The ever-awesome Scott Neumyer.
Scott Neumyer has an agent! You may remember Scott: I interviewed him a short while back about the process of e-publishing. His book, Jimmy Stone’s Ghost Town, has more than thirty five-star reviews on Amazon, and he’s sold more than 1,500 copies.
Scott’s success is great, but there’s another triumph in here as well: Scott now has an agent. I caught up with him recently to ask him about this development, and how success in the eBook world translated to success landing an agent in the traditional book publishing world.
H4W: Congratulations! You have an agent! This is great news. Who is it?
Scott: Thanks, I’m super pumped to be represented by Anna Webman at Curtis Brown LTD.
H4W: There are so many authors with traditional manuscripts who are hungry for an agent, and here you landed one with an eBook. How did that come about?
Scott: Once I decided to self publish Jimmy Stone, I knew it was fine if the book stayed an eBook, but I also knew I’d need an agent’s help with film rights, audio rights, and more. So, after the book had been out for a bit and had started doing really well, I sent out feeler emails to agents. In my query, I included basic information about Jimmy Stone including sales information.
I got pretty quick responses. Some agents asked to see the book. I got an offer from one agent and some others asked for more information. A few more days, a few more phone calls, and I was with Anna.
H4W: And now Anna’s shopping your book around to traditional publishing houses? 
Scott: Yes.
H4W: If Jimmy Stone finds a home at a traditional publishing house, will you take the book off Amazon.com?
Scott: Iβm open to any discussion anybody wants to have. I’d always envisioned Jimmy Stone as a series. So maybe book one stays online, but books two and three are published traditionally. Who knows. But there are so many innovative and cool ways to do things now. I’m open to anything.
H4W: What do you think your experience says about the publishing industry?
Scott: It’s crazy. There are agents who are pursuing indies these days. The whole script is flipped. Itβs like agents are querying authors suddenly. I know authors who are going back and publishing some of their old novels this way — stuff that never sold with traditional publishers, and it’s doing great online. eBooks comprise 11 percent of readers right now, and itβs only going to go up.
H4W: Overall, do you recommend authors publish their eBooks first, and try to find an agent that way?
Scott: As I mentioned in my last interview with you, I worked hard on Jimmy Stone and I made sure it was a good book no matter what its format. I didn’t just throw crap online and hope someone liked it. I worked on this manuscript for years, same as any author who wants to get published. The format isn’t going to sell a book. The writing sells a book.
One Comment
Congratulations, Scott! This is a fascinating update–it seems like the “e at first” model is starting to gather momentum. One thing I wonder is if it will be sustainable long-term. If it becomes the norm for authors to begin by self-publishing ebooks, will traditional publishers eventually give way to companies that trawl Amazon, looking for high-quality work? And what would those companies look like? Regardless, I agree that quality will always matter.