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 to know 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
contracts 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 as Australian
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 the Australian 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, now
called Pass In On) 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
and PIO contributors, reviewers and recipients. You too can establish your own
network, even if you are house-bound. Join the committee of your local CBCA
sub-branch. 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 personnelGetting 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. (Note: This latter
book was in fact published by Walker Books Australia after this article was
written. Interactive Publications also published Aussie Kid Heroes which covers the remarkable lives of many
Australian children past and present.)
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!
Social Media
It has become
necessary these days to promote yourself as an author on social media,
something you didn’t need to do when I first started getting published more
than 30 years ago. This means having your own webpage and/or a blog (to which
you contribute regularly) and a Facebook presence. Many authors are active,
too, on Twitter and Instagram. Numerous articles written by proactive authors
recommend building up a rapport with your readers rather than constantly
promoting your books. Others write about creating a ‘brand’ for yourself, as
though you are a marketing brand, which of course you are. There are numerous
articles about self-promotion on social media: it’s recommended that you read
them.
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 Bates
Dianne (Di) Bates is the author of 130+ books for
young people. She has worked as a newspaper and children’s magazine editor, and
as a manuscript assessor and online writing tutor. Di is a recipient of the
Lady Cutler Award for distinguished services to children’s literature. In 2006
she founded Buzz Words, an online magazine for those in the children’s book
industry. Di lives in the Wollonong area with her award-winning YA author
husband, Bill Condon
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