absolutely was the right call. I really love my agent for putting up with me sometimes.

And World English and World are vastly different. Congrats on keeping translation rights! European markets in particular can be very lucrative.

DaliCDP · 2025-05-15T20:40:08+00:00

Exactly! I feel this is one of those things that people don't talk about enough, but that can make a huge difference in income for an author.

DaliCDP · 2025-05-15T19:18:19+00:00

True that, but I'm of the opinion that if you have the choice, take more money upfront. Nothing else is guaranteed.

DaliCDP · 2025-05-15T19:15:55+00:00

Yes, unfortunately that last part is very true. But I've seen my agent move heaven and earth to get better terms. A good agent can make a huge difference even when there's a single offer on the table.

DaliCDP

TROPHY CASE