How to Break into Print Publishing
BY MICHAEL
LaROCCA
The big question. Do you
submit directly to the publishers, or do you find an agent who
will do that for you? Based on anecdotal evidence I've heard,
it can work either way. The bottom line is, if a publisher
reads what he can sell, he'll buy it. It doesn't matter if it
comes from an author or an agent. The trick is getting him to
read it. That's always your focus.
Some people swear by agents
because they're the ones who will get you larger percentages
and advances. I've decided I don't care quite so much about
that. In the case of a new author, I sincerely doubt that'll
happen anyway. I'd hate to lose my first sale because some
greedy agent asked for too much money. Not that I believe
that'll happen either.
There are also those who swear
by agents because many publishers won't look at an
"unsolicited manuscript." That's true enough. They ain't got
time. They're using agents as a preliminary screening process.
Someone recommended that once
you've selected some potential publishers, phone each one and
ask how they would like to be approached. Ask whom
specifically you should address your work to. Then you can
honestly call it a "solicited manuscript." (Always be honest
in your correspondence.)
If this doesn't work, because
you can't call or the secretary refuses to cooperate and tells
you things like "we only accept material from reputable
literary agents," then mail your query letter, bio, synopsis,
and sample chapter(s). They can only say no, or they can say
your query looks interesting and they want to see the rest of
the manuscript.
If you hook a publisher this
way, odds are the publisher will like for you to have an
agent. So this is when you call one, after you've hooked the
publisher. The agent gets 15% for doing practically nothing,
so he'll take the job. The publisher will become more
interested when your agent phones saying he's (or she's)
looking after your interests in this matter.
The most important step is to
get your presentation looking as professional as possible. No
mistakes. None. Zero. Nada. The vast majority of rejections
aren't because the story is bad, but because the Acquisitions
Editor concludes that it'll be too much work to make it "ready
to read." With new authors, publishers usually lose money.
Advertising, print inventory... don't ask them to invest a
great deal of editing time as well. They won't do it. It's
just that simple.
The Selection Process
The most important part of
getting your error-free manuscript published is choosing the
right market. The best way to do this is to read books that
are aimed at the same target audience as your own. If you want
to approach publishers directly, look at who published those
books. Preferably one who publishes lots of books in that
genre, not just one or two authors. Their marketing machine is
already positioned to announce your manuscript to your target
audience, and they want more books of the type that you write.
They are your best bet.
(HOWEVER, keep in mind that
you don't want to be exactly like those authors. Then you're
competition. You want to target the same readers but with
something different than those currently targeting them. Does
that make sense? No? Then we understand each other.)
Some authors thank their
editors. If you're going straight to the publishers, note the
editors' names and use those, preferably after a phone call to
ensure the editor still works there. If you can, just phone
the publisher and tell whoever answers the phone something
like "I'm writing a letter to so-and-so, and I want to be sure
I'm spelling the name correctly."
If you want to approach an
agent first, look in the acknowledgements sections of those
books. Some authors thank their agents. Look up those agents
and start with them. Tell them how you found them. This might
impress them by making you seem professional, or it might not,
but it can't hurt. You know they've got a track record in your
genre. They know how to sell to publishers who are aimed at
your target audience, so let them do it.
Whichever method you use, go
in fully prepared. Meaning, work through all the steps below
before you submit anything.
Overview
Your aim is to convince
someone who not only does not know you, but does not want to
know you, and has read too many bad books, that your book is
different. For this you need a cover letter, bio, synopsis,
and sample chapter(s) of such sublime wit, wisdom and genius
that even the most jaded and cynical editor can take pleasure
in it.
Take your time. Don't just
whip up something in a day and send it out. You're probably
looking at a one or two year gap between acceptance and
publication. So in the grand scheme of things, taking the time
to make your presentation really shine won't matter. EXCEPT,
that it'll ensure you get published in the first place.
Every publisher has "writer
guidelines." Get them. Read them. Follow them. They're using
the process of elimination to get out of reading these
submissions. The first step in that process is to bump off
everyone who can't follow the guidelines. Don't be one of
them.
Preparing Your Query Letter
This will be the first
impression they get of you. Make it a good one! Edit that
letter as hard as you would a manuscript, and make it perfect.
Make it good writing. Sum up your book in such a way as to
make the recipient of the letter say, "Wow, I want to read
this."
The first page of your book,
along with the jacket text, are what usually determine whether
a browser buys your book or puts it back on the shelf. As you
write your query letter, think of what you'd put on that book
jacket, and work that concept into your letter.
Never address your query
letter To Whom It May Concern, Dear Editor, or any of that.
Get a name. When you find the books that you really like, and
are searching them for potential publishers, call those
publishers. Ask who edited those books. If you want to
approach the publishers directly, write to those editors.
You can find advice on writing
your query letters etc. at:
The "query letter clinic" in
the 2001 Writers Market is well worth reading. If
you're not going to buy the book, go to the library and read
that section of it. (I don't know if it's in subsequent
editions, since I live in China, but I hope it is.)
With a simple bit of good
writing, and we all know you can do that since you've already
written and polished your manuscript, you'll make it past this
first hurdle. The editor reads your letter, sees nothing in it
to stop him from continuing, and has no choice.
What would stop him? Typos.
Grammar. Spelling. Boredom. Or anything that says "I write so
much better than Stephen King that he's not fit to hold my
jock strap. Buy my book and we'll both get rich."
Writing Your Bio
Don't lie. That's the first
rule. The second rule is, don't forget any writing credits.
List everything relevant you've got. Publications in decent
magazines or newspapers. Credits in TV, films, theaters. Any
literary prize you've managed to get in adulthood. The fact
that you're a Professor of English or an editor on a sports
journal.
If you have no literary
background, no education, or no respectable publications, but
you spent fifteen years in solitary confinement in a Siberian
Work Camp, that might indicate that you have a story to tell.
But if you're writing about cuddly koalas to entertain the
under-five crowd, this piece of information may be more than
anyone needs to know.
You can list your credits
either chronologically or from most impressive to least
impressive. Just whichever puts you in the best light. You
want to look like you're already a successful author. You
don't want to sound arrogant, but you do want to sound
confident. Keep it to a single page. You don't want to waste
anybody's time. They don't have enough. (Who does?)
If your bio is so bare of
details that it's more of a liability than an asset, forget
about it. Maybe your "bio" equals only a sentence or two, in
which case you can work it into your query letter instead of a
separate document.
Your goal, remember, is to get
that editor to read your synopsis or manuscript. To judge it
on its own merits. If he reads your writing and rejects it,
you gave it your best shot. Try a few more, and if they all
reject it, then think about improving your writing. But you
don't want that editor to stop reading your submission before
he gets to your writing. So, take the time to do the query
letter and bio correctly.
Writing Your Synopsis
To quote one agent, "There is
no such thing as a good synopsis." And how can there be? How
do you sum up 50,000 or 100,000 words in a page or two? I'll
tell you how I do it. Very badly.
Having said that, this is your
first chance to show the publisher that you can write. Some
publishers want a minimal amount of information on first
contact (query letter, bio, synopsis). Others want to see the
first chapter or two as well. Nobody wants to see the whole
manuscript at first, except those who say so in their writers'
guidelines. If you include sample chapters, the chance of them
being read depends largely on the quality of your query letter
and synopsis.
Keep your synopsis short, two
pages maximum unless the writers' guidelines say differently.
Shorter is better. Pick out the theme and the strengths of
your book and, in as clever a fashion as possible, relay these
qualities in a brief chronology. The chronology is less
important than the theme because, in truth, your only hope
with a synopsis is that your theme or concept will strike a
chord with the editor or agent reading it.
If your story is funny, your
synopsis should be funny. If it's a romantic story, then your
synopsis should be a romantic synopsis. You're a writer, and
here's where you can be creative.
A lot of the great works of
literature do not have easily defined stories, just fine
writing and good characters. If you have no story, then you
have to sell your idea. The synopsis must have fine, clear
writing. Say how your book starts, how it ends, and what's
interesting in the middle. This isn't the time for
cliffhangers.
Your sample chapter should do
the main talking, but your synopsis should offer up those
clever memorable sound bites that will linger in the editor's
mind and convince him to read the sample chapter.
Preparing Your Manuscript
Did I mention that your
manuscript must be flawless? I'll mention it again. Your
manuscript must be flawless. Especially be sure that the first
chapters, the "hook" which you will submit, will be the type
that grabs the reader and makes him/her/it wonder what happens
next.
Beyond that, some mechanics:
If the publisher you're
submitting to lists all this information in its guidelines,
you're in luck. Do what they say and they'll read your
manuscript. Fail to do so and they'll set it down unread, even
if you're the next John Grisham.
Remember, they're budgeting
their time and trying to get out of reading this stuff. Once
they read it, they'll be fair. (If not, you don't want them.)
If it's good solid writing, you're in. But until they get to
the writing, they expect the worst. If you'd seen some of the
crap that comes their way, you'd be just as pessimistic. But
in the end they do love good writing or else they'd quit that
job.
If the guidelines don't tell
you how to prepare the manuscript, consider the information
below as a "generic template." Otherwise, ignore my guidelines
and use theirs.
Fonts - UK publishers
prefer Courier New 10pt, US publishers prefer Times New Roman
12pt. Both are trying to ease their eyestrain, so don't be
fancy.
Paper sizes - This
one's easy. Letter (8 1/2" by 11") in the US, A4 in the rest
of the world.
Binding - US publishers
prefer none at all. UK publishers prefer that you punch two
holes in the side and use simple brass fasteners to hold it
all together — ugly but effective.
Use one type of paper
throughout your presentation, preferably plain white. (If you
have personal stationery that's not too funky, you can use
that for your query letter.)
The title need not appear on
the beginning of every chapter, but it's a good idea to put it
on each page, along with your name and the page number, in
case the manuscript is separated or mislaid at the
publisher's.
Double-spaced text,
unjustified right margins, one-inch margins all around.
Include a stamped, self-addressed envelope (or self addressed
envelope with IRCs) of the appropriate size if you want your
manuscript back.
Package it so it's easy to
open but not all wrinkled and nasty when it arrives at your
publisher's office. No folded manuscripts hastily stuffed into
a manila envelope. No envelopes that scatter hundreds of
little brown paper shavings all over the desk. They're opening
far too many of these things, and anything that looks
"amateur" gets bumped unread.
Publisher List
My site contains links to the websites of almost 100
publishers. I recommend visiting this after you've gone
through the selection process, from books you read and/or from
a book such as
Writer's Market.
Agent List
Here's some advice from the
Agent Research and Evaluation website. They define an agent
as:
"...someone who makes a living
selling real books to real publishers. No one representing
himself as an agent should also claim to be a book doctor, an
editor-for-hire, a book 'consultant' of any kind. They
shouldn't charge any type of 'upfront' reading fee, marketing
fee, evaluation fee or any other fee apart from a commission
on work sold.
"With the possible exception
of certain MINIMAL office expenses, legitimate agents NEVER
handle [the expenses connected with submitting manuscripts] as
an upfront cost. Only as a billable expense after being shown
to have been incurred.
"Remember, real agents live
off the commissions they make from selling their clients'
projects. Scammers live off up-front fees for unnecessary,
inadequate, or non-existent services."
This is excellent advice.
Anyone can call himself an agent, get himself listed
somewhere, and tell every author who sends him a manuscript
"This is excellent. Send me some money and I'll sell it." Then
he can pocket the author's money and do absolutely nothing.
Agents work for a percentage
of your sales. It's usually 10%-20%. An agent's source of
income must be the books he sells. If the author pays him
before he closes a sale, where is his incentive to close the
sale?
Insist that your agent send
you copies of all rejection letters. A great agent should
offer this without you asking, and those rejection letters
shouldn't all be undated "Dear author" or "Dear agent" letters
that don't mention you or your agent or your manuscript by
name.
Your agent should also involve
you in the selection process without you asking, even if that
just means telling you "I'm sending to this, that, and the
other place." Don't let him/her send your gothic romance to a
children's publisher, etc.
If your agent is sending your
stuff to the right places and it's still getting rejected,
you've done all you can do, except write better.
My site contains my resources for finding an agent in the
US or the UK. If you've been reading my other advice, you're
already talking to other authors. If you know one who's made
it into print, especially one who writes in your genre, ask
which agent (and which publisher and editor) he or she used.
Warnings
Once you have narrowed down
your list of prospects, visit the following sites to learn
about the latest scams and such:
Copyright © 2005 Michael
LaRocca
Michael LaRocca's
website was chosen by Writer's Digest as one of
The 101 Best Websites for Writers in 2001 and 2002. His
response was to throw it out and start over again because he's
insane. He teaches English at a university in Hangzhou,
Zhejiang Province, China, and publishes the free weekly
newsletter Who Moved My Rice?
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