Get Some Cred
You've finished your novel (done that last 20%) and you go looking for an Agent. You need to be able to attract their attention. The first thing they want to know about is your track record. Do you yet have any street cred? Saying that your High School English teacher loved your work isn't going to cut it.
So, get something published somewhere -
short story, a bit of poetry, some microlit - something that sounds like
official acceptance by a bunch of readers. There are heaps of vehicles around,
especially the regional competitions where you pay a few bob entry fee and jump
in. Even a Commendation or a Mentioned In Despatches is a plus. Having about
three of these is useful.
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Get an Agent, and listen to them
A good Literary Agent is hard to find and easy to keep. If you heed what they say. They take a modest bite out of your meagre royalties but if you're going anywhere at all with your literary career, then they are gold. They are the link between you and The Great Overwhelming World of publishing and printing and marketing and distribution.
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Learn the Business
Writing I'm sure is a creative passion for you, but Bookselling is a Business. To the people who make it happen that is. Be as artful and as creative as you want but if you aspire to be commercially published, then accept that out there it's all about the bottom line. And between you with your completely polished manuscript, and the front shelves of the best bookshops, there is a hard-nosed world of commerce to be negotiated. Including accountants.
Trust me, once that manuscript leaves your
hands, it's 90% Business and 10% Art from then on. As it should be.
So, get to know and understand that world,
as best you can from the outside. Acquire a passing knowledge of Literary
Agents, Publishers, Cover Design, Layout, Printing, Bookbinding, Marketing,
Distribution, Reviewers, the difference between a Synopsis and the Blurb, all
that. Sooner or later it will hit you head on and it's best to come across as
though you're an old hand at it.
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Get into The Inner Circle
But only - if you have the personality for it (which I haven't and subsequently never did it.). But I'm sure it's worth a try. Or so I imagine. But I have seen it done very effectively.
It involves getting in amongst the - what?
- the “literati”? - I suppose that's what you'd call it. Circulate yourself in
the world of the agent and the reviewer and the publisher. Infiltrate. Go to
all the Book Shows, Book Weeks, Readings, rub elbows with the people who are
already on “the inside”, put yourself about, all that. Get onto Poetry
Competition Committees. Help organise Book Events. Be gregarious. Network. Suck
up a bit maybe. At the very least it will help you get an agent when you're
ready. Even someone to do your editing. Worth a shot.
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Be aware of the traffic you're jumping into
It's a busy world out there. There are great gobs of wannabees doing exactly what you are, scribing away diligently with varying degrees of talent but working all the angles they know about to get published ahead of you.
Every publisher has an IN tray (said to be
referred to in the industry as “The Slush Pile”) which they’ll probably never
get through so they employ people to sort the incoming material into Yes, No,
and Maybe and they mostly never look at anything but the Yes bunch. There's
just too much of it. And this is not to discourage you in any shape or form,
you just need to be aware of the realities of your chosen obsession.
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Don't Send Off Anything Unsolicited
You'll probably work this one out for yourself fairly quickly, just by surfing the Publishers' and Agents' websites, but nowadays it's a waste of time sending a MS off to one of the above without going through the preliminaries. I don’t think any of them (thank the Lord) want a novel sent to them on paper any more, as most have gone digital. But they pretty much universally say they don't want anything unasked. Some even say outright that if anything on paper turns up unannounced it goes straight into the shredder.
So, do just what they ask, which is usually
(Agent) to send them an email introducing yourself, say what your literary
achievements are so far, a bit about yourself, and what you want to offer them
for consideration. Some ask up front to attach a Synopsis and/or the first part
of the novel. And for petesake learn how to present it - line spacing, font,
point size, margins. And read their website. They all vary a touch, but it'll
be something like the above. Just remember, they're busy people in the business
of making money by representing saleable authors, so don't mess them about.
Publishers are a whole other bag of beans,
but just read what they ask of you and do it. And cross your fingers. Which
doesn't help one little bit but hey, worth a shot.
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What’s it about?
An Exercise - Write down in 50 words or less what your novel is ABOUT. Not always as easy as it sounds, but it gets you focused on what the essence of it is. Once, in my early days I was caught at a party, couldn’t readily summarise what my project was about in a handful of words. It was bloody embarrassing. Never been caught since.
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First Impressions
This is pitched at manuscripts about to take their first step into the arcane world of commercial print publication. It just HAS to make a great first impression or you’re dead. You are going to have to fight hundreds of competitors at any given moment for attention.
TITLE - Definitely come up with a great
eye-catching title, but don’t get too hung up on it before or even during the
writing process, often better titles will spring out of the creativity juices
of words and ideas going onto the page. Keep a list. And naturally make sure it
says something pivotal about your book. I had SUCH a groovy title for my first
one, Lit Agent took one look and binned it out of hand, wanted to know if I had
anything else. Which I did. Which worked a treat.
SYNOPSIS – Possibly an art form in itself.
When you reckon you’re ready, write a summary of your novel in say 100 words.
Try this several different ways, each of them designed to make the Agent or
Publisher drool with delight. It’s got to make them want to read the whole
thing.
FIRST WORDS - If every reader of fiction
out there in your target market (and for godsake KNOW what your target market
is) screens a novel like I do, you will pretty much live or die on the strength
of your first sentence, then first page, then MAYBE first chapter if you’ve
still got hold of them. (That and the blurb on the back cover, which you
usually won’t get asked for until they’ve already decided to take it).
Okay? – approach it like you’re trying to
catch the eye of a hot date. If you look like a bum, haven’t got your
stunningly clever opening lines ready and you sound like total dill anyway –
well, game over.
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Know what they’ll ask
Once you finally get to try it on with a publisher or an agent, they’re bound to want several things from you, so don’t get caught looking like an amateur.
They
are likely to ask what MARKET you are aiming at? – Young Teen, Discerning Older
Female, Middleaged Sex Fiend maybe. What GENRE is it in? – Crime, Sci-Fi,
Historical Romance, Suspense, Literary Masterpiece.
You
need to know that a BLURB is about “teasers” and is challengingly short, and a
SYNOPSIS is full of “spoilers” and mostly has to fit on one A4 sheet. Stuff
like that.
There’s
plenty of helpful guidelines under “Submissions” on the websites of those you
intend to send it to. Take every word to heart. You don’t get two shots at any
one agent or publisher with each novel.
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Understand the mechanics of publishing
The Writing World consists of more than just Writers. There are agents, publishers, marketers, retailers, ISBNs, printers, binders, artwork, self-publishing, ebooks, paper quality, submission guidelines, critics, professional readers, competitions, prizes, shifty charlatans, and endless websites. It pays to have a passing knowledge of all of them, how they work, where you fit in, what they are likely to do for you. If anything.
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Beware of e-booking and self-publishing !!!
And lastly...
Under NO circumstances should you settle
for self-publishing until you are extremely old and have tried your heart out for
yonks and yonks to break into print publishing and find you've run out of time.
Definitely NOT before you're at least 80. E-booking and Self-publishing are the
last resorts, and mostly it's only the printers and the online platforms that
make money. Not the author.
So, regardless of what you read, real books
with two covers and a spine and pages that flip are still the preferred medium
of just about all of the discerning readers of the world, and the only thing
seriously considered by reviewers. This may change over your lifetime but I
seriously doubt it. In the meantime, don't settle for less than commercial
publication.
Okay – that’s about all I can think of – GO for it !!
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