Advice to Authors!

[nealos101 20]

I write this on experience, but not bad experience - I was surprised to see what I could actually achieve if I took this route instead of the other which I took, and subsequently I found that I was close to taking the wrong path.

Picture yourself completing a 500-page book, and to your surprise you find the publishing community open its doors to you.  Doing a simple good search for the word Publisher brings you many results:

A) A Publisher well known throughout the world with their clients, however you cannot find a page that talks about submitting a manuscript.

B) A Publisher that wants your book for a sum of money, telling you the facts up front and to the point.

C) A Publisher that discloses information from you until the last minute.

D) A Publisher that wants your work.

In my situation I was presented with a lot of facts and figures, in the end I chose option D.  It wasn't exactly the best option, however it wasn't the worst.  If you place the above list into a rating structure in terms of money, here is what it looks like:

1) A

2) D

3) B

4) C

This is how you should approach publishers if you are penniless, like me.  If you are asking 'How do I get published with Publisher A?' I'll get to that later.  But for now, let's talk about publishers C and B.

In the big wide planet called Earth, everything revolves around money and good market practice.  When a Publisher is successful, the Authors become handsomely rich and therefore spoiled.  However, when a Publisher is not successful, who do you think pays the price? Yes, you the Author.  An unsuspecting Author will come to the doorstep of a Publisher and should want to know two things in general: What service do you provide; and how much for?

Here is Publisher C's answer in the form of an advertisement:

We, <insert Publisher's name here> offer you the best, top-notch service in Publishing your work! We take our authors to the selling stage and beyond including movie contracts and deals.

Here's Publisher B's answer in the form of an advertisement:

Want to get published? We are looking for Authors! We offer every service to you at a reasonable price and our Authors keep on telling us how our services are grand! We pay you.

Publisher C looks more attractive, however, it is most likely that this Publisher is either a scam artist or on the low end of the Market.  Why? Because they weren't very lucky, and they are passing through all the legal loopholes to get to you.  It usually takes one reply letter from this Publisher for you to realize that their offers don't look so charming, because under that silky-pattern of hope and good-will lies basically a lower form of Publisher B.

Now Publisher B has been slightly successful but it rarely is because of good market effort, no children, Publisher B is a Vanity Publisher.  Vanity Publishers are not so successful in the Publishing community and decided to take the route of charging the Author to process their work.  Forget the fact you spent 3 years on your glorious fantasy novel, no, they don't care - They want money from you to do it.  Vanity publishers however aren’t really that bad - However the trade of the Vanity Publisher leaves room for cowboys, I.E. People who take your money and leave you with a poor piece of work with poor sale.  If you are rich and want to waste some money, approach this Publisher - 9/10 they will agree to publish your work simply because you're money to them... And it is this reason why the market frowns upon Vanity Publishers, simply because they'd publish any character that writes up a load of words & puts it together.

No offence to you or anyone that has published with a Vanity Publisher, they too probably thought that this was the only one that would accept their work.  However, you'd be wrong there.

We now come to Publisher D.

We offer the best service any Publisher can provide, provided that your work is of <insert minimum length of manuscript here>.  We have published with many known Authors including: <insert searchable list of clients here>.  We do not charge you for your work, we pay you.

Publisher D really should come on top, however, this Publisher doesn't talk as proudly as Publisher B or C because they know they aren’t the best on the market.  However, these publishers are recognized by popular bookstores such as Blackwell’s, Abe, and Barnes & Newton etc etc.  But putting those facts to the side the main problem with these publishers is that because they run on a scheme of 'We sell, we pay small percentage to you', it brings about the problem that if you wanted as career as an author, how would you live on measly sums of money until you become successful? 

These types of Publishers also get mixed in and stuck with the cowboys, you'll even find some fraudsters in the ranks - They take your work from you and gain everything that you deserve.  It is best to get a Copyright Contract for your work to protect it, it is worth the money simply because in the event of a fraudster getting hold of your work you can take legal action against them.

Now, however, I bring you to Publisher A.  The famous, and perfectly genuine Publisher that won't accept your work alone.  However - The best and probably most advised way to approach them is through a Literary Agent.

Literary Agents are the cogwheels of the Publishing community - They make the big bucks for both the Publisher and the Author, how? By bringing them together of course!  However, a word of caution comes to this tale when you approach a literary agent...

Like the Publishers, some do it on commission whilst others do it on fees.

The best-practice Literary Agent takes the standard commission from your profits, not your hard-earned money.  These agents are given more *humph* to sell your work simply because if you don't get paid then they shall not.  It is this practice that makes many Authors famous and indeed very happy for their work.

However, you may find on that Google search a Literary Agent that doesn't take commission.  Better choice you say? Never... Foolish, filthy hobbit! You will find behind all the big words and fancy styles the fees and submission charges.  Like the Vanity Publisher they don't care how much work it took you to get this far, they want your money.  Literary Agents that take your money probably also liaise with Vanity Publishers; so if you can't afford their service don't approach them.

A good Literary agent when you push the money aside will:

- Have the knowledge of the Publishing Industry; therefore they know what Publishers look for etc etc.  Agents whom don't really say where they come from or come from a background outside of the market probably aren’t what you'd call 'proper material'.  It is best to look for an agent that has been working for a well-known Publisher, such as a past editor for Bloomsbury, say?

- Have a list of past clients at hand for you to research, it is no good a literary agent hiding their clients if you are suspicious about them...

- Offer only what is at hand, a literary agent presenting the facts straight will be worth your time, an agent promising a movie deal is either crooked or just watering down the concrete.

- Their website and/or mail has few or no errors located inside; an Agent that has loads of mistakes probably has made bigger mistakes than those.

- An agent that specifies everything you need to know, and not cutting out the horrible insides till later.  You don't want to find out that this really cool agent actually works for the atheist's group when they tell you they want to help you publish your Christian material, do you?

Ok Nealos, I want to approach a literary agent, what do I do?

Excellent! You got this far, now for the really hard part...

You have your whole book ready, or in terms of the Publishing community 'manuscript.' (Unedited, uncovered and 'unready'.) It is now time to approach an agent that will look at a new, budding Author and give you the benefit of the doubt.  But the thing is... How the heck are you supposed to tell them about your intensions as an author?

You need... Yes it is... A query letter! Query letters are the basics of the community, if you don't understand how a query letter works let me show you how to create a good one.

The 10 steps to creating a good query letter:

1) Read the Literary Agent's submission guidelines! Literary Agents and Publishers alike cannot stress this enough, not only because it wastes their time but it wastes yours too.  You may not realize it yet, but the Literary Agency you're writing to may not do fantasy books or poems or children’s books.  Read those guidelines! (It may also detail what might impress them about a query letter...)

2) Choose your media - Email or snail mail... The LA will identify whichever is appropriate, but don't send an email to all the addresses in the agency - you might just annoy them!

3) When you have your media, start with your details of contact: Name; Title; Address; Email; Telephone (If you trust them that far).

4) Open the letter with: 'Dear <Insert Agent's name here>' e.g. Dear Donald Attigbooker.  If you have no agent to personally send to, just do 'To whomever it may concern,'

5) Start with whom you are and how you got the agents details, a brief description of you as a person will do and perhaps your future plans for the Publishing industry.  Include any other Published works you may have released... Hmm?

6) Then move on to why you sent the letter, this is the part which details your book and your plans for this book.  Send only one submission at a time!

7) Finish the letter with 'Thank you for your time and patience in this matter,' or 'yours sincerely,' or 'Yours faithfully.' etc.

Place with the letter: A synopsis and basic details of your book (Name, pages, word count, program used to type etc); Chapters 1, 2 and 3 (Or how they identify it in the guidelines); and contents (If they ask or do not state what they'd like).  If you are sending it by post, include a Self-Addressed-Stamped-Envelope (SASE), or however they ask.

9) Send, and be patient.  After at least 4 weeks of waiting it may be time to contact them and see if they got the letter, if not send it again.

10) If you wish to approach multiple Agencies do so, but be prepared to choose at the right time.

When a Literary Agency contacts you and accepts your work - Now is the choice to send them the entire manuscript, if you do so they will probably spell-check and edit the manuscript for you.  They will then contact a number of respected Publishers on your behalf, and sell your manuscript for the best price interested to you and them.

From then on you're on your own... Feel free to ask questions or point things out I may have missed!

- N -

[TheCrybKeeper 278]

First things:

You are well informed.

Did I not ask you about, your publisher choice, back when you announced your book?

Royalties are the way to go and On Demand publishing can be a good idea for getting a foot in the door, so to speak.

Stephen King is just one author that started out this way.

Trafford publishing gives you all the info you need for free, as well as templates for manuscripts, How To's on preparing and presenting a manuscript to major publishers, who do NOT want your book. All of this depends on, your skills and success as a writer.

Yes there is a fee to get started and book signings, road trips etc, is all based and dumped soley on you.

Secondly:

Is it worth it?

 As you say above; "Your choice was not necessarily a bad one". The fee for On Demand publishing is usually around 1000 dollars US for 2500 copies of a trial edition.

If these 2500 copies sell; the royalties are paid to you, per sale.

if they sell fast, the On Demand publisher you have chosen, will sign you to term contract. Then they will print 10,000 copies of your second editon to print.

So yes, If you are good and others enjoy your story telling; On Demand publishing can be a fast route to notariety.

Thirdly:

Before you finalize a deal.

subscribe to information in the publishing industry. read daily and or monthly newsletters about the industry, who is who, who traded or sold what company where, etc. Learn how to present your manuscript, camera ready this saves you a hefty chunk of money on that initial 1000 dollars.

know the market.

I am a member of Publishers Market      http://www.publishersmarketplace.com

They send out daily and weekly E-mails to members called "Publishers Lunch" telling you lots of great inside info. I have been a member there for several years now Nealos.

After all: My advice comes from a very obscure  quote from Walt Whitman, to a local reporter where I am. Something like this; " for a writer to be a truly successful writer, he must also know the journey his thoughts have taken, from manuscript to the readers hands."

Walt Whitman spent a great deal of his time working in the printing industry and learned from beginning to end; how his manuscript was turned into a hard cover book and sold.

Now you know who and why, I am inspired to work with the biggest publishing company on Earth. 

Why I have been:

a columnist

author of several short stories and published

printer/sheet fed and web presses

page designer

graphic artist

Camera and darkroom

bundle delivery and mail

mail ordering and mass marketing

Just like Walt Whitman, I can write, print, publish and market my own books!

I am following the advice Of ol' Walt!

[nealos101 20]

Thank you for understanding and expanding upon what I just said frndofyaweh.

Well informed? Approaching every type of publisher and Literary agent brings me the understanding of my options, however with all of them I see a connection - But I haven't got to that stage of finding out what it is... Yet.

When you asked I believed I answered, but probably didn't answer the question correctly.  The publisher I used was an On Demand publisher, they charged nothing for printing your books however at the expence of a lower royalty percentage.

At the time my interests were solely putting the book on to the market, to let people know it exists.  My first priority wasn't to sell the book, if you ask, but merely to get it to that stage and see how many people were interested.

I also can't afford to pay thousands, barely even hundreds to publish my work.  Stating that "Your choice was not necessarily a bad one" was a simple indicator that my point of view is based on a very tight income, I wouldn't know how it would be on some one else's perspective as a higher income.

And I'd have to agree following the advice of Walt is a pretty good idea, people with better understanding of the processes from manuscript to reader's hands are, I believe better equipped to face sucess or total disaster.

- N -

[TheCrybKeeper 278]

All in all, am glad to hear your first-hand experience so far. You do not know how much this help the in-experienced. This is great inside information you gave us, Nealos.

Like you, money is tight for me also. Huge house payment mainly. and too many unfinished works.

When procrastination takes a vacation; it comes to my place to be lazy-lazy!

EDIT: My other hero/mentor: Fred Gwynne. Fred was more than just a frankenstien monster on TV. He was also a very popular childrens author. One of his favorite hobbies, was word play. *like My lame attempt above*