GUIDE

Getting Published

The road to getting published is a rocky one. It’s generally a long and tough process with many knock backs along the way. It can take years and years for a new writer to finally get published. You need to be resilient and be able to accept that success can take a long time. You need to be able to take rejection and criticism. But then if it was easy what would be the achievement in that???

So what’s the process? Well, you’ve written your book and you’ve revised it and revised it several times until you’re fairly happy with it (you’ll NEVER be totally happy with it!). You’ve also given it to a few friends or family members to read through it for you which has hopefully helped you develop and improve it even further. Now you’ve then got 2 options. Send it off to a publisher or a literary agent.

Most of the big publishers will not accept manuscripts from authors without an agent and those that do look unfavourably on authors without an agent. If you get an agent they can use their contacts in the industry to try to get your book in front of the right people at the right publisher. They can also help with the editing and presentation of your book. They do charge a commission fee though, usually around 15% for UK sales and 20% for international sales. So firstly, you need to get a copy of a publication like the Writers’ and Artists’ Year Book. It lists all the reputable agents and publishers with contact details plus what genres they work in. There is no point in sending your sci-fi book to an agent or publisher that only specialises in crime thrillers. So, know your market otherwise you’re wasting your time.

So, you’ve selected an appropriate agent or publisher to send your book to (it is generally considered polite to only send a manuscript to one at a time). What you then need to do is ensure that it is in the right format. To start with, a lot of agents and publishers still prefer to receive submissions by post in hard copy (God knows why! We happily accept email submissions), so check their guidelines.

Submissions

A4 single-sided, double spaced with decent margins and generally in a 12 point easy to read font (Times Roman, Arial).

You need to write a cover letter that briefly describes the book – genre, how many words, basic plot – and a brief note on you – age, background. The cover letter should always be kept to a single page (for emails, the cover letter can comprise of the body of the email with synopsis and extract as attachments).

You also need to include a synopsis of the story. The synopsis should also be kept to a single page where possible. The synopsis is a detailed breakdown of the story – giving details of the main characters and what happens throughout. This should not be mistaken for the blurb on the back of a book. A blurb is to entice a reader to read your book. A synopsis is to explain exactly what happens in your book so that the publisher or agent will be able to decide whether your book is saleable.

You then need to include the first 3 chapters of your novel as a rule. Some prefer just 1 or 2 chapters, but the majority prefer 3 to get a better picture of your writing, style and the story. The yearbook or their website will tell you exactly what their submission guidelines are.

Finally, for postal submissions you also need to include a stamped addressed envelope (SAE) to return your work.

Then what? While you wait around 6 weeks for them to reply you can start on your next story. Don’t wait to find out what happens to the first one because it could take a very long time.

If and when you get a rejection letter – every single writer accrues loads of them, so don’t worry about it – you then send it out to the next one on your list and then the next one and so on.
After a few rejections then try taking a fresh look at the story – 6 months may have gone by, so when you re-read it you may feel that you would like to make a number of changes and improvements to it. You may go through this cycle several times – changing it and moulding it.

Conclusion – just keep trying, keep writing and keep revising. Writing is a tough business but it is the most fantastic feeling to get your work into print and for people to be able to read your work.

An important rule to always remember about writing is to write often and regularly. You need to get yourself into a routine of writing. The more you write, the better you get at it. Some people commit to writing 3 times a week for an hour at a time, but it’s up to you. You need to decide what is right for you and then stick to it. By all means do more, but never do less.

To help improve your craft and also to help promote your writing and find yourself some readership, there are many sites on the internet that allow you to publish your work online. These sites can be great for your early work to get feedback and criticism for your work. We can’t improve without criticism, so don’t just accept it, invite it.

Good luck!