Getting Past Publishers' Locked Doors

Not all of us are the J.K. Rowlings or Stephen Kings of the writing world. We do not have agents and publishers begging us to sign the next contract or readers counting down the days before our next title hits the shelves. We have to take the risk of submitting our manuscripts to publishers who often put so many obstacles in our path that sometimes it seems our potential best-seller will not even get read - if indeed our manuscripts ever reach the slush pile.

Writers who are prepared to put in plenty of pre-writing slog can help get their manuscripts contracted long before they have written THE END. You, too, can get past the "not taking on any manuscripts" or "work only submitted via an agent" signs which one sees posted so often on publishers’ web sites and in writers’ newsletters. You can get published, even if you have never written before.

So, what’s the secret? There are, in fact, numerous secrets, but know this – if your writing is sub-standard, if you demonstrate that you are less than professional in the presentation of your manuscript, and if you cannot ruthlessly and competently self-edit, you will never get published. Never - even if you know and apply – all the secrets which follow in this article. The competition today in publishing is fiercer than it has ever been. Many more writers (often with University degrees in creative writing) are submitting, and because of various factors (one being company mergers and re-mergers, the advent of e-publishing and the closure of bookshops), there are fewer books being published than ever.

Top secret
Okay! Secret number one to becoming published is knowledge. You need to know all the publishing houses in your area of writing interest and what they specialise in (for example, not all children’s book publishers take on picture books or YA novels). You need toknow who the key people are in the publishing houses you want to submit to. You need to know how to approach these people so they respond to you. You need to know the writing genres you wish to specialise in. You need to know the "gaps" in that market. And you need to know what readers will want to read in the future (even if they don’t know it themselves).

As a full-time freelance writer and author who specialises in writing for children and makes a decent freelance writing income, I keep myself informed about all these things. It is not easy (especially in the early stages) and it requires constant vigilance and often distracts from the task of writing. But it does bring contracta and sales if you work at it.

If you want to be as informed as I am, then you need to outlay some capital: subscribe to the really important magazines (such asAustralian Bookseller and Publisher) and zines (such as the Publishers’ Weekly on-line newsletter), both of which are available from Thorpe-Bowker, Melbourne. Join professional organisations such as theAustralian Society of Authors, or the Children’s Book Council of Australia, the Australian Writers’ Guild, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and so on. I advise you to network extensively by contacting other writers, publishers, illustrators, librarians and so on, and by attending writing courses, conferences and festivals. Don’t just listen: approach people in the industry, published and unpublished – talk to them, offer them a cup of coffee and/or swap business cards. Swap information constantly. Don’t just take, but share generously.

Another thing: get in first. By this I mean when you see an opportunity, grab it immediately. Don’t wait until the last date stipulated, but show your keen interest and enthusiasm by submitting your manuscript to the market or in the competition straight away. And never, but never, miss a deadline.

The major players

Learning what the publishing houses are and their catalogue of publications is as easy as surfing the net. Check out the imprint (information) pages of newly published books. However, staff members change constantly; thus you need to invest time and money to keep up to date. Obtain copies of (or create) bookseller and publisher directories. Check out publishers’ and editors’ current names and addresses; ask your booksellers and librarians for help.  Phone up or email publishers and ask them to send you their catalogues and staff lists.  Up-date your information regularly.

Networking

Networking is without doubt one of the best ways of keeping your finger on the pulse of the publishing world.  Buzz Words is a monthly online networking newsletter for people in the children’s publishing industry. I founded it (and previously CAINON) in order to keep in touch with what is happening in my writing world (and because I live in a regional area where writing conferences are never held). Publishers, booksellers, film producers and others in the children’s book industry are Buzz Words contributors, reviewers and recipients. You too can establish your own network, even if you are house-bound. Being pro-active is one of the keywords to being successful. Nothing will land in your lap – or rarely: I’ve found from years of experience that if you want something to happen, you need to make it happen!

Key personnel

Getting to know key people in publishing houses can take time, but it is do-able.  Meet them at conferences, seminars, book fairs. Invite them to speak at your writers’ groups (pay their expenses and buy their books, at least!) Give them your business card while you hand them a drink or snack. Follow-up any contact.  Keep emails and letters to them short and succinct. 

Getting publishers to know you is a matter of getting your work noticed.  Establish a reputation by writing letters to and/or getting stories, poems, reviews and articles published. Enter and win writing competitions! Numerous magazines and on-line websites need volunteer reviewers: you will get your name well known this way, especially if your approach is professional and your writing sparkly and erudite.

You can get your name imprinted in the minds of key industry personnel in many ways: a bunch of flowers works wonders for a jaded editor! Remember that publishers and their staff are people first and foremost: like you and me, they want to be treated with kindness.  If you read and loved a publisher’s new title, why not let her know with a personal letter/email?  Let the author know too! Good, sincere public relations never harmed anyone. Oh, and be nice to the publisher’s assistants – they are often editors of the future!

You can use these tactics to find a literary agent, but agents are harder to crack.  Learn about agents – not all of them represent your area of writing expertise – and then approach them.  Novelty is good, but the better, safer way of making worthwhile contact is via a third party, preferably a published writer. By the way, new writers are over-anxious to have an agent represent their work, but it is generally more difficult to get an agent on-side, unless you wave a contract in front of their faces (that is, you place the manuscript first and then find the agent!)

Contacting authors

It is easier to get to know and curry favor with authors than with anyone else in the book industry. Authors are the bottom of the industry food chain (wrongly, of course, but the fact is that not many call the shots).  Most authors are approachable. Go to their book launches, book signings, places where they present, send them friendly emails via their web site (or their publisher’s).  Talk to them enthusiastically about their work, buy their books and ask for an autograph. Take them out for a meal.  You will generally get a friend for life!  Keep in touch with the author, and become needed before you even begin to ask for favors -- for example, offer to read and comment on works-in-progress.

Author as mentor

Most authors know their industry. They can inform you about publishers and their staff and make representations on your behalf (as I do with those I mentor if their work is of high enough standard); they can direct you to manuscript assessment and to editorial services.  Once I heard well-known literary agent Selwa Anthony tell her clients that she would be willing to look at manuscripts that they had personally read and approved of: “do NOT,” she said, “give third parties my contact details.”

Some manuscript assessors offer to write a letter of recommendation if the work is outstanding. One well-published writer I know highly recommends that new writers pay for professional editing of their work before submission in order to get the best chance of acceptance.  (I think he has a point there; as you know, it is extremely difficult these days to break into book publishing, especially if you are an unknown.) Even before the said writer submits to his agent, he gets a range of (voluntary) readers to read and comment on his manuscript.  Invariably he takes their opinions on board when re-writing. 

Manuscript-in-progress reading is one (of many) services you could offer a writer who mentors you.  Too many beginner writers accept mentoring but give nothing in return. It has happened to me time after time that I have expended much time and energy helping new writers to find publishers to take their work, see them get their books published, and then I observe they do nothing to help other new writers. Those whom I now mentor help me out personally in numerous ways, for example by passing on children’s writers’ newsletters and magazines, photocopying, undertaking on-line research, reading and commenting on my manuscripts (as I do for them, free of charge) and so on. Too many writers ask me for help and when I oblige, often at great length, they do not even bother to thank me. I would suspect that this lack of good manners from writers they have helped in the past is why some well-published authors ignore letters and emails from fans and new writers.

The market

Many authors write the book, and then look for the market. My approach is often to find a gap in my market: if I am passionate about the subject, I then write to fill that need.  Recently, when I enquired about gaps, an educational book-seller told me that he cannot sell a book about Australia’s involvement in the Korean War to the young adult market - because no such book exists.  A librarian friend is constantly begging me to write a children’s novel set in a rain-forest, another “hole” to be filled. These projects do not interest me, but for every need, there is a potential writer.  Seek and you will find!

Currently my “niches-to-fill” completed manuscripts include a three book non-fiction series about children’s achievements: there are no books like these so far published in Australia. I am also trying to place a children’s poetry anthology, Our Home is Dirt by Sea, which features poetry by as yet unpublished poets, some of whom I mentor. (NB: To be published by Walker Books in 2013; my book Aussie Kid Heroes was published by Interactive Publications. I have also been asked – and completed – to compile another two children’s poetry anthologies.)

Non-fiction market

Professionally presented publishing proposals which show you’ve discovered a gap, undertaken market research, found any competing titles (and their drawbacks), and have a solid knowledge of proposed contents and approach can – and do – appeal to non-fiction publishers. It is not difficult to get an up-front contract before you write the main text. The main thing to know is that your proposal must show the publisher the possibility that it can make profits; this, after all, is why the publishing company is in business!

Future trends

Knowing what readers will want to read in the future is a matter of informed intuition. One has only to astutely keep in touch with current news to know what are going to be next season’s “hot topics”.  It is clear now, for example, that if you are writing for the e-book market that series of short non-fiction books create the most readership – and wealth. Whatever your interest, there is always something that is evolving in that area: it is really a matter of thinking about the ramifications and acting on them quickly. Being proactive is what being a published writer is all about, not sitting and waiting for prospects to land in your lap.

Dianne (Di) Bates is the author of 120+ books for young people. She has worked as a children’s magazine editor and manuscript assessor and currently offers online courses on writing for children. She is a recipient of the Lady Cutler Award for distinguished services to children’s literature. Her website, which she shares with her award-winning YA author husband, Bill Condon, iswww.enterprisingwords.com

THE GIRL IN THE BASEMENT

What is the title of your next book?                                                                                                                                  I’ve been really productive this last year, with the result I have three books contracted – a collection of anonymous children’s verse, Erky Perky Silly Stuff, also The Beginner’s Guide to Better English and an adult novel, The Girl in the Basement, due out in May 2013.

Where did the idea come from for the book?                                                                                                A photograph was the impetus for The Girl in the Basement.  Found in a US shopping strip mall car park, it showed a teenage girl in the foreground who was gagged and bound; behind her was a boy about seven, also gagged and bound. When the photo appeared on national television, two sets of parents came forward; their respective children had disappeared months previously and this was the first evidence of what had happened to them. I wondered what kind of man would kidnap children and why.

What genre does your book fall under?                                                                                                                  Written from two points of view – the girl’s and the kidnappers – the novel is a psychological thriller.

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?                                                                                                      Edward Norton would be a good choice for the kidnapper/serial killer while Abigail Breslin would probably suit the role of Libby, the kidnapped teenager.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?                                                           A serial killer looking for love kidnaps and imprisons children.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?                                                                              The book will be published by Morris Publishing Australia www.morrispublishingaustralia.com

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?          First draft took about 12 months but it’s been rewritten a number of times so all up from inception to completion it’s taken three years or so.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?                                                                            A YA novel, Stolen by Lucy Christopher, which is set in outback Australia wherein a teenage boy kidnaps a girl he has a crush on while she is in transit in an overseas airport. There are parallels, too, with Stephen King’s Misery.

What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?                                                                                        My publisher has described The Girl in the Basement as ‘thrilling’, ‘gripping’, ‘chilling’ and ‘action-packed’. The kidnapper is a psychopath, ready to kill at a moment’s notice, so there is considerable tension in the novel as his teenage hostage tries to keep alive by employing at much guile as possible, all the time despising him and seeking ways of escaping. 

Cultural Donations as Tax Deductions

This week I attended the Smilies’ monthly meeting at a Paddington pub. The Smilies is a group of mostly children’s authors who network to share their writing successes, worries and publishing  information. One of the pieces of information I shared was how to get a tax deduction as a writer under the Cultural Grants Program (previously known as the Tax Incentive for the Arts Scheme).

It works like this: one collects relevant papers, which might include letters from publishers and other authors, illustrators, etc., working drafts of a book, critiqued drafts, handwritten notes — anything to do with the creation of a book. (An illustrator, for example, might collect roughs in progress, notes from editor or art director and so on). My next donation includes captioned photos of authors, illustrators, editors and others in the children’s book industry, old book contracts and some essays written when I was a teenager. When you have a pile of material ready, you contact the organisation to which you want to donate.

My author husband Bill Condon and I donate to the State Library of NSW (but it could be to the National Library of Australia, the Lu Rees Archives, etc). A field officer comes to our home and collects our material which is then valued by two independent valuers. When this is done, an average is taken and a certificate then posted to the donor. The certificate states how much you can claim as a tax deduction in that financial year. Bill and I donate every 3 to 4 years; this last year my deduction was $2,000 and Bill’s was $3,500. This tax bonus is something that not many people know about.

At the Smilies’ meeting one of the writers complained about the fact that she had paid $50 to enter a writing competition (with a $50,000 first prize), but was shocked and angered to discover that some writers had been ‘invited’ to enter. The results of the competition are not out yet, but this writer was so upset by the condition of entry that she wanted to ‘do something.’ My contention — and that of others at the meeting — was that there is nothing she can do. The rules set out the information about ‘invitees’ and so it was up to her whether or not to accept this condition; obviously she did, though it would be safe to say she hadn’t really studied the conditions before submitting her entry. The only recourse she has is to let other people know of this stipulation, and not to enter competitions with similar conditions.

Another author at the meeting told how she was now writing for digital down-loading — book apps and longstories (whatever they are). She is saddened that the Australian writing community, including the Australian Society of Authors, is not au fait with what is happening with regards to e-books. Even when the ASA organises seminars on digital publishing, she claims their presenters are out of date. What I found startling is that the writer doesn’t know if she will be getting any income from her hard ebook writing. For myself, I want to wait to see where there is money to be made e-publishing before I succumb to putting my out of print manuscripts into e-book publishing. What do others think?

AUSTRALIAN CHILDREN'S POETRY

This week I received notification from the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund that my application for funding was unsuccessful. I had applied for a mere $25,000 to establish a website to be called Australian Children’s Poetry. Of the 75 applications from CAL under its Cultural Fun, 34 were successful and a total of $678,000 allocated.

My idea of having a unique website that focussed on Australian children’s poets and their poetry was to redress the lack of interest in children’s poetry in our country. As a children’s poetry anthology compiler (Our Home is Dirt by Sea, Walker Books, 2013, and Every Day is a Birthday, currently with a publisher), I have worked with the Walker Books rights’ manager trying to locate poets for permissions.

Most poets do not have social media or website presence and it was really difficult locating poets or, in the case of deceased poets, the managers of their estates. A dedicated website would have done much to redress this problem — and would do so for future anthology compilers. Such a website would also showcase Australian children’s poetry, providing a central location for anthologists, teachers, children, academics and others to look for poems and relevant information.

As I wrote in my CAL application, one major outcome of having a children’s poetry website would be to have a coordinating source for competitions, poetry workshops, conferences festivals and schools’ visits that featured children’s poetry (such as they have in the UK, where they also have a Children’s Poet Laureate).

It’s sad that in Australia at the moment there is only one ongoing market for children’s poetry: the NSW Department of Education School Magazine. It’s even sadder that CAL did not see the amazing possibilities of a website devoted to Australian children’s poetry.

Writing for Children Competition

10th KATHLEEN JULIA BATES MEMORIAL WRITING COMPETITION

For an unpublished short story to 1,000 words suitable to be read by children aged 7 to 10 years. The theme is open but the main character should be human. All entries are to have a separate title page with full contact details and to include a stamped self addressed envelope for results. No emailed entries. Manuscripts will not be returned. Entry fee $10 per story; money order or cheque payable to Di Bates, or payment online (apply to dibates@pacific.net.au for details). All entries will receive a score sheet with comments as well as a results’ sheet. Open to Australian residents only. There is no limit on number of stories entered. Prizes: $200 first prize, $100 second prize with three runners-up to receive an online writing module valued at $75 www.enterprisingwords.com. Judge will be award-winning children’s author and editor, Dianne (Di) Bates. Entries close on Monday, 29 October, 2012. Send entries c% Di Bates, PO Box 2116, Woonona East NSW 2517.

Note: Kathleen Julia Bates was my second daughter who was killed a month after she turned two years old. There is no gravestone for her so  I run writing for children competitions to honour her memory.

Being an Income-Producing Writer

So many people tell me they ‘want to be a writer’. But not so many people put in the time and effort. I have been making a living as a children’s author and freelance writer for about 20 years now. And so does my husband, children’s author, Bill Condon (www.enterprisingwords.com). We live well. But we also put in the hard slog, sitting for many hours most weeks at our keyboards. Today I started writing about 6 am, and except for some breaks — coffee, lunch, emails — I’ve been writing until now 4 pm when I have exhausted my writing brain. Now I will read a while and go for a walk, start again tomorrow morning.

I always say that life is about prioritities. I know would-be writers who are more committed to their families than to writing. Fair enough. But then I know authors with young children who still manage to write and to promote their books. If any writer were to commit to a 40-hour week, like others do — butchers, secretaries, plumbers, etc — they ought to be able to make a decent income.

Mind you, Bill and I are very lucky, with over 250 books between us, produced over the past 30 years, to receive quite generous Lending Rights’ payments. Once a year the Federal Government deposits monies into our bank account to compensate us for our books that are held in public and educational libraries for which we’ve only been paid one royalty per book. A marvellous scheme! (Though next year there will be changes… more later.)

Sometimes, too, we get CAL (Copyright Agency Limited) payments when people or organisations have photocopied our writings. Another wonderful scheme!

Today I wrote about 3,000 words of my junior novel, A Game of Keeps. This is the second book I’ve written this year — and the fourth I’ve produced. Accepted recently for publication is A Beginner’s Guide to Better English, while my compilation of silly verse titled Erky Perky Silly Stuff is still awaiting a publisher’s decision.

Meanwhile I have a children’s poetry anthology, Every Day is A Birthday, with yet another publisher. What will I write next? Not sure. But I’ll certainly be back in my typing seat being productive…

Writers' Riches

Writer and riches: these words seem to be an oxymoron, don’t they? Recently I wrote to the Minister for the Arts, Simon Crean, asking his government to increase the Educational Lending Rights’ pool which has been stagnant since it was introduced in 2000.

In the 12 years since, I have published 20 more books, but my ELR payment has dropped $9,000. I’m not the only prolific author to be so disadvantaged. I pointed out the high government funding to the Australian Institute of Sport and (rightly) said that athletes don’t generate income for Australia as authors do. A survey published this week in the Australian Society of Authors’ bulletin proves my point. Read it, and let others in the industry know just how valuable a commodity authors are in our society:

A report by the Australian Copyright Council has found that copyright industries contributed $93.2 billion dollars to the Australian economy in 2011, or 6.6% of gross domestic product. Employment in copyright industries constituted 8% of the Australian workforce.

Within the Australian economy, this contribution represents more value than retail trade but slightly less than manufacturing.

In a survey of Western, European and Asian economies employing a World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) framework, this contribution of copyright to gross domestic product was exceeded only by the US, Korea and Hungary. This survey did not include the UK. Yet Australian copyright industries have experienced a decline over the past five years compared with other primary industries.

The press and literature sector, which enjoyed a growth of 4% between 1997-2007, experienced negative growth of -3.3% between 2007-2011. This is a reflection of the industry’s weak recovery from the GFC, along with the challenges of digitisation, the enhanced ability of users to compare prices online, the increased risk of unauthorised copying, and the increased competitiveness of overseas products due to the high Australian Dollar.

A Blogging Virgin

A blank page: the story of my writing life. And yet words invariably flow and before long there are thousands and then, voila! a finished manuscript. Often the time taken waiting for a publisher to respond to the submission is far longer than the time taken to actually write the 45,000 word manuscript. More often than not.

What is it with publishers? Do they have no regard for the travails of writers? So often I read of publishers judging writing competitions, speaking at conferences or festivals or attending awards of their successful authors. And I wonder why aren’t they at their publishing home reading my manuscript? Doing the work they ought to be doing? It is so easy to become cynical about publishers and the publishing world. And yet, I’m afraid this is how it is for me after 30+ years working as a children’s author. Mind you, I’ve had 120+ books published in that time, and countless short stories, poems, plays and articles. So you might say I’ve been around.

 Today I ‘own’ writing time so I will be once again at my computer working this time on a junior novel, A Game of Keeps. It’s coming along well, though I have written it piecemeal, a scene here, a chapter there. And now I need to put all the pieces together in chronological order, and too I need to work out how to show the passing of a four month period in the book where not much happens — before I reach the end chapter (already written). A boy asked yesterday if I ever experience writers’ block. No, I said, but I do experience writer’s problems. So enough of blogging, and back to A Game of Keeps!