The path of new authors: what publishers are looking for today

For a writer , publishing houses can sometimes seem like an impregnable fortress , unable to deliver manuscripts, a situation that, according to experts in the publishing world, is often resolved by knowing the keys to the market , its needs and codes.

Mexican Mayra González, literary director at the multinational Penguin Random House, and Colombian Andrea Montejo, who lives in New York and founded the literary agency Indent in 2007 , participated this week in Guatemala at the Centroamérica Cuenta festival. In two separate interviews, they revealed how the publishing market locates new authors and how to approach them.

Andrea Montejo explains that at her literary agency, when it comes to choosing which writers to represent, there's a mix between those with a more established profile and new ones . Working from the start with a new author is what excites her the most.

"These are projects that really fulfill me because I think it's nice to build a career from scratch and start thinking, 'Let's do this and that,' and watch it grow," explains the founder of the literary agency Indent.

Mayra González, who represents a large publishing group like Penguin Random House, understands that from the outside, there is still a perception that they are focusing more on established authors, "but, in reality, the catalogs are increasingly adding more authors with their first novels ."

"This is something we publishers have understood very well: literary discourse must be continually renewed ; new intellectual exchanges and current conversations must be part of our catalogs," explains González.

And it's "that literary labels, many of them from the major publishing houses, have a significant offering of established authors, because, at least in the case of the Penguin Random House literary labels, what we're looking for are careers and projects, not isolated novels ; but it's also true that the enthusiasm for adding voices to the personal imprint of each editor and publisher motivates us to search, read, and investigate," says the literary director.

It's about " finding those voices that will be responsible for continuing the bookish conversation and who will have to pass this conversation on to the other generations to come," he emphasizes.

González explains that what he always tells new authors is " not to be afraid of literary prizes or workshops."

"I always encourage people to participate in literary prizes, because they might not win (...), but for publishers, these readings conducted by professional reviewers and juries are beacons that illuminate what other texts they found interesting, beyond the winner, and through that, a door can open," he says.

On the other hand, in relation to the literary workshops, they are "taught by renowned people (...) who have credibility in the publishing world and who can, and have done so with me, make recommendations (...) I can say that I, both through awards and recommendations, have been able to publish first novels and begin mentoring careers in which I see a great future," he says.

Montejo is clear about the most common approach when it comes to finding new writers: "I would say that most of the time my best source of new talent is the authors themselves who know our tastes."

The traditional route, writing directly to a publisher or literary agent, has less chance of success given the avalanche of manuscript proposals they receive, "about 10 a day, maybe 50 a week."

Among them, sometimes the rejection is quick, because "many, many, many are people who haven't read the website" and send books that have nothing to do with their "focus," so it's "very important for authors to understand the publishing world a little."

"I will never be a writer because I think it's the hardest job in the world (...), and when they have a manuscript they go out knocking on doors and find themselves in this world that I think from the outside must seem very aggressive," so in their workshops they show "what's going on behind the scenes," she says.

It's also key to learn how to present yourself to an editor , whether or not to adhere to market trends, and how to choose the publisher that "best suits you and which one doesn't."

" It's not about going all out, but being very selective about who you seek out, how to reach those people in the most pleasant way, not harassing them, very much in tune with how this industry works and not like a monster that seems impenetrable," he says.

In addition, there is " the importance of, if you want to be an author , going out and supporting other authors, getting to know them, building a community. Those are the people who are going to recommend you or read you," he says.

And he asks for understanding from those on the other side as well : "those editors who are receiving all those letters or emails are simultaneously choosing the cover of the book they are publishing, dealing with that author, correcting the text."

" The evaluation of new material is like (that) I shouldn't say the last priority, but it's a luxury when there's time . And that also helps mitigate some of the anxiety on the other side," Montejo explains.