...does submitting a novel to a publisher work? I hope to have a novel ready by the fall. This is my goal, anyway. But I'm a little clueless about this whole publishing phase of the process. This is what little I know about it: A writer sends a query letter to the publishing house. If they are interested, they ask for the book. They read it, and then let the writer know if they want it, or not. Writer either goes into publishing deal with house, or looks for another publisher, and the process starts over... This is most likely a very naive description, which is why I'm asking. I would like to have a better idea of what to expect. I know there will most likely be much waiting, and lots of rejections - I've accepted this misery, and know to expect it. It seems like whatever I read about this experience is the exception, not the rule. You know, that first time author who hits jackpot with the first house, on their first novel, after their first month of waiting. I'm looking for a more realistic idea...
Oh, holy Jesus. I just spend several minutes having my brain poisoned by a publishing site. I need it scrubbed out with Clorox now so that I can go back to being a naive, stupid little writer. Re: Post - Never mind. Don't answer.
first of all, for a novel, it's best to seek an agent and let the agent do work of finding a publisher and negotiating the best deal for you... also, many publishers [most of the majors] won't accept queries from unagented writers, which adds to the reasons why having an agent is the way to go, with fiction... before you start submitting even a query letter, however, you should have someone knowledgeable check out your work to make sure it's ready to be seen... sending out a messy, flaw-ridden, and/or improperly formatted ms will doom your chances from the get-go, so take time to have it checked for 'polish'... i have lots of tips from the pros on how to write a good query letter, so drop me an email, if you'd like me to send them to you... good luck with your book! love and hugs, maia
^I might jump in on that offer if you don't mind. I will possibly be ready to start writing queries within a month or so.
Looking for an agent is the smart thing to do, especially since you have a chance of getting into big publishers that you never would have without one, however, some independent publishers will take them directly from the author, especially in Canada. If you are American, the agent route is your best bet, though.
1. Buy a subscription to writers market http://www.writersmarket.com/ 2. Seek out other books similar to yours in style, plot choice, and target audience. Use this as a reference for what publishers to select. 3. Use writers market to find a list of agents that specialize in your genera, or have contacts to one of the publishing houses you've looked at. 4. Send out thousands of query letters to every publisher you can find that would stand to look at your work. 5. Find an agent that work with a rate of 10% or less. 10% is the California legal maximum an agent can take of total profit. Seriously though, writers market online is way cool. You can send out letters and track them, and you'll have a database or writers and agents online. Finding an agent can be difficult because many will charge fees to look at your work. Never work with an agent who wants you to cough up $500 dollars so he can take a read-through. And never fear, if you're seeking publication in a newspaper or magazine, you probably will never need an agent. A blog of previous articles should be sufficient enough to provide you with proper street cred.
Very true, they won't charge you anything. The only thing reputable agents and publishers will make you pay for is postage.
NO legit agent will charge any fee for anything! there's no 'probably' about it... actually, agents wouldn't represent short works at all... the only exception might be if the writer is already a valued client whose books they handle... if they do [and all don't], that would never be charged up front... it would only be deducted after payment is received from the publisher...
