Learn to let go

The big day has finally arrived. You can’t do anything else to your book. It’s perfect. So stop staring at it and get it out there. The world wants to know your name.

As writers, we often like to write for ourselves, but show me a writer who says they don’t ever want to be published and I’ll show you a fibber.

It’s one of the most thrilling experiences imaginable – seeing your own work in print – but the road to success is long and curves in some strange directions, so just remember to brace yourself.

Home alone

The most common way of approaching a publisher is by going solo. If you’re planning to send your book off there are a few rules you should follow. Don’t just send it to the first publisher you come across or the only publisher you know. Do some research, find out which house or imprint is most likely to publish your style or genre – a textbook publisher won’t accept your Manga self-help book even if it’s the best thing they’ve ever read. Get hold of a publisher’s catalogue to see what kind of books they publish. Alternatively, buy a yearbook that provides information on what a publisher accepts and the guidelines for approaching them.

On target

Once you’ve decided which publishers you’re aiming for, make sure you follow the correct procedure. When the Aztecs approached Montezuma they had to take off their clothes and put on cheap blankets, enter his chamber barefoot and with their eyes cast down, and bow three times saying My Lord, my great lord! If they didn’t, they’d get their heads lopped off. Publishers are perhaps a tad less demanding but there are ways of submitting your work without becoming an irritation.

First, don’t send in your entire manuscript. Nothing’s more likely to get your work sent back unread than an unsolicited typescript plopping onto the welcome mat. Instead, write a brief letter to a publisher detailing who you are, and including any information about your past successes and your future plans (publishers like to invest in writers who have a future, so it’s always wise to claim that this is the first of a series of related books even if you’re not sure that it is). With this letter, include a 300-word synopsis of your work, and two sample chapters (usually the first two). And never send a proposal to more than one publisher at one time: it’s considered very bad form.

A not-so-secret agent

If going it alone seems too daunting, you might want to think about getting an agent. An agent is somebody who does their utmost to find a publisher for your book, who gets to grips with a contract to make sure you’re not getting ripped off, and who incessantly pesters companies to keep publishing your work long into the future. And you get all this for a 10-15% cut of the earnings from any book they represent. Not bad.

Of course finding a good agent can be just as hard as finding a publisher. If you know somebody with an agent, ask them to recommend you: it’s the quickest way to becoming represented. Otherwise, look through a listing of agents (they can be found in writers’ yearbooks) and send them a short letter, synopsis and sample chapters. It may seem easier to devote your time to the search for a publisher, but if an agent takes you under their wing your work will be prioritised when it arrives at a publishing house, and you’ve got a guardian angel who can harass an editor to give you a chance without the risk of making them angry.

A short word about failure

What do Catch-22, Harry Potter and the PhilosopherAs Stone, The Time Machine, Sons and Lovers, Moby Dick, The Lord of the Flies, Northanger Abbey, Tess of the DAUrbervilles and Animal Farm have in common? They were all rejected by publishers, often many times. Some famous writers have literally been able to paper their walls with rejection slips. The moral of the story? Never give up, always try, try, try again: every good book will find its home eventually.

The good, the bad and the ugly

Submitting your work is like dropping your kids off for their first day at school. You don’t know whether they are going to be bullied, rejected or become best friends with everybody and make a real impression. Be prepared for all eventualities.

OK, let’s defy Wild West tradition and start off with the ugly. And it doesnAt get much uglier than this. Rejection.

It’s the word that no writer ever wants to hear, but almost inevitably will at some point. Unless you are extremely lucky, you’ll have to learn to cope with rejection. It isn’t easy: during the abyss of time between submitting a piece of work and hearing an editor’s response you can’t help but build up your level of anticipation. And if the response comes back negative it can crush your confidence and make you want to throw everything you’ve ever written in the fire.

Don’t give in. It can feel like the end of the world. You can hide yourself away in your room for days on end debating various forms of revenge against the offending editor but you have to put it behind you and try again, with a different editor. Contrary to popular opinion, editors want to open an envelope and be delighted by what’s inside, they want to find material worth publishing. They’re not out to try and crush your self confidence by rejecting your work.

Take notes

Rejection can take many forms. More often than not, you’ll get a printed compliment slip with nothing written on it. This is the easiest response for an editor but the most frustrating response for a writer. What did they think? Was it not even worth an acknowledgement? Don’t get too wound up, editors are busy and sometimes they simply don’t have the time (or are too badly organised!) to respond.

Sometimes the printed slip comes back with some scribbled comments. These might be complimentary: good but not quite right for our list; promising: please send something else; critical: good overall but you haven’t quite pinned down the business case for your new process; or just plain derogatory. We won’t give an example of the latter, but they do occasionally happen. If you do get a grumpy response, just try to ignore it (the editor’s probably got haemorrhoids from sitting down all day) and move on.

Pay attention

If an editor sees real promise in your work he may take the time to write a more detailed analysis of his decision. Don’t take this as an insult and bin the comments, or get on your high horse and write a scathing letter back justifying your work. It’s an editor’s way of encouraging you to look at certain elements of your writing in order to improve your chances of publication. Take a few days to cool down, then look at what he’s saying: it may not be relevant, but he might just be pointing out a weakness you’ve completely overlooked. Editors don’t often make good writers, but they do know what sells and what doesn’t. Paying attention to their comments will give you a great advantage next time you submit.

And the good

If your work runs the gauntlet and makes it from the slush pile, through the juniors or freelancers who’ll read it first, and past the senior editor who’ll try and sell your book and you, the writer, to the big cheeses, then you’ll get a phone call where an offer is made to publish your book. They might not say this directly, but they will most probably want to meet you to talk about possible changes and to get a feel for how promotable you are as a writer. Once the legal and financial blurb is out of the way, you’ll probably have to wait up to eighteen months before you can visit Borders and start drooling over your book on the shelf. It may seem a long wait, but this gives the marketing department time to work their magic and allows the book to be released at the most opportune moment.

And finally, here’s an idea for you

It always pays to be careful when youAre submitting something for publication. It’s rare, but every now and again an editor, publisher or passing janitor might be tempted to pass work off as their own. Print off a copy of the manuscript and all the blurb you’ve written for it, put it in a sealed, registered envelope and post it to yourself. When you get it back, leave it in a safe place unopened. It can be used as proof that your work was around first.

If a publisher declines your manuscript, remember it is merely the decision of one fallible human being, and try another.

STANLEY UNWIN, publisher

Richard Burton is a co-director of publisher Infinite Ideas and can be contacted via richard@infideas.com. Richard has provided more insight into getting published in the form of some brief Q&As. For a copy please email acb@hydemarketing.com