I imagine that would get a similar response as querying unsolicited books to publishers, but with even less success.
That would be True, especially since both the anime companies and the manga/manhua companies prefer books that are
already popular in their own countries. It's just good marketing for companies to create and promote something that is
already selling.
And it's the
Marketing Department that rules the publishing houses -- like any other company.
Selling abroad to
other countries happens
after the product is already wildly popular at home.
The reason literary agents exist is because anyone can write a letter saying "I JUST WROTE THE BEST BOOK EVER AND YOU SHOULD PUBLISH IT PLZ PLZ PLZ!"
Not So!
You Can get published without an Agent!
-- By submitting the right kind of query letter to a publishing house!
Go to a publishing house's site, and Read their
Submission Guidelines!
-- If your work fits their parameters, submit an email where they tell you to submit.
One page email, no more!
State who you are, your author pseudonym, and the fact that you already have books out.
-- List your titles, but clearly state which titles are self-published, plus a link to find them.
-- Do Not mention them again! They will figure out whether or not your previously published work is any good by reading their reviews.
State the main points of the manuscript you are offering, and that this MS is NOT previously published, or self-published. They won't take it if it's either.
No one will. (Until you get famous, then they'll take anything with your author name on it.)
Title
Genre
Length
-- Aim for 100k! No more! After they publish your first book, then you can offer longer manuscripts.
-- Mention whether the MS is finished or not. If not, how close you are to finishing.
Tell them that you are willing to offer a
partial should they like to see it.
A Partial is the first four chapters of your book, double-spaced with the paragraphs indented, like a proper MS. To be absolutely sure, Read their Guidelines on how manuscripts should be submitted and Follow Those Instructions for your Partial!
Note: 1000 word chapters will not make the cut! Publishers expect 2500 to 5000 word chapters.
Then add:
A quick breakdown of the plot.
-- Keep it short and Don't Hide the Twists or Ending! Remember, you have only One Page to post everything -- including your closing signature!
Lastly, your signature:
Your Legal name, Your Author name, and your Contact info.
-- Mailing Address, email address, phone number(s)
Do
Not email them again!
-- Either they will contact you to get your partial, which should be emailed and possibly
Printed and Snail-mailed in a manila envelope or boxed, within 24 hours! Or they'll send you a short note stating that they are not looking for submissions at this time.
If they take your partial, expect to wait for up to
6 months before you hear anything.
-- After 6 months consider yourself free to send your MS elsewhere.
You CAN submit
Query letters and your
Partial to several publishers at a time! The rules against
simultaneous submissions only apply to submitting
the Whole Manuscript.
As for Agents...
-- They're not as necessary as you think. In fact,
many publishing houses avoid them.
I got my agent because I was
already a top-selling selling eBook author with excellent reviews. The agent was searching through
book reviews to find a new author
to make money off of to represent.
I eventually
fired my agent because she was pressuring me to write faster, not better, and wanted me to sell
only to the NY publishing market. Me having books with a NY publisher (Kensington) increased her reputation and income -- at the cost of
my income.
NY royalties pay out a 3 months after the book's release, and once a year after that, so long as that book stays on the bookstore shelf, which tends to be only 6 weeks. Also, any books Not sold and sent back to the publisher come out of your royalty check -- in addition to the Advance they previously sent you.
My eBook publishers pay at much high percentage, and Monthly. There's no advance, but you make your first check the month following the book's release.
Lately, NY publishers have also been selling their books in ebook format on their sites, and through Amazon Kindle, but I don't know how long Amazon Kindle keeps them available.
My agent
actively discouraged me from sending work to my eBook publishers because my eBooks made my agent no money.
This was because I made damned sure on her Contract that she couldn't get her claws into my ebook income. Namely, if she didn't represent me to that publisher, she wasn't entitled to a percentage of those sales. Her original contract left room where she could barge in and take a cut off the books I'd already published.
...but it means something when somebody contacts the publisher and tells them somebody else's book is so good they should consider publishing it.
Unfortunately, this is very True.
-- Who you know, and who knows you, Matters in
any industry.
And as far as I know, agents who send books written by unknown authors to anime production companies aren't really a thing.
This is also True.
-- Manga, anime, and manhua are all considered Overseas Sales. The only time an agent gets involved in Overseas Sales is when the people Overseas come to the agent. Agents prefer to work in their own countries -- without exception.
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