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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 phone 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 humanly 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. Some authors thank their editors. If you're going straight to the publisher, 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 how you found them. This will impress them. 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. http://www.allaboutliteraryagents.com/articlep1003.html offers some additional advice on selecting an agent. 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(s) chapter 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, 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 that they get of you. Make it a good one! Edit that letter as hard as you would a manuscript, and make the damn thing 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 book.' The first page of your book, along with the jacket text, are what usually determines 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 publisher directly, write to those editors. You can find advice on writing your query letters etc. at: www.adlerbooks.com/ www.allaboutliteraryagents.com/article1002.html www.fearlessbooks.com/PublishingGuide.html www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/writing_marketing_fiction www.wga.org/craft/queryletter.html www.writergazette.com/articles/article299.shtml 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. 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
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