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 In
November 2002 I attended my agent, Selwa Anthony's
"Succeed With Me in 2003" Popular Fiction Seminar in
Sydney where I caught up with publishers, editors, and other
authors in Selwa's stable. I was specifically interested in
their advice to aspiring writers who have completed a novel,
edited and polished it ready for submission, but are unsure how
to present their work for publication. The detailed replies I
received are as follows:
The EDITORS I spoke to all commented on the volume of
submissions and the low standard of polishing and presentation
many manuscripts displayed. Fiona Henderson from
Transworld Random House said aspiring writers should read widely
in the genre they're targeting to see which publishing house to
submit to, as it wasted everyone's time if manuscripts were sent
where they couldn't be published. She also suggested that when
you've targeted the publishing house you want to submit to, ring
reception to ask which editor your book should be addressed to.
This saves them time and makes you look more professional. Your
manuscript (accompanied by a synopsis of the story and a
covering letter) should be double spaced with a 3cm margin all
round, printed on one side only of white A4 paper and held
together with a rubber band - not bound. Enclosing a reply paid
envelope is a professional courtesy, and if you want the
manuscript returned (if unsuccessful), be sure to include a
bag/box and full postage for that.
The consensus among editors appeared to be that most
manuscripts received could have done with many more redrafts
before being submitted, and also that editors didn't have a lot
of time to trawl through unsolicited manuscripts looking for a
gem, or to give detailed critique to aspiring writers who hadn't
made the grade. The old "10% inspiration, 90%
perspiration" cliche seems more apt today than ever before.
And for those lucky enough to receive critique, there's nothing
that irritates an editor more than when an author isn't
surprised by a major editorial problem ("Oh, I hoped you
wouldn't notice that."). Again, the theme of the advice
seems to be, if you think it's not ready, don't send it in.
Another consideration editors mentioned in our "It's not
the nineties anymore," discussion, was that nowadays an
editor isn't at liberty to buy your manuscript based on their
judgement alone. They have to present your book at an
Acquisitions Meeting where they must convince everyone from
marketing and editorial to accounting of its potential sales.
Even if the editor loves it, that's no guarantee they'll be able
to buy it. But presenting your best work enthusiastically, in
good clean copy, and with the commitment to edit as much as is
necessary to bring the story to publication standard, is a great
start. And remember, don't burn your bridges. The editor who
rejects you today could be someone you'll work with in the
future. Be courteous and professional (rather than gushy) to
everyone.
After speaking to editors, I rounded up a group of fantasy
authors, all multi-published, who generously offered more
detailed instruction to help aspiring authors in their quest for
that elusive contract:
Richard Harland (author of the "Ferren" series of
YA fantasy novels) said,
"You need to read widely in
the field you're hoping to publish in, researching your
publisher, etc. As regards getting to a publisher, the route
suggested at the last popular writers festival seems the best -
pay to have your manuscript edited by a reputable professional
editor (specifically someone who's worked in publishing, like
Julia Stiles, Jody Lee etc). It'll cost - but at least it's a
genuine avenue."
I was thrilled when I heard this because Jody was my
publisher at Simon & Schuster before she left to work
freelance and Julia (who works as a freelance editor) has been
my editor for the three books of my Shadow Through Time
trilogy.
When I asked both women if they were accepting manuscripts to
edit, Jody Lee said she was quite busy currently but could be
contacted on email, and Julia Stiles said,
"A professional reading is a good idea, a structural
report rather than a full line edit is usually enough and much
more affordable, but I'm so busy with publishers I don’t
usually work on manuscripts that aren't already contracted,
unless it is through an agent."
I'm sure there would be
other professional editors would could help and these might be
most easily found through your state's Writer's Centre or the
Australian Society of Authors. Just remember to ask if they have
experience in the genre you're writing in (ie. fantasy, romance,
crime, whatever). Ditto if you decide to use a manuscript
assessment service. Make sure the person assessing your
manuscript is an industry professional in your genre.
Traci Harding (multi-published fantasy author of the
Celestial Triad series) said:
"For those who feel
your tale is ready for PROFESSIONAL ASSESSMENT, you should chase
up the contact details of a professional assessor. This option
is good for those of you who want to get your work to a
publisher without going through an agent. The thumbs up from a
professional assessor with get you a look in with the
publishers. I didn’t take this route so I can’t say much
about it, but I know of authors who have. This is also a must
for those with the resources to self publish.
AGENTS are the very best way to get published
in my opinion. Every author has a different story about how he
or she found their agent. Mine found me before I'd even started
looking. Some have found agents via Writer's organisations like
the writer's guild etc. One Fantasy author found her agent in
the yellow pages under Lit Agents. Really this is all about
creating your own reality and using your imagination to get the
interest of the right people, or to attract to right people to
you, as I did. Still, agents can be hard to come by, my agent
doesn't take on anyone new these days as she has so many writers
in her stable already. But if you believe in your talent
strongly enough - the right person will come along. Agent’s
will charge anything between 10-20% of your earnings, but as I
always say 80-90% of something, is better than 100% of nothing.
You don’t get charged until you earn, which is great when you’re
starting out.
Writer's Centers etc. may be able to help you with lists of
agents and professional editors in your state.
PUBLISHERS - Never send a manuscript to any major
publisher if it has not first been professionally assessed or
read by an agent who is willing to pitch it for you. Publishers
will not read your MS simply because they don’t have the time
or resources. As far as they are concerned, if it’s not good
enough to have been picked up by an agent, or recommended by an
assessor then they’ve got other scripts that have been
endorsed as having potential and those scripts are the ones that
will get looked at.
Whatever you decide to do with your finished MS, remember how
much time you put into writing it and be sure to take that
little extra time to polish it up properly before sending it out
into the world. That way you’ll know, while your waiting for
that feedback from an agent or a publisher, that you gave your
story it’s very best shot at publication."
Ian Irvine (Internationally published in both fantasy and
sci-fi, author of the "View from the Mirror" quartet)
said,
"Once you've written your first draft, and revised
it a few times, you'll need some help. Editors will probably buy
a wonderful story in spite of its other faults, but there's a
lot of competition out there and the way to get published is to
be more professional than everyone else. Brilliant writers often
don't get published; professional ones do, particularly those
who never, ever give up.
There are a lot of good books on writing. I've found these to be
among the best and they cover just about everything you need to
know:
€ On the art of storytelling, 'Story' by Robert
McKee.
€ The rules of grammar, punctuation, spelling etc, 'The
Elements of Style' by William Strunk & EB White.
€ For advice on editing, 'Self-Editing for Fiction
Writers' by Renni Browne & Dave King.
€ General 'The 38 Most Common Fiction-Writing
Mistakes', by Jack Bickham.
Once you've done all that, take a writing course if you're so
inclined, though bear in mind that YOU have to learn your trade,
and the more time and effort you put into it, the better your
chances.
It takes me (and most writers), the best part of a year to
produce a finished book. The first draft of a 600 page book
takes me a month or more, but by the time I send it to my editor
I will have done another five or six drafts, starting at the
beginning and working word by word to the end. And then, working
with the editor, I'll do another two or three drafts. It's the
rewriting that produces the quality.
As most editors of publishing houses will tell you - don't even
bother to show it to them till you've done at least half a dozen
drafts, because it's in the redrafting, not the original
writing, that you really learn to become a writer. And it takes
just as long to become a good writer as it does to become a good
brain surgeon, so you need all the practice you can get.
Once you've done all that, and are looking to get it published,
remember that the big publishers get upwards of FOUR THOUSAND
fiction manuscripts a year, of which they might publish as few
as two or as many as eight. So you've got roughly a one in a
thousand chance of being accepted that way. Unsolicited
manuscripts generally do get looked at, but expect it to take a
long time. More than 90% are rejected on the first page, and 99%
by the end of the first chapter, so your absolute best writing
has got to be up front just to get the book read.
But to maximise your chances, you need an 'in', ie a contact in
the industry who will at least look at your work. Do a good
writing course (after you've learned to write), go to writing
seminars, workshops, literary festivals, SF conventions and all
the other places where writers, agents, editors and publishers
congregate. And then, pester them (in the nicest possible way)
to take a look at your stuff. If it's no good, they'll still
reject it after reading the first few pages. But if your writing
has something, at least you're getting personal attention, which
puts you in the pile with thirty or forty manuscripts in it,
rather than the dumpster with four thousand.
Good luck with it."
Well, that's the advice, folks. For my own part I'd like to
say that speculative fiction authors would do well to consider
attending the EnVision Workshop
in Brisbane July 4-9 2003 to polish their manuscripts. I'm one
of the four published authors tutoring, and I can assure you we
are all experienced in our genres and have a strong commitment
to helping aspiring authors. In 2004 the six week Clarion South
Workshop will also be run in
Brisbane.
As to presenting your manuscript to a publisher, I'm very
happy to be represented by Selwa Anthony so my advice would be
to get an agent! But I understand that isn't always possible,
and that there are writers who prefer to represent themselves.
In that case I hope this advice proves helpful to you and please
don't be discouraged by the statistics on how few are accepted.
It is challenging, but some writers do make it - usually those
who believe in themselves and persist. I hope you'll be one of
them.
All the best
Louise Cusack
http://www.louisecusack.com
louisecusack@uq.net.au
Please note my big thank you to Arts Queensland's Regional
Arts Development Fund for contributing towards my costs in
attending this seminar.
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