How to get myself published

Voltar

Voltar

Voltar

Soldato
Joined
2 Oct 2004
Posts
5,806
Location
London, NW1
Dear all

please can anyone give me preferably first hand experience or some advice on getting published?

At the end of this summer I will be sending my work off to various publishers but have no real clue as to what this entails and what I should be doing.

Please help me OcUK!
 
Write a letter to a literary agent...


What are you going to publish...

Why should it be YOU to write this (what recognition do you already have)...

Any other information as to why you'd be a decent client (not the recommendation of your mum)...


But its also worth remembering that getting published is much easier if you've already been published - also learn to blag
 
I haven't been published, but I know a little bit about it. To have any hope you really need to get yourself an agent. Get a copy of the writer's & artist's yearbook and make a list of agents who work with authors you like or in a similiar genre. Send them your best chapter or whatever, with a covering letter.

Quite a lot of good info on the internet, have a look here for starters - http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/syws/publishbook/publishbook.html

Good luck! Remember writing is 5% idea, 95% words. :)
 
MattandJet said:
I should hope so, reading a book with blank pages would be fun... :p:D
Click to expand...

;) You'd be surprised at how many people have an idea and think, 'I could write a book!' and really believe they could do it just like that, reel off the next bestseller. For most of us it's a bit more difficult then that!
 
If you're looking to get your writing published, http://www.absolutewrite.com is an invaluable source for you. Lots of links to publishers and agents and a fantastic forum.

If you haven't been published before, your best bet is to try and get some short works published in low-paying magazines. This will give you something under your belt for agents and publishers. Every agent and publisher has specific guidelines for submissions, so make sure you adhere to these and check beforehand that said agent/publisher deals with works similar to yours.

And good luck.
 
thanks for the responses ppl.
Much appreciated!

I will be trying to get my poetry published and will take on board what has been suggested here.

Thanks again for those links and the advice and if there's anything else worth knowing please don't hesitate to share!
 
self-publishing can be expensive and tends to have a bit of a 'couldn't get published' stigma to it (not always - there are exceptions - I think Lynne Truss of 'eats, shoots and leaves' fame started off sp'ing). Of course you have to do your own marketing too, far better if you can get deal but if not, always an option to get your work 'out there'.

As mentioned before get hold of the writers yearbook (think they now do an artist/writer split as well as the joint edition).

Find out from there which publishers are likely to be interested in the type of work you do - this also works if you have read work similar to that which you have written - if they've published work in that vein already they probably have an audience.

One thing publishers hate is people who don't follow submission rules and if you just send your stuff off willy-nilly with things on it to 'get you noticed' like ribbons, gifts, zany fonts etc, they won't even read it.

Find out who you're going to send to and what their submission requirements are. How long should your synopis be? do they want a chapter breakdown? How do they want you to format your work? Often publishers only want the first 3 chapters, single one-sided pages (for notations) with double line spacing in a 10/12 sized font. Anything else goes in the bin. Get the requirements and make sure you stick to them.

I'm sure I've got some more info around somewhere, I'll see what I can find.

Give me a shout (email in trust) if you want to ask anything else - and good luck!!)
 
Ive got this awesome idea for a book about a teenage boy who goes to wizard school, and has all sorts of adventures there.
But shhhh dont tell anyone....its gonna be amazing i tells ya! ;)
 
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