On getting published. . .

by Lynda Sappington

Since this blog belongs to a small independent publisher (WHS Publishing, http://www.whspubs.com/) I thought my first post should be geared toward the aspiring author. So, without further ado, here are my thoughts on going from idea to publication.

There are LOADS of books out there on how to get published. The best thing you can do to learn about writing and publishing is join a writers' group online where pro's and wannabe-pros both post. Critters.org is a good site if you write sf/f/horror, but earning critiques there takes a long time. The Hatrack River Writers Workshop (Orson Scott Card's site) has both lessons and message boards at http://www.hatrack.com/writers/index.shtml. You can also post the first thirteen lines of your story/novel there for critique, which can be very helpful. There are many similar sites online with helpful articles, places to exchange critiques, etc. Just poke around the Web a while and you'll find something that appeals to you. All the sites I'm involved with are for sf/f/h writers. There are similar sites for romance writers, children's writers, etc. You just have to search for them.

The first step to geting published is to write, write, write, then revise, revise, revise (*way* more than three times!!). Set the story aside for a month or two and find something else to occupy your mind so that, when you look at the story again, you'll see it with fresh eyes. Then revise, revise revise AGAIN! After it's as good as you can get it, ask people whose opinions you truly respect to read and critique your writing. Be sure the people you ask like the genre in which you're writing - don't ask those who like techno-thrillers to read a fantasy novel, for instance. Your loved ones -- spouse and children -- may refuse to read it because they're afraid they'll hurt your feelings if they don't like it, so don't expect them to read for you and give you *unbiased* opinions. They're your family, they love you, and they just aren't the best choice for editors for your fiction most of the time (unless they're serious writers too).

Don't argue with your readers, learn from them. Every opinion has SOME validity, even if it doesn't make sense to you (if it doesn't, ask them to clarify their meaning, to give specific examples from your story and perhaps they will also be willing to suggest ways to rewrite the problem areas). Go through as many critiques as it takes for you to get to the point where there is very little you can find to change in the manuscript (I normally use at least three or four regular readers for all my fiction. I also had two critique groups and two or three other folks critique my novel, "Star Sons 1: Dawn of the Two").

When you think your novel is really, truly finished, see if your most vocal critic will read it one more time to help you find any leftover plot holes, words used too frequently, etc. (See my "Writer's Tips" article on http://www.whspubs.com/ for more information on the care and feeding of your readers. :D)

While your best reader is working on a final read-through, you can start researching agents and/or publishers you want to query. If it's a novel, those who know the industry suggest you try to find an agent first, rather than a publisher. An agent can get you through doors that you'll never get into by yourself. You can meet agents at writing conventions, many of which are sf/f/h conventions or romance novel conventions, as well as writing conventions. There are guide books published each year by Writer's Digest books and others that list both agents and publishers open to new writers.

The annual Guide to Literary Agents is a good place to start your search for an agent. Some agents want you to send the first five pages, others the first five chapters, a rare few the first hundred pages. http://www.agentquery.com/ has up-to-date lists of agents and tells what they're looking for.

Jeff Herman has an annual guide to agents that's really nice because he has the agents answer questionnaires that tell their other interests, such as favorite films, which can help you get to know them better before approaching them (so you can do a better job of choosing who to query).

Another way to look for an agent is to go to a bookstore and browse the books in your genre. Look in the "Acknowledgements" section to see if the author thanked his or her agent. Add that agent's name to your list of prospects (check the agency's website or AgentQuery.com to see if that agent is accepting new clients before you send in your query!).

I've read many times that it's a good idea to break into publishing by creating a name for yourself by selling short stories. I'm not very good at writing short stories - I tend to think in "long form" - so I haven't tried that route. I do write articles for magazines and newspapers. This past Spring, I wrote some articles that were published in various newspapers and magazines to publicize my daughter's new farm (a training/boarding facility that features educational clinics for riders - http://www.dancinghorsefarmoh.com/). Articles or press releases aren't that hard for me to write, but short stories just don't seem to flow from my fingers all that well. It's a good idea to try them first if you can write them, and there is a market for them (and some cool contests for them, too). Look in Writer's Marketplace as well as on various online rescources, such as Ralan's Webstravaganza http://www.ralan.com/, which lists a whole boatload of publishing opportunities, contests, etc.

Query letters are difficult to master, IMO. The query letter has to catch the eye but be professional-looking and SHORT. A synopsis is also hard for me to write, as is a "blurb" (a one-paragraph explanation of the story - I don't write "short" well, remember? :D). But those are all things you need to learn how to do. They're all part of the process.

All that said - hang out in writers' forums. Participate in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month - http://www.nanowrimo.org/), or at least read their forums. Read every book you can find on story, structure, character, dialog, plot, scene, description, etc. Read every book you can find on every aspect of writing and submitting your novel. There is a "Complete Idiots' Guide to Publishing Your Novel" that explains the process in simple language, and many others that are just as good. Learn to love spending time at B&N or Borders browsing the writing books! Subscribe to Writers Digest (http://www.writersdigest.com/) and check out their book club, as well. WD covers everything from freelance articles to memoirs to poetry to screenplays to short stories and novels, and has books in the book club that are tremendously helpful for any form of writing.

Do yourself a favor and buy Strunk & White's Elements of Style and/or The Chicago Manual of Style. These are the best reference books for punctuation, capitalization, grammar, etc. Turning in as perfect a manuscript as you can will give the best possible impression of your work to those who will be looking at your submissions.

Beware of vanity presses and POD (print-on-demand) places if you want to be published "for real." I've read in books, magazine articles and on several forums that PoD places and vanity presses (both of which involve the writer paying to have the book printed) cannot get their books into the chain bookstores (Barnes & Noble, Borders, Waldenbooks, Books-A-Million, etc.) or even WalMart-type stores. So you'll have a garage full of books unless you can talk your family and friends into buying them or do a lot of SERIOUS marketing on your own. (To be fair - there are POD and vanity press success stories such as the "Soup for the Soul" books, but those are rare.) Bookstores rarely deal with distributors who won't take returned books (those that haven't sold in a certain amount of time), which is why they deal pretty much exclusively with well-known distributors. POD and vanity presses won't take returned books. POD books are fine for those with a small niche market. But that kind of thing, church cookbooks and family memoirs are pretty much all PoD and vanity presses are good for if you're serious about being a PUBLISHED author. (And you can't count such "publication" on a writing resume - the pros in the field know who the PoD publishers are and will give no credance to such "credentials.")

Once your novel is as good as it can be, print it out and edit it again. You'll be surprised what jumps out at you when the novel is on paper rather than on a computer screen. When you've narrowed down which agents you want to query, find out how the agent wants to be queried (that's what AgentQuery.com and those books are for, to give up up-to-date names and addresses of agents who are LOOKING for new writers!) Print your novel out in the proper format (do some research - I don't have to tell you *everything* LOL! That can be another post sometime anyway) and send a fresh, clean, crisp copy (not your ONLY copy!) of however many pages they want (if any), along with your query letter, etc. and a self-addressed-stamped-envelope for the agency's response. Then cross your fingers that you get a good response!

If an agent asks for more of your manuscript (and you do NOT copyright your manuscript!! That's very amateurish. No agent or publisher is going to rip off your story), send them exactly what they ask for (but if they ask for the first five pages, for instance, and the chapter ends on page 6, go ahead and send page 6 - they'll accept that). After that, make sure you find a lawyer to go over the contract you're offered (if you're so lucky!) before signing it, and you're in business!

A reputable agent will not charge you a reading fee or any other fees up front. Once you have a contract, they may charge an "office fee" for copying, etc., but you shouldn't have to pay anything else. Agents are like commissioned salesmen - they make their money by making sales, not by charging writers fees. If you run across an agent who charges a reading fee or other fees while you're researching agents, don't query him.

If you're lucky enough to find an agent, and he's good enough to find you a publisher, the publisher should put you together with an in-house editor who may make suggestions about your story. Listen to the editor - he knows what works in the real world of publishing. But remember, too, that it's YOUR story. If you question something the editor says, there's nothing wrong with asking about that point. Eventually, you'll be sent galley proofs to read so you can make sure the story was printed as you wrote it (you'll be looking for typos and real errors - no "polishing" allowed at this point). Once the galleys are approved, the book goes to press. Then you and your agent or publisher will discuss which book signings you'll attend, etc. and you'll hope and pray that lots of folks buy your book!

You should talk to the agent and publisher about how your book will be promoted and how much travel you're expected or are willing to do to attend book-signings, etc. If you don't mind giving interviews, it will benefit your book for you to be interviewed on radio and TV and in print, so let your agent and publisher know if you are comfortable in front of crowds that way.

Very few publishers promote books the way unpublished authors think they do. Unless you're J.K. Rowling, expect to do the majority of the promotion of your book yourself. Get some books on marketing your books. Educate yourself. You'll be glad you did!

Lynda Sappington is the author of Star Sons 1: Dawn of the Two coming soon from WHS Publishing.