Take my manuscript to an agent, straight to publishers, or self-publish?

[Recursion]

People who have done this before: any thoughts?

[Squinch]

1. What did you write? I don't know the answer to your question, I'm just curious.

I'm also curious about the answers you do get.

[Recursion]

2. Historical fiction

The pitch is "Da Vinci Code in1618"

Attractive woman finds the Voynich Manuscript; is pursued by Jesuits.

[Squinch]

3. Cool!

Good luck with it. Is it finished?

[TeamPooka]

10. just so you know - that's not a pitch

A pitch is when you are selling. What you want and need is a logline.
What you have described is a concept or idea.
Your idea sentence is not even a logline.
A logline involves 3 parts to tell the story:
1. WHO - a character description that let's us know something about the lead ala "Maria, a socially awkward accountant..."
"Attractive woman" is not a character anyone cares about.
2. DILEMMA - the characters dilemma or challenge
3. ACTION - The action they take to resolve their problem.

You can describe any plot or movie with this format:
BREAKING BAD
“When Walt, a high school chemistry teacher with a wife and a handicapped son, is given a diagnosis of terminal cancer, he turns to what he knows best, chemistry, and decides to make and distribute meth in order to have something to leave his family.”

WHO – A high school chemistry teacher with a wife and handicapped son
DILEMMA – is given a diagnosis of terminal cancer
ACTION – decides to make and distribute meth GOAL – in order to have something to leave his family.

With a proper logline prepared and perfected all you should have to do is say the sentence and the response from the person "pitched" should be "I'd like to read that, send it to me".

[kag]

4. I wrote a non-fiction history book...

and self-published. Unless you are absolutely committed to learning how to market your book, I don't recommend it.

I now have a guest room full of books that I may never sell. Don't get me wrong...Everyone who has commented back to me on it has loved it, and not just a little. In fact, I've begun working with a "real" publisher, but she wants a new cover, and some better front and back material, so she's working with me to produce a second edition. (Thus, my problem with ever selling the originals.) The whole exercise started me out in a financial hole that I might have avoided if I had just tried harder to find a publisher in the beginning.

I have talked to self-publishers who can do it, and do it well. But the trick is marketing. No matter how great the book is, it really doesn't "sell itself". You have to be willing to do that, and do it for a long time. There are some good books out there on how to market, it just turns out to be an exercise that my heart was never in.

Good luck.

[Squinch]

5. How did you find your publisher that you're working with? Did you ever approach any agents?

[kag]

6. I did send out a few queries, but not many.

My husband and I really liked the idea of self-publishing, and had some good ideas about marketing. They just didn't produce the results we wanted.

I found this publisher in a round-about way. I started working with a book shepherd I found on-line. The original idea was just to have her help me get my website redone and find someone to help with PR. But then she approached a publisher friend of hers with it, and she offered me a contract. (It's still not completely settled, but I think it will be.)

Again, marketing is key. I've spoken to writers who do their own marketing, and they like the independence of it. It just didn't work for me.

[yellerpup]

7. If you have access to an agent

and, if that person is willing to sit down with you, or meet you on any level, take the opportunity and be prepared to have your pitch ready. Most publishers are not open to un-agented submissions, which is why you go for the agent first. Self-publish if you have a large fan base and/or are able to sponsor your own book tour because without publicity and promotion even excellent books sink to the bottom of the charts.

[SheilaT]

8. You might want to go to a writing conference or two.

Some of them have agents there, and typically they have a lot of very practical information about the entire industry.

There is a great deal of on-line information for you to look at about getting an agent, finding a publisher, and so on. You first of all need to have a good sense of what the market actually is, and to what extent your novel will fit in. How long it? Who is publishing works like that? Who is agenting work like that?

You really need to consider self-publishing as the absolute last resort. I know I haven't read your manuscript, so don't take this personally, but it's been my experience that self-published books are rarely worth reading. They have not had the professional editing that most books need.

You also need to take the kind opinions of friends with a large grain of salt. They'll tend to overlook the sorts of flaws that a publisher or agent would make you fix.

Good for you for completing an entire novel, by the way. It's not easy. And of course do let us know if you get published.

[mainer]

9. Query agents. Make sure they're non-fee-charging agents.

And be sure they belong to this organization:

http://aaronline.org/