So I've completely finished my first draft of my novel and have started revising/editing/fixing all the crap I thought I liked once upon a time, but the biggest question is: Where to from here?
I know I want to get it published but am not exactly sure how to do that?
Any tips, tricks, warnings, websites/blogs that have been super important to you guys will be much appreciated! Please assist, because I'm honestly kind of lost on where to go so…
Thanks!
Finally something I can help with! I worked at a Publishing Company in Sweden for a while just a couple of days ago, and hopefully it isn’t that different in other countries…
First; read through the entire thing once more. Do not stop to edit things meanwhile, just read it. Just check all your grammar and other stuff and edit it afterwards, but look through all of it once without stopping just so that you make sure everything is correct. Cause from the manuses I read when working there I can tell you that there is nothing more annoying than reading a story that is really good except for that the grammar sucks. For example, one of the manuses I read had no paragraphs at all and the author used the names of the characters instead of pronouns all the time. Even though the story was good, it annoyed the crap out of me and the other publishers that read it. I don’t think that you suck at grammar or anything like that, but I just want to warn you since that could ruin the entire thing before they even get far enough into the story to start liking it.
So, when you have finished your story to the point where you are ready to publish it, you need to find the publishing company that is right for you. All companys doesn’t give out the same kind of books, so it’s important to find one that gives out your type of book. You should also find how many books per year the company you are looking at publishes. If your story is a lot alike to other stories out on the market you should probably choose a company that publishes many books per year. If it is more original, then you could try a smaller company that doesn’t publish that many books.
When you choose company, you might wanna check with other authors that have published at the company you wanna try. If you can find any, ask them about their experience there, their deals, how much they had to change their story before publishing, etc. It might be a good thing to do, so that you are prepared for what’s coming.
Some companies only take manuses as files on email/gmail and some only wants them in real paper copies so that’s something you need to find out, which kind of manus your company wants.
Whether you gmail it to them or send it with the regular mail, you should write a covering letter to send along with the manus. I don’t know if you are familiar with what that is, but it is basicly a letter where you tell the company a little about yourself and your book, like the plot and what kind of book it is. You should also include any writing course or other writing-related education that you have had. A gmailadress and also your home adress, phone number, name and other basic stuff should be included as well. Depending on what kind of company it is it could also be nice to include some deeper stuff about the book than the plot, like maybe why you wrote it or what inspired you.
After you send it, it can take a while before they answer. If they want to publish your manus, they will help you with things like editing, covers, layout, proofreading and all that stuff. If they don’t, they will probably write back to you and hopefully also tell you why they didn’t wanna publish it so that you can learn from that and edit it afterwards before you send it to another company.
This is just the basics, and you probably already knew some of it. If there is anything in particular that you want to know I will try to answer that as well, and I can always ask the people at the publishing company I worked for if I don’t know the answer. They know a bit more than I do about how things are done when it comes do publishing in other countries than Sweden.
I hope this helped and I will try to answer any further questions you have about it as well!
Thank you so much! This answered so many of my questions and if any more come up in the future I will be sure to ask you for help. You really helped me out a lot, thank you again!
You’re welcome!
I’m glad I could help
I haven't had anything published, but if you have won any writing awards or gained any kind of recognition for your work, finding a willing publisher will be a lot easier. You could also try entering the story into a contest and gaining recognition from there.
Thank you too! I do think you are right about recognition making it easier to find willing publishers.
@IHaveADamProblem
On the topic of literary agents…
Are they absolutely necessary? Do I need one? If so, how do I go about finding one and contacting them?
I think there are self-publishing companys where you don't really need an agent, but I personally think that having an agent is the best option. They can help you with a lot of things and kind of guide you through the process. I especially recommend it if it's your first time publishing.
On how to find one… I say choose your company, send your manus and then they'll handle the rest of it and help you from there. At least that's how it worked on the company where I worked.
Alright, thank you! :)
Np!
@IHaveADamProblem
Hey, I just finished my Query Letter (basically a cover letter except sent to an agent from what I've gathered, at least). I was wondering if you could maybe review it and just give me a little feedback on it. You seem to know what qualifies as a good, captivating one and I just… really don't. Thank you!