Wisconsin Book Festival: Navigating the world of publishers, literary agents and authorship

One of the highlights of the most recent Wisconsin Book Festival that I attended here in Madison was the successful efforts of one of our community literary leaders, Fabu Mogaka in ensuring that a session was held at the Harambe Center to educate minority and other aspiring authors about the inner-workings of the trade of book publishing by professionals in the business. A panel of Natanya Wheeler of Lowestein-Yost Associates, Inc., Angela Ajayi of Africa World Press and Madison’s own Milele Chikasa Amana of Umoja Magazine walked their audience through the rigors and arduous process of finding publishers for the fruit of their literary efforts. In the mad clutter of the world of publishing, a budding author’s completed manuscript may just be the cakewalk on the arduous journey to being published. The heavy lifting starts with finding the right literary agent whose muster you, the author, must pass to advance towards the possibility of landing a publishing contract. Ms. Wheeler who works with the literary agency of Lowenstein-Yost Associates in New York and a University of Wisconsin, Madison graduate matter-of-factly declared that if you plan on publishing your work with a big-name publisher, you definitely would need an agent. This particular literary agent is interested in narrative non-fiction in the areas of memoirs, women’s issues, nature and politics, but also aggressively looking to build her fiction list with strong writers who have original and confident voices that touch on current events or multicultural issues. Science fiction, horror or fantasy works are not her forte. She explains that in most of the publishing houses editors do not have readers any more so they increasingly rely on intermediaries who would have done the initial winnowing of the materials that they get bombarded with. This is where the service of an agent as that bridge between the author and the publisher is most significant. She offers that there are rare exceptions, through writers’ conferences where a writer could pitch with a relatively small publisher or most university presses and dispense with a literary agent. Either way, it is best to first send a Query letter to a potential agent than shipping off your manuscript. The Query letter, typically one page in length should introduce your work. You should be able to pitch your work in three paragraphs. The paragraph that introduces yourself should only highlight relevant issues related to tying you to the work. The idea is to favorably influence the agent’s mindset. She also cautions promising authors to follow the guidelines when approaching an agent. Sending an entire manuscript that was not asked for is a faux pas. If the agent is so interested he/she may request a chapter or two of the manuscript for further review. Another pointer is not to write for the market. A writer should draw on their creative impulse to write on issues and stories they are passionate about. Riding the waves of market trends may backfire as the vogue may have ebbed by the time a manuscript works its way into a published work. An agent’s fee may vary between 15% and 20% when a publishing contract deal is made and especially at the higher end if foreign rights to the book are also acquired. This fee is not for the writer to pay. Writers are not expected to pay agents, so it is often a red flag when an agent demands payment from a writer to secure a publishing contract. The relationship between a writer and an agent is a mutually beneficial collaboration hence the agent in a good match should be as excited about the work as the author; otherwise, it may not be advisable to proceed with that very agent. Angela Ajayi, an editor at African World Press and Red Sea Press based in Trenton, New Jersey, has her niche in the works of writers of color. Her publishing houses that were established in 1983 have a mission to provide high quality literature on the history, culture, politics of Africa and the African Diaspora. Their hope is to enlighten, educate and engage their audience and communities. Ms. Ajayi noted the diversity of writers of color, which in itself has numerous subgroups. While she focuses on African, Caribbean, African-American literature, she recognizes yet another subgroup within the broad umbrella of the above genres. They include works that break into West African, South African and Trinidadian writing or black women literature in the US. The issue is not necessarily hinged on separate identities, as they are more works that bring very unique voices and unique spatial experiences. She now winces at the term ‘writers of color’ as being so antiquated and narrowly pigeonholes the complexity and capacity of the works of writers under this general umbrella. As an editor, she acquires and manages manuscripts. Given the mission and size of their operation, she could take on promising authors without the buffer of a literary agent. She will work with the writer to get the manuscript to an optimal level that readies it for a publishing contract state. She is as proud of the effort they put into raising the confidence of new authors as they are when such authors win prizes in the literary and academic world like Benjamin Kwakye who has two novels under his belt so far, ‘The Clothes of Nakedness’ and ‘The Sun by Night’. There is a renaissance in publishing Africa and Diaspora themed literature as interest in Africa seems to be growing again in the American psyche. The complexity of issues facing this beleaguered continent can no longer be avoided in this age of world spatial proximity and constant information flow. The steady stream of ideas from writers of color has been an added boon in bringing to fore some of the stories that were never told or completely ignored. Ms. Ajayi conceded that though they have had heavy concentration on academic and non-fiction work, they are seriously growing their fiction list. Summing up the various perspectives, Milele Chikasa Amana, the publisher and editor of the Madison based Umoja magazine helped the audience appreciate the bright line that needs to be drawn between writing and publishing. She cautioned authors, especially young or new writers to concentrate on writing and worry about publishing later. She wants writers not to let the technical hassles of publishing encumber the creative and literary impulse the writer needs to put out works that would appeal to a potential audience and yet tell the story the writer wants to tell. Ms. Amana offered that when the work is done, the author could at that time brand their work then seek out ways to market the work. Part of that marketing especially for people of color should include acquiring an agent if that is the best route depending on the market one wants to reach, and in addition attend conferences and be one’s own booster. She offered what appears to be a very effective strategy she learned from Dan Pointer, a motivational advisor who counsels on the fine points of publishing one’s work. In summary, he counsels, to write a book, start from the back cover. If the blurb would motivate someone to want to read that book, you are well on your way. Ike