Hi all,
I've got to the point where my book is finished, I just need to tighten it up and then it's ready.
But where do I start looking to get it published? Should I focus on relevant agents, try and find publishing houses that accept unsolicited manuscripts (if any?), or look into it getting self published as an ebook? Where would I look for that?
I realise this is a big question to ask, but if anyone has any advice at all they don't mind sharing that would be great!
Hi Alex.
Excellent reply, Dor.
Get your manuscript checked by a professional literary editor. There are services available on this site if you can afford them.
Get a copy of the 'Writers' and Artists' Yearbook' and make a list of the Agents/Agencies. Go to the Agents/Agencies websites and see what Genres they accept. If it is a large Agency, see what Agent deals with your Genre. If you submit to the wrong Agent/Agency you will get a rejection.
I also highly recommend the '2013 Guide to Literary Agents' edited by Chuck Sambuchino. It is available from Amazon. If you go to the Amazon site you can have a sneak preview of whats inside the book.
Stay clear of Self-Publishing until after you have exhausted all other options. Authors that self-publish rarely sell more than a few hundred books. Do not accept any deals offered by Agents or Publishers that ask for money, even if its a readers fee. I would also avoid Publishers that offer Print-on-Demand, or a contract based on eBook sales. They take no risk and have everything to gain if your book does well.
I hope that helps.
Good luck.
Thanks a lot, this is really helpful, Just what I needed to know :)
When you say finished, I'm going to assume you don't mean "typed all the way to the end for the very first time". If you *do* ... There are writers who can write clean first drafts which only need an editing pass but I've never known one who did it with the first thing they've ever written all the way to the end. Obviously every writer is different and we all have different methods but I advise any new writer to assume the first draft is exactly that and to not be afraid of rewriting the thing over from *scratch*.
The place you look to get published depends on what you want.
First thing. Put your MS in a drawer. Leave it there. It's going to stay there for at least a couple of months. During those months you're going to spend some time learning and thinking and maybe even start outlining your next MS (or just getting on if you are somebody who doesn't outline.)
The first thing is to decide if you want an agent. If you do, you are going to query them, not publishing houses. Any publishing houses you sub to are ones your agent can't.
You can find a list of agents in the mysterious tome known as the Writers and Artists Yearbook. Spend some time researching which agents there are repping your genre and creating a shortlist. Also, think of authors whose fans you intend to thieve and find out who they are repped by.
Do some research on how to write a synopsis. There's a good essay in the aforementioned tome on the subject. When you have written your synopsis, stick it in the drawer with your MS.
After an amount of time has passed, take your MS out of the drawer and re-read it with a dispenser of red ink in hand. Be harsh. Does your MS start where the story begins (with the inciting incident)? Is it free of grammatical errors? How far do we need to read before we are so gripped we would sell our own mothers to carry on reading (hint: the answer is "before the 250th word")?
Once you've managed to produce something which is absolutely brilliant, you can start submitting it to those agents you made a shortlist of. FOLLOW THE SUBMISSION GUIDELINES (having checked them on agency websites if they have them). Do not attempt to be cute. Do not send gifts of oven gloves, gnomes, lottery tickets, or anything else pertaining to your novel. Do not print it in green Comic Sans. Give them at least 8 -12 weeks to get back to you before sending a polite follow up note (unless the website specifies they only respond to those they are interested in). If they do not get back to you 8-12 weeks after that, cross them out and carry on. You do not need to send them out one at a time unless the agency specifies they only accept exclusive submissions. Giving an agency an exclusive submission they haven't asked for has zero effect on their haste in getting back to you.
If you don't find an agent, you may wish to try publishers. Same deal applies: W&A, follow the guidelines, don't be cute. Many of the larger publishers may take a couple of years to get back to you so don't bother with the follow-ups.
If you want to self-publish, you are going to need to do a LOT of research. Self-pubbing is not a shortcut to getting a trade deal; it is a lot of work which you could otherwise spend writing your next novel or seeing daylight (whichever appeals more). If you make any money from it, believe me, you WILL have earned it. Do not accept self-publishing advice from anybody who tells you it is easy - JA Konrath was a trade published author before he self-published. He had an established audience and proven writing skills.
The single most important thing you need to be able to do as a self-pubbing author is getting your novel into the hands of the people who will most enjoy reading it. If you don't know how to do that, you're going to need more luck than usual.
Hope this helps :)