On The Path to Book Publication

"Persistence is the twin sister of excellence. One is a matter of quality; the other, a matter of time." -- Marabel Morgan

"How do I get published?" Is a question I'm asked all the time. If ever there were a complex answer to a question, this is the one. I will say a lot of it depends on timing. Being in the right place at the right time, but that is a very small percentage of the overall process. And another part of the time factor is being patient and never giving up.

The above quote is truly my view on how you become published and certainly is how I did. Too many writers spend their time desperately seeking the 'silver bullet' that will win them publication. Probably the worst waste of time there is for a writer. There is no silver bullet. So it's best to stop looking for one. The only 'key' to publication is hard work and diligence.

The first thing I realized was I needed to invest some time and effort into educating myself about the genre I was going to write. Trust me when you are told by published authors to read the genre, they are not saying this because they want to sell you books, they are telling you because it is true. I have been an avid romance reader since my teens, so this was no problem.

Can you imagine becoming a doctor and practicing specialized medicine without ever learning that specialty? It is not logical to assume you can write any genre without ever having read the first book in that genre. I've had people tell me they know so and so who never reads the genre and has published many books. That may be true due to a time factor, but at one point in that author's life, s/he read at least a few books in the genre.

I can understand having less time to read once a writer becomes published. The majority of my reading time is typically limited to reading for research, although I still squeeze in time for books by my favorite authors. So, sometimes it is not by design and most authors are aware of what is being published in their genres even if they are not reading every new book published. Let's face it, there's nothing new under the sun. It is how you execute your story that makes you stand out from the genre masses.

That said, I first recommend you read at least 3-5 books in the genre you want to write in to give you a 'feel' for it. If you want to write for a specific house or imprint, then read their books. Then move on to mastering your craft. There are several ways to do this.

First, of course, write. It sounds trite, even cliché, but how else does an artist learn to spread the paint onto her canvas? How else does a woodworker learn how to carve? How else could that doctor ever perform surgery? You have to practice your art and master it.

And, there are many tools available to you. You will need to gain command of the English language (if you are writing in the English speaking market). That means becoming accomplished in proper grammar, spelling and punctuation. There are a host of books and websites to assist in this.

The other thing that helps is to take online courses. There are so many out there. Many are overpriced and clearly are taking advantage of a writer's desire to become published, just be careful. There are reasonable ones available, so get referrals about potential online classes.

Enter contests that are final judged by editors and agents. Contests that offer prizes might help your budget and allow you to buy more books on the mechanics and structure of a story, but if your goal is to get published, use every opportunity to get your work in front of an editor or even an agent.

Then the next step is to network. I cannot emphasize this enough. Yahoo and google groups are a great place to start. Joining writer organizations also lend support to learning your craft. Depending on the market be it romance, mystery, sci-fi, etc. you will soon find that everyone knows everyone who is in the published arena, meaning authors, editors, publishers, and agents. Respect the places these people hold. There is always room for another talented writer. Don't be pushy. Be genuine. Be sincere.

After you do all this, you are going to find you are suddenly having requests from editors and agents. Be open to their feedback. I've known talented writers who forget to check their egos when it comes to this step. If you are writing genre fiction, then remember this is a commercial enterprise.

While you are submitting your work, track your submissions and know who, what, when, and how much you sent. If you receive form rejections, ask yourself why you received that instead of a personal rejection. There could be two legitimate reasons. The first is the editor simply doesn't go beyond a form rejection or the editor has no time to offer feedback as much as s/he wanted to give it.

So why was your work rejected? If you don't have any feedback from the editor, then ask yourself if you sent your work to the wrong imprint or the wrong publishers for your genre? Did you study the market and select appropriately. Do your homework. Save yourself time and effort. Send to the correct house and editor for your type of genre.

Improve your marketing tools, query letter, synopsis and first three chapters. Learn what constitutes a good query letter and an outstanding short synopsis. Implement your new skills and send out those query letters. Make sure your final draft is as good as you can possibly make it and that all the chapters after chapter three are as polished.

As you improve your marketing skills, you will begin to receive requests for partials and ultimately fulls which will eventually lead to an offer and contract.

Remember the quote from the beginning of this article? "Persistence is the twin sister of excellence. One is a matter of quality; the other, a matter of time." -- Marabel Morgan