Hi,

I'm new to the site. I am an already published author and I have been with my agent for several years. I've released three books so far with my current publisher and unfortunately they have had low sales. I've come to the end of my contract with my publisher and I don't wish to have begin a new contract with them. However I'm concerned that any new books I write, I will stand very little chance of getting them into bookshops and maybe little chance of getting a new publisher under the pen name that I currently use because that is name is now 'mud' due to the low sales.

I do want to find a new publisher when I finish writing my fourth standalone book next year and I intend to use my real name this time. But what I'd like to know is: does my agent have to tell new publishers that I've been published before when he submits to them? It would certainly be lose lose for the both of us if he did tell them.

What is the hard and fast rule?

Many thanks for your comments in advance.

Jenny

Hi Jenny - there are very few rules of any sort in this kind of area, let alone hard and fast one. My instinct would be that your agent will and should do whatever he/she feels is most likely to result in a deal, so it's a conversation you really need to have with them.

I don't know at all definitively, but I wouldn't be surprised if his/her strategy went something like this:

Send out the submission to publishers as being by KennyKen. When a publisher gets excited and says that they really would love to buy this book, your agent says, "Excellent. You won't regret it - she's going to be great. The name on the contract will be JennyJen, but as far as the buyers [i.e. the big buyers - Tesco, Amazon, Asda, the wholesalers, WHSmith, Waterstones and the readers are concerned this is a new author." And by that time they love the book, and the publisher buys it, and sells it as KennyKen and everyone's happy.

<Added>

Meant to say, welcome to WW!

I think Emma is probably spot on there.

Just wanted to say welcome too!