Okay, my question is this. Once
a new "author" has created what he/she hopes is a book
that will touch many hearts, what next? Just blindly submit to agents/publishers,
etc. What exactly is the next big step in getting published?
Thanks a lot,
Shawna from West Virginia
First, congratulations! Finishing a book is a really big deal
and I hope you will reward yourself! Assuming you’ve already
revised and rewritten whatever needed fixing in your manuscript,
the next basic step is to have a nice long sit-down with the Writers
and Poets Market reference book. What you’ll want to do is
just start scanning through the listings of agencies and/or publishing
houses (whichever you want to target first) that handle the type
of book you’ve written. Fortunately, there is a possible shortcut
here, since this can be about as much fun as studying the phonebook.
The shortcut is to join a serious writers’ organization for
people who write your kind of book. These large national groups
like RWA help to keep members informed about which publishers are
looking to acquire books like yours, and which agents represent
writers in your genre. Either by independent research or with help
from a writers’ organization--more likely by both--you will
eventually end up with a list of agencies and/or publishers to send
your work to. Before you send them anything, try to research them
a little bit so you are certain they are reputable. For example,
one rule of thumb is never to send to an agent who requires a reading
fee. You should never have to pay agents or editors to read your
work—or to publish it. (The exception to this would be the
VERY rare cases where people have a justified reason for paying
the exorbitant sums involved in self-publishing. Do a LOT of research
on the risks involved before you decide to go that route.)
How much of your story the reputable publishers and agents will
want to see just depends on what they’re willing to look at.
Gone are the days of sending in your whole manuscript for consideration.
No one has time for that anymore. The Writer’s Market listing
and/or the company’s website will usually specify what they’ll
read.
Some still accept three chapters and a synopsis. If they love it,
they’ll ask you for the whole book further down the road.
But many companies these days only want a query letter describing
your book and telling them who you are, with a bit about your writing
background. Do your best to keep your cover letter to one page.
Keep it short, snappy, and professional. If they are intrigued by
your book’s description, they will write, email or call you
back asking to see the three chapters and synopsis or the whole
manuscript. So then you send that. (IMPORTANT!: Send all requested
material with tracking!)
Keep a log of your submissions and check them off as the inevitable
rejections come back. Ah, rejections. Yes, there can be a lot of
disappointment after all your hard work, but this is totally par
for the course, so it might be a good idea to set yourself up with
some sort of small ritual that you can do to pick yourself up again
whenever you get a rejection. Some way of protecting yourself emotionally
so that you don’t get discouraged. Because, let’s face
it, discouragement can lead to giving up, and quitting is the one
sure way to fail. So put some thought into how you’re going
to handle the rejections even before they begin. Chocolate is always
an option. J
Another thing you can do at this point is to enter your manuscript
in writing contests, particularly those that have editors, agents,
and published authors as judges. The goal is to get your work seen
by industry insiders. You never know who might be able to help you
to get “your shot” at publication. Even if you don’t
win or final in contests, at least you can get some pretty interesting
feedback on what’s working in your book and where you might
need more practice. Plus, any good results from contests can be
added into your cover letters as you continue trying to sell your
work.
These days a lot of not-yet-published writers also launch websites
and/or blogs that editors and agents can refer to once they receive
a query from the writer. So that can be something else you can do
now if you are inclined. This is where you can post a professional
headshot of yourself with your bio, and showcase excerpts of the
stories that you have to offer. But again, here, a word of caution.
From the minute you launch your website, you are beginning to define
your “name brand” as an author. Now, don’t laugh.
Yes, it might be a while before your future books are on the shelves,
but stuff lives on the internet forever. Definitely watch what you
post, especially if you feel you must “review” other
author’s books on your website. Admiring reviews are great;
analyzing a favorite author’s particular skill in some area
can’t harm you. Trashing some poor author’s book, however,
can be very, very self-destructive to you, and end up hurting your
chances in your a writing career. Remember, when you get published,
you’re probably going to have to meet that author someday
. . . and all of her bestseller friends. Published authors who decide
that you’re a nice person can extend a helping hand to a newbie
with insider advice and things like endorsement quotes for the cover
of your book or website recommendations telling her readers about
your debut. Or they can decide that you’re a mean jerk and
leave you to fend for yourself. Why make enemies before you even
get a foot in the door? The publishing industry is quite small,
and there are fewer degrees of separation between people than you
would imagine. But the really important people if you want to sell
your book are the editors and agents.
I have seen aspiring writers trash certain published novels on
their website, not realizing they just sent their work in to that
author’s loyal agent or adoring editor. Duh. Trash an author
and you simultaneously trash the agent who represents her as well
as the editor who worked on that book. And then they send that agent
or editor straight to their website, where they can read the rotten
things the aspiring writer has said about this book the editor has
worked on, or the author who is probably the agent’s friend
as well as client. So, enough said on that, I guess. Snarkiness
brings in the website hits, as the negative slant of the online
world clearly shows, but out in the real world, professionally speaking,
it’s a big turnoff. People want to know that you’re
going to be easy to work with and not embarrass yourself or the
company, or cause strife. On the contrary, saying GOOD things about
good books on your website makes YOU look good. At least that’s
what I think.
So, once you’ve got your list of agents and/or editors to
send to, and you know how much of your material they want to see,
then you’ll also need to keep track of their policy on multiple
submissions. “Multiple submissions” means sending your
work out to a number of different companies at the same time for
consideration. One of the reasons it takes so DANG long to sell
your work is because most of them have a policy that they only want
you to send it out to one company at a time. If each company takes
four months or so to get back to you (and that can be just on the
query letter, and assuming no one has left for maternity leave!)
then you can see you have got a LOT of waiting to do.
Don’t take it personally. They can’t help it. They’re
really busy and most of ’em already work evenings and weekends
as it is. So try not to get too frustrated with the industry peeps.
The best thing that you can do for your sanity to pass the time
with all that waiting is to get cracking on your next book! One
book alone does not make a career, so fire up your computer and
start polishing that next plot.
Best of luck to you, and I hope to see your name on the bestseller
lists someday!
|
