How Do I Keep Going?: Publishing

            So my last post was sort of meant to tap into the creative side of us that we sometimes think is nonexistent. Well, what happens when you have an idea you're willing to finish and publish? That's a fairly large goal to tackle.

Quite honestly, I think publishing is so daunting, because most of us have no idea what that truly entails—what’s the best way to go about it? How long does it take? Is it worth it? What do I have to do to actually get published in the first place? I don’t think many of us have an easy time answering these questions, because not only does publishing morph and change so much, but no one really tells us anything definite or helpful. Go ahead and Google all there is to know about publishing, and you’ll find a lot of blogs like mine that share what works for them. Go to a bookstore—they’ve got shelves of advice on writing and publishing that any dummy should understand.

As an English major, I thought I would learn this sort of stuff in my classes, but it was always fairly vague and condensed. I actually learned a lot about publishing as an Editing minor. Makes sense—I want to work in the business that you are trying to impress. Lucky for me, getting a scope of both sides of the process not only helps me to be a better editor, but it helps me to be a better writer.

So don’t feel daunted about the process until you actually know how it functions. Knowing the process on a rough-sketch basis will help you set deadlines for when you want to finally finish your project and feel super-mega accomplished and pleased with yourself.  

The Acquisition Process

I can give you the basics of this process because that’s what I’ve learned the most as an intern. Acquisitions is the part of the publishing process where a manuscript is found, evaluated, and accepted or rejected.

            Generally, you have to impress an acquisitions editor. This person is the head of a team of editors, so it’s not just some intern like me—they know their particular genre and what sells. They generally get lots of submissions and they go through them and decide which ones they like and then they contact those authors to set up a contract. Bet you already knew that, right?

            Well, there are a few things that can tip the scale on what an acquisitions editor will like and not like. Generally, when I’ve done this as an intern, I had a sheet of paper where I basically judge the manuscripts based on how marketable the idea is (is it trending well right now? Is it fresh and interesting?) and how well they can write. If these two things are going for you, chances are someone will pick up your idea and give you a call. If your idea is too boring, already done (and failed), or not marketable, generally it’s a no. If your writing still needs polishing, chances are that isn’t the direct turn-off because editors will still work with it, but if it’s just horrendous or not quite good enough for them, they might suggest that you resubmit after some careful editing and reworking.

            If your manuscript is rejected, I sincerely hope they tell you why. Generally that’s what I am asked to do when I draft a rejection letter. And I should mention that as an intern, my work is still evaluated by my supervisor, so your work isn’t in the hands of a complete moron, okay. But I know I wouldn’t like to wait three months just to get a “no,” so I at least try to give a clear reason why it was rejected, and addition suggestions to improve the manuscript. You can take these suggestions or comments for what it’s worth.

            I mentioned that it takes months to hear back from a publishing house. Why does it take so long? Well, honestly, most places might give you a guess-stimation as to how long the process is. In the meantime, the slush pile is huge and it takes a while to actually get to your manuscript. Also, once the editor gets to your manuscript and likes it, that isn’t enough. Generally they pick out promising manuscripts and go through them first. He or she normally presents it to the rest of the team, and ultimately to the publisher. The editor might really like your manuscript and the publisher might be the one that turns it down.

            So that’s a lot of what goes on while you’re patiently, or not-so-patiently waiting for your letter. All I can say is editors work like crazy and try their hardest to get everything done as soon as possible. The acquisitions editor is either looking for new manuscripts to sign on or they’re overseeing the projects that have already been accepted—that’s a buttload of reading!

            So how does this information actually help you get published? Once you know a bit about what editors do, you can start to discover what it is they look for in a manuscript and you’ll know how to deliver your manuscript in the most positive light. 

Make Yourself Look Good

            How do you stand out amongst thousands of manuscripts? Here are some major tips that will only help you out. Trust me. Even as an intern, I can already tell what’s a diamond in the rough and what’s just a whole lotta rough.

Social Media Woohoo! Finally a valid excuse to be on Pinterest for hours! Seriously, Leute, use social media to push your project forward. Use a blog, Pinterest, Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and anything else you can think of to find followers. There’s a difference though—these profiles are not personal ones, per say—they are your “author” profiles. Use them to introduce yourself to the world that you are an author with lots of ideas.

When you can show a publishing company that you have 4,000 followers, to them, that translates to 4,000 people buying your book. They can see that you are serious enough about your work that you’re already trying to do your own marketing. Authors don’t realize that they have to play a pivotal part of marketing no matter if they publish with a publishing house or self-publish. It’s just the nature of the beast.

Start putting yourself out there on the internet now, even if you only have sparks of ideas for a book. You need all the time you can get to build up your online presence. I’m not full of advice on how to use social media—just use it. There’s also lots of books and blog posts out there already on how to use the internet to propel your business or projects.

Know What the Market is Craving Briefly, yes, the publishing company isn’t all about fulfilling your dreams to be a published author—they want to sell books that people will buy and read. Go to their websites and they will tell you what kinds of manuscripts they are looking for. I’m not saying you have to write on another topic that doesn’t interest you, but at least look at the list of what they are not interested in selling. You don’t want to be surprised when they say, “There isn’t a place in the market for your manuscript at this time.” Look at what’s popular in your genre, what seems to sell, then when you pitch it in your cover letter, show how your book will fit into this popular vein of writing—but also how yours is still unique from the other top sellers. Showing at least a hint of understanding about the market and your genre will help you project your ideas better, and prove to the publisher that your manuscript has a place on the shelf.

Beef Up the Manuscript What do you say to people when they say, “So what’s your book about?” Most of the time, I think to myself in response, “Where do I begin to explain my genius?” Am I right? Well, you do have to give a brief synopsis of your book in a cover letter (the internet has tons of tutorials on how to craft a cover letter), but generally, you should let your manuscript do the talking, not solely the cover letter. I get some pretty snotty cover letters where the authors makes it sound like they just mailed in God’s gift to editors when it’s really not. So this means: when you submit a manuscript, submit as much as you can, or the whole thing so the editor can have a better sense of your book and who you are as an author.

Sometimes people only send in the cover letter and a table of contents. They do this so they don’t have to send in hundreds of pages for someone to read and reject. In the digital age, this isn’t a problem anymore. But when you send in only a cover letter, it puts the editor in a tough situation, because they don’t have a clear idea of how the writing is. A lot of submissions that are just letters have a higher risk of getting rejected. When I have the full manuscript, I can see the author’s storyline or thesis laid out and I know how they really intend on unfolding their ideas.

For first-time authors, make yourself look good by submitting as much as you can—plus give an idea of how long the final product should be and when you expect to be done. If you already have a finished product, the editors can get right to work on refining your work and getting it to press. If they have to wait for you to finish by setting extra deadlines for you, it could bring a lot of stress and anxiety for you especially. But I mention all of this, so you get a better idea of what each option for you could mean so there’s no surprises.

Spruce, Cut, Refine, Polish Editors rarely find a manuscript that in its first form is lush with fabulous writing. When they find one of such caliber, it catches their eye and their hope in humanity is restored. Granted, they take on manuscripts, knowing that they will hardly ever run across anything that is completely prepared for press. That’s why they have a job—to make your manuscript the best it can be. Well, why not make your manuscript stand out by sending in a polished, edited copy? Well of course you would do such a thing! An author of your stature would laugh at the idea of sending in a first draft. What I’m talking about is consider having someone else edit it for you before sending it to the publishing company.

Likely candidates could be college students that are working towards an editing minor. They are trained to be like the editors you are trying to impress. And generally, if they’re college students or barely graduating, they will either help without pay (to build up clientele or their portfolio), or very modest rates.

You can also hire a literary agent. This is also a super great idea if you want a very wide audience. Generally, because they will not only edit your work, but they will help you with the marketing/promoting. They are licensed advocates for your work. If they send in your manuscript to a company, the editors will definitely put your work further ahead in the slush pile, because someone else is putting their reputation on the line for your manuscript. That speaks volumes. You can learn more about literary agents and how to find one with a simple Google search. You do have to pay them for their services, but it’ll be worth it if your manuscript gets published with tons of readers.

I am one of those Editing minors and I will be graduating in April, so I’ve had a lot of experience with editing and this whole process. I’m not really trying to use this whole post to stroke my ego, but if you are looking for editing help, I am available and willing to help wherever I can with your projects. You can comment below and we can get started.

Feel better? Take a deep breath. You were meant to be a writer, and now you at least have some tools to make that a reality. Reply back to this post with questions and comments!

Where Do I Even Start?

I have a feeling that around this January or even February time, it's this time where everyone wants to start something. You know what I'm talking about--it's time to start that workout regiment, or learn how to be certified in a skill, or for most of us--we want to finally write that book.

I'm totally with you there--writing a complete book has been on my Resolutions lists since I started the habit of making these lists. It's probably why I'm not totally sold on making a list like that since I obviously don't take them seriously enough.

Well, I don't think I can help you on the wanting-to-start-a-workout-habit (but I'm all ears if you know of anything that works!) but I think you and I can work together to get our rears in gear to get some books out there.

So what if you want to write a book, but don't even have an idea? Coming up with an idea is super easy, and can be fairly inspiring and exciting if you're passionate about the subject, but sticking with it to "The End" is what get most writers in a bind.

I actually had a friend of mine ask me, "Where do you get your inspiration from? How do you find creative ideas to write about?" That's a fairly good question, and I didn't even realize that I had an answer, because I always feel void of creativity.

I told him that the best way to be a writer is to be a d*** good reader. The swear is just for flair, but you get my point. Avid readers make the best writers, because if you know what you like to read, or what the public likes to read, then chances are you know what to deliver. You know you'll be working on a project that can go somewhere.

That's for any kind of genre, not just fiction or fantasy. You don't have to sell fiction or fantasy to make it in the market. For example, I work as an intern for Cedar Fort and I work with nonfiction. I thought I wouldn't particularly enjoy the things that I'm reading, but I changed my ways. I believe everyone has a marketable skill. To me, that means that you know something that I don't, and chances are, you could write about this skill or experience that you had that will be interesting to other people. We all have a bucket list of hobbies to tag onto our daily lives or things we want to try. You might be that person that can act as a Segway between the kernel of knowledge and the audience.

So maybe the best kick-start advice I can give is believe that there's a book in you that needs to be written and read. Some don't ever come into being because the creator doesn't believe in it enough.

But back to the reader thing: avid readers ask questions. You don't have to be an English major to  know what a crappy ending looks like. Any kind of reader can appreciate a well-rounded character that doesn't fit in a stereotype box or does really cool things. As a reader, there are certain things that irk me, and most of them have to do with clichés. So when I sit in front of my laptop and I want to write something, I generally find myself writing characters or plots that reflect what I've learned from other writers. I explore the possibilities of creating a fictional character that could be mistaken for real life. Isn't writing sort of a way to study life in general? I take what I like and what I don't like and it affects my writing style so my book stands out from the other books.


For example, I'm not a fan of a main character that seems to "have it all." You know, the character that seems to outshine everyone and the other characters are just "side kicks," right? So for my books, I try to make my main character more "human"--because I believe that we're all the heroes of our own stories, but we learn things from other people and that's what makes us who we are.

If you still feel like you don't have a decent starting point, or you're just not "creative" enough, pick up any writing prompt book and just start writing everyday. I know, that's a lot of hoopla coming from me (didn't you enjoy my suffering and pity posts during NaNoWriMo?) but I did that for a Creative Writing class, and I found things that I found interesting enough to write about. You could write for thirty minutes answering a question or exploring something, and it could blossom into a full-length story. Prompts help you explore what you think about certain things about people, life, or yourself.

This could be getting fairly long, but in the next post, I'll share what I know about acquisitions, or that tricky step of getting people to actually sell your stuff. Again, this is a learning process for me, too, so I'm no expert, but if I can pass along what I learn to help others, by all means, hear me out.