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This seems similar to the problem I'm having. Is there any way you could give the reader some sort of closure at the end of book 1 while leaving them wanting more?
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That's not the issue. Book 1 is fine by itself as a complete book ending on a cliffhanger (ie. Fellowship of the Ring), even though the story doesn't end there. What my issue is is whether a publisher would take on a trilogy.
JD
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You already have books two and three plotted - if not yet expanded - and there are plenty of trilogies/series coming out now. If they like it enough, and they think there will be a market for it...well, why not?
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They're already written and I'm editing them as one complete book right now but the end is more compressed than I want it to be. That makes it come across as a bit forced rather than naturally progressed and in turn makes it appear a little bit contrived.
So it's either going to be a very long book or three medium length books but for some reason I'm inclined to believe that publishers are less likely to take the risk on three books from an unknown, unpublished author rather than the one.
JD
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Keep in mind that publisheres have a minimum word count for full length novels, which is 60 000 words, and agents would probably be reluctant to try to sell a book that they know are below the industry word count demand. So dividing a 120 000 word novel into three would make each book too short, unless you're plannin on expanding each? Either way, even if they were 200 000 words each, I think that personally, I'd still prefer it to be one book :)) At least perhaps query an agent with the full length novel and perhaps if you get the agent, discuss the possibilities for a trilogy/series with him/her?
120 000 words is just a bit shorter than Angels and Demons (150k words) and a bit longer than Harry Potter 3 (ca 110k words) for comparison.
Thats the best advice I can give atm, sorry :/ I'm useless, I know.
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I forgot to mention that having an agent first, representing your work would give you a great advantage over those who submit their SASE's to publishers without being represented by an agency/agent, because nowadays, most publishers will mostly only consider work by agented people, the rest goes in the slush pile and not many of those people look through their slush piles.
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You are way out on the page count for 130,000 words, unless it is to be published on A4 paper.
My novel was printed at 5 inches X 7.3/4 inches and runs to 280 pages. The word count is about 74,000.
Whether it be a one book + sequel or a trilogy, the hardest thing is to get an agent or a publisher. Much of your 'luck' depends on the genre of the story. Fantasy novels often run to many thousands of words past 130,000, but are notoriously hard to break into as a writer.
Why do you feel it necessary to have a trilogy? As has been pointed out, you need to pass the 200,000 word mark.
Personally, I would work on the one story that has a cliffhanger-ish ending. Don't make it too obvious that the reader has to buy the next instalment to be satisfied. Make that the best you can possibly make it. If you have used unnecessary padding to get to the word count you have at present, in total, get rid of it. The first page, and some say, the first paragraph, must grab the agent/publisher. If they don't like that, they won't bother to read further.
It is getting increasingly difficult for new authors. One of the reasons being that new agents are springing up and a lot are accepting rubbish. They chance it to publishers and well, the rest is obvious.
Once you have done all you can to your story, approach agents, (decent ones with a track record and only those that accept your genre), with the correct type of query they require. Some will accept emails, some don't. Also, find out the name of the person who deals with submissions and add that name to your query letter. Find out what the word/page count they will read, (some charge a reading fee), Find out what length the synopsis needs to be if they require one. Many only want one or two A4 pages. There are those that expect nothing less than 10,000 words or more.
Hope this is helpful and not off putting.
Reiner.
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I can see why my numbers would be misleading. I was referring to the number of pages on ms word so yeah, a4.
As for the rest it's not off-putting at all. I've heard it all in various forms before, though it's aleays good to be told it again.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
JD
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Reiner makes a lot of good points.
May I point out though, that if the agent requires a reading fee - more oftne than not, they are a scam. They only should get paid through what you earn. Some are legitimate, but in general, if they require a reading fee they are agents who cant make money on their own clients, ergo crap agents.
And I want to say as well, that im not trying to be off putting :)
I also want to mention that if anyone queries an agent, check out their website for guidelines as to how they want their query sent, or guidelines to anything really - a lot of them have different requirements. If you send an e-query to an agent who really just wants SASE queries then you've shot yourself in the foot.
And make sure that query you send is perfect. Make sure the novel has a great hook (since most prospective buyers only read the title and first paragraph.
A query, depending on agency, usually just means coverletter and the first 3-5 pages with sase.
Making sure the novel one is trying to get published is meeting industry standards is also vital. I said it earlier i think, that a novel has to be at least 60 000 words long, which isnt all that long really.
They will get back to you, unless they havent seen the email OR they are turds, usually wihin 4-5 weeks, either saying "not for me/us" or "send partial" or full or whatever they ask for. Respond to them soon, even if they took 5 weeks to respond to you ;)
and follow their guidelines etc.
It's ok to ask an agent upfront to provide you with their client list unless its on their website (in which case they are likely to just get peeved off by that persons laziness lol), and its also important to see how successful/unsuccessful the clients are.
I want to reccomend some of the blogs done by literary agents out there, who give valuable information and tips on these things. You have probably been to most of them by now, since you're so far ahead in your story, but I wnat to reccomend some of the well known ones anyway like Miss Snark. ( http://misssnark.blogspot.com/ )
Its very helpful and informative. But there are countless other literary agents who have blogs like that too.
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When I planned my 3-book 6-part trilogy, I made sure every end of each part had a half ending. It doesn't solve every problem but it could still continue on, leaving every part as a stand alone book. It's more difficult to get published but it doesn't have to be one publisher for every book. Oh, and never mention that you are a first time author writing a trilogy. It's a query killer.
Hope this helps,
Dragonwriter
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