Querying Literary Agents, Part 1: Big Five Dreams or Indie Vibes?

Writing Break

Welcome to the first installment of a four-part series on querying literary agents. In this episode, we explore the pros and cons of publishing with a Big Five publisher versus an independent press. Whether you're writing fiction or nonfiction, traditionally publishing or submitting directly to publishers, this episode will help you clarify your publishing goals.

Plus: A roundup of the latest publishing news, including the growing backlash against tech giants using books to train AI.

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Overthinking Couch Topics:

• The Big Five publishers: what they offer and what you give up.
• Independent presses: creative freedom and community.
• Why authors might choose commercial reach vs. a passionate niche.
• Important questions to ask yourself before querying.

• Ep 84: Query Letters vs Book Proposals - Writing Break
• Ep 68: Self-Publishing vs Traditional Publishing - Writing Break
• Publishers Accepting Unagented Manuscripts
• Crown Publishing Group Launches Book Imprint Dedicated to Black Voices
• OpenAI copyright lawsuits from authors, New York Times consolidated in Manhattan
• French publishers and authors sue Meta over copyright works used in AI training
• ‘Meta has stolen books’: authors to protest in London against AI trained using ‘shadow library’ | Books | The Guardian
• Free Style Sheet Templates
• Free Writing Tips

Music licensed from Storyblocks.