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How to Publish Your Novel
Alexandra S Kesick
Table of Contents
Introduction 2
Encouragement Inspiration 3
The Manuscript 4
Agent or No Agent 5
Query Letters and You 6
Self-Publishing 9
Publishers 11
Contracts and Payment 12
Authors Who Succeeded 13
Introduction
Introduction 2
Using this GuideLinks are embedded throughout this guide If yoursquore viewing it digitally the links will appear with bolded blue text If yoursquore reading this guide in print the links will be cited
ldquoIt is so badly writtenrdquo on Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
ldquoYou have no business being a writer and should give uprdquo written to Zane Gray
ldquoAn absurd and uninteresting fantasy which was rubbish and dullrdquo on Lord of the Flies by William Golding
ldquoI recommend that it be buried under a stone for a thousand yearsrdquo on Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Being a writer isnrsquot easy
Itrsquos even more difficult to get your work out there and published
The process of getting a piece out there into the publishing world is a complicated thing but it is pos-sible While this guide may not help you attain a product of perfection it will help your manuscript have a chance to be published
The thing to remember about this guide is it will not guarantee that your manuscript will be published the first time out nor will you get an agent with your first query letter The best thing to remember is
do not give upThis guide specifically focuses on a fictional novel of any genre While this guide may be of use to non-fiction writers in some ways it is best used for the fiction writer It is meant to be inspirational and helpful to a single user and has many links to other great websites and resources
Encouragement Inspiration and Fun Resources
Encouragment Inspiration and Fun Resources 3
Perhaps yoursquore looking at this guide and hoping that you might be able to use that unfinished manuscript yoursquove been using as a doorstop for the past year but have no idea how to get back into the game
Story Development+ The Writing Cafe is full of links and tags that help writers to become inspired Information ranges from the history of medieval armor to the correct way to foreshadow While itrsquos uncertain who exactly is running The Writing Cafe the information is definitely useful You can also have questions answered
+ Absolute Write Forums is an interactive forum room with tons of writers agents and publishers to answer questions and converse with Authors have been known to use these forums to find out the best path to publish and improve their work
Publishers+ Pinterest has a board that posts every-thing to do with writing communities and publishers This is useful to see what pub-lishers are trending and what communities are popular
Promotion+ Wattpad can be used to post full length novels online Authors can track views and also read comments by readers This web-site has been known to have editors looking at the most popular novels and contacting authors in interest
+ Juke Pop Serials is a website similar to Wattpad but it posts serial novels This means that the novel is written chapter by chapter by the author and each chapter is posted online as itrsquos written Writers on Juke Pop Serials only succeed from votes that the readers give them Authors on Juke Pop can earn money from their popularity on the website
+ Book Bloggers Directory has hundreds of people willing to read blog and review your book Although it hasnrsquot been updated in quite a bit many of the book bloggers listed in the directory are still active
No Novel+ NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month is a website and writing community dedicated to the practice of writing a 50000 word novel in the month of Novem-ber If this is too intimidating the website still has great writing advice forums and pep-talks from authors like Terry Pratchett and Philippa Gregory If you win in No-vember you can get printed copies of your novel among other prizes
About posting work online itrsquos a risky thing Always ask yourself why yoursquore posting it online Your ideas are not safe on the internet and always assume that everyone can see them Writerrsquos Digest suggests that you donrsquot just post your work on a Wordpress blog to see what hap-pens because that means your writing is out there and itrsquos not safe
The Manuscript
The Manuscript 4
ldquoManuscript submissions (unfortunately) come in all shapes sizes fonts and (Irsquom not making this up) colorsrdquo- Editor Brian Klems
The quote above is not encouragement but a warning Novel manuscripts are strictly styled for publishing submission and are expected to be lacking of shapes sizes multiple fonts or colors Turning in an improper manuscript is the easiest and quickest way to be rejected for publishing
The Title Page
Title of the novel on the title page centered as well as the authorrsquos name One inch mar-gins all around
Authorrsquos name address phone number and e-mail as well as any other information deemed important to the editor
An approximate word count of the novel
Chapter Page
ldquoLast nametitle of novelpage rdquo
Chapter title is centered
Chapters must always begin after they end on the following page with the title centered like it is shown here
Agent or No Agent
Agent or no agent 5
Agent
You will have established credibility Most publishing houses wonrsquot glance at manuscripts without an agent attached to them
No AgentPros
They will do most of the work for you including finding the publishing house that suits your book
They will always know more about the publishing business than the author which is a good thing They know how to work with your book
An agent will be honest with you about your work If your stuff is bad they will let you know that It can save you a lot of time in pursuing projects that just wonrsquot work
You will most likely lose the ability to negotiate your contracts with publishing houses
Finding a ldquogoodrdquo and credible literary agent who will accept your work is a hard road Anyone can put their name underneath the title of ldquoliterary agentrdquo
Agents take commission and will get a percentage of the payment for the book when it begins to sell Wersquoll talk more about this later
You have control over everything that has to do with your book
Any money that comes in from your published book goes to you
Cons
You will know everything that is happening and how long the wait will be With an agent it can feel
like everything is taking forever to get done
It is very difficult to get published without an agent
Even when you have a publishing house interested in your work it might be a lot more work than you
expect
Your expertise has to adapt to what a literary agent would need to know You have to learn about
business negotiation and how the publishing side works
You donrsquot have to give up your rights to any publisher for your book
Query Letters and You
Query letters and you 6
Query letters are the proposal an author sends to an agent or publishing house to get their atten-tion on the manuscript Itrsquos the cover letter for the publishing world Query letters can vary with what yoursquore trying to get published whether itrsquos a short story a poem or a novel In this chapter wersquoll look at the novel query letter
Anatomy of a Query LetterEditorrsquos NamePublishing HouseCity State Zip Code
Dear (Editor)
I have seen your interest in books such as The March and The Great Wave and I think because of your fascination with a fast-paced nature novel will have you interested in my own work My 80000 word manuscript Hoops and Turns will be a good fit for you
Hoops and Turns takes place in an upstate New York town that is preparing for the worst out of hurricane Sandy The protagonist Charlotte Lark struggles with her family when they are stubborn enough to stay and face the hurricane while the rest of the town is evacuated Charlotte finds out that a missing convict has stayed behind as well--and threatens Charlottersquos family Itrsquos up to her to protect her family from both the hurricane and the missing convict
I believe this manuscript is a good fit for your type of audience because of Charlottersquos inner struggle to fit in with her family and the difficult choices she has to face in her situation Shersquos an inspirational female protagonist that has human flaws but is also a great woman to look up to
I have been previously published in The Nest literary magazine and this is my first novel I work in North Dakota as a high school math teacher Thank you for your time
Sincerely
(Writer)
This is to show yoursquove researched and hand-picked this agent You can also introduce yourself here as well as your novel
The intro
The storyCondense your manuscript into a short synopsis for the editor This is your chance to hook them in and make them want to read it
Credentials and sign-off A little bit about yourself if yoursquove been published before and a bit more about why your story is great If you havenrsquot been published before donrsquot lie that can sometimes be an eyecatcher Keep the sign-off professional and thank them for looking over your query letter
Query letters and you 7
The Perfect Query Letter
Herersquos the conflict and I love how she sums up the people who are looking for it as a way of clarifying the problem of being in possession of this amulet and how the plot will unfold
Dear Ms Nelson
I read on Publishers Marketplace that yoursquore interested in female-oriented fantasy I think that Thief of Souls the first novel in my fantasy detective series might interest you
What if you suddenly have a largely unknown potentially unlimited power What if that power just might eat your soul for breakfast lunch and dinner What if every magical mobster and sicko sorcerer in town wants that power And what if you canrsquot get rid of it Thatrsquos Raine Bena-resrsquo problem Shersquos a Seeker -- a finder of things lost and people missing Most of what shersquos hired to find doesnrsquot get lost by itself It has help Dependable help Help she can depend on to use blades or bolts or magical means to keep what they went to all the trouble to get
When her sometime partner steals an amulet from a local necromancer Raine ends up with the amulet and the trouble thatrsquos hot on its heels What looks like a plain silver disk turns out to be a lodestone to an ancient soul-stealing stone a stone that seemingly every magical mob-ster in the city wants -- as well as a few heavy-hitters from out-of-town goblins of the Khrynsani Order their sadistic high priest Guardians of the Conclave of Sorcerers the goblin king and his renegade brother and an elven spellsinger of dubious motives
Hooray she got my name right I get a lot of queries that say Dear Mr Nelson or better yet Dear Jenny Bent
Short and sweet but shows she did at least a little bit of research about me and what Irsquom looking for
Normally Irsquom not a big fan of what I call the ldquowhat if rdquo ques-tions starting the query but let me tell you what got me in this letter I just loved the tone The power might eat my soul for breakfast Mobster sicko These are fun terms to be kicking around for a fantasy novel I perked up immediately Right away it felt different to me and I was ready for the longer pitch blurb thatrsquos just about to follow
Irsquom so tickled I love the phrase ldquomost of what shersquos hired to find doesnrsquot get lost by itselfrdquo
Perfect fun tone (which matches the novel she wrote)
Literary agent Kristin Nelson posts query letters that have been accepted on her blog ldquoAs agents we arenrsquot looking for perfection Wersquore looking for connection a spark that this interests us and thatrsquos hard to definerdquo Nelson says before sharing Lisa Shearinrsquos query letter to Nelson Shearin later published her book Thief Souls as Magic Lost Trouble Found with Ace Books of Penguin Publishing with Kristin Nelson as her agent
Query letters and you 8
People Raine doesnrsquot want to have notice her let alone have to outrun or outwit She likes attention as much as the next girl but this is the kind she can do without Then therersquos what the amulet is doing to her New and improved magical abilities sound good in theory but Raine thinks her soul is a little much to pay for resume enhancement And when she tries to take the amulet off the amulet tries to take her out And when she tries to take the amulet off the amulet tries to take her out
Soon Raine starts to wonder if her spells steel and street smarts will keep her alive long enough to find a way to get rid of the amulet before it or anyone else gets rid of her And the worst part She isnrsquot even getting paid Itrsquos enough to make a girl consider a career change Thief of Souls is my first novel
Irsquom an editor at an advertising agency with prior experience in corporate communications and marketing Irsquod be glad to send you my complete manuscript for your review Thank you for your time and consideration and I look forward to hearing from you soon
Regards
Lisa Shearin
ldquoShe likes attention as much as the next girlrdquo I know Irsquom getting a modern voice with this fantasy blend Itrsquos subtle and well done
More story conflict info but notice Lisa sticks with the tone she adopt-ed Itrsquos not repetitive yet adds some depth to the story
Done Therersquos no lament-ing that shersquos never been published She has no other credentials to offer so she doesnrsquot I loved the query so far so I really donrsquot mind the lack here
Very hard-boiled sounding
A little tidbit about her that personalizes a little but since it doesnrsquot really relate to her novel she keeps it brief and thatrsquos fine
Professional wrap- up I want to see 30 pages without having to think too hard about it Irsquom sold on her tone that I know will be mirrored in her writing
What not to do
A website Slush Pile Hell posts some of the worst lines from query letters Here are a few
ldquoFirst of all I must warn you that I am violating your rules of submissionhelliprdquo
ldquoHello Say me what yoursquore thinking about my new book the question is whatrsquos going on Thank yourdquo
ldquoAre you looking for a potential bestseller If yes please continue reading If not stop It would be waste of your timerdquo
ldquoI know you will love my book I didnrsquot include any pages here in my query because Irsquod love for you to call me so that I can read an excerpt to you over the phonerdquo
Self-Publishing
Self-Publishing 9
The Author as Entrepreneur
Self-publishing might be one of the most difficult ways to get your book out there if you are trying to ldquomake it bigrdquo as an author but it has been done With all the news ways authors can get money to self-publish and print their books there are also a lot of options authors can work with
There are many ways authors can get their audience to invest in their book and get it to print Kickstarter has become more and more popular and so a branch-off of Kickstarter was made just for books called Pubslush Pubslush allows authors to post a convincing plea to have readers donate money to help produce their book People who donate get awards depending on how much they give The great thing is is that anyone can do it Your success depends on how well you can sell it
Brian Schwarz and shadesBrian Schwarz is an author who posted his book on Pubslush with a $2000 goal
An author chooses a goal to reach in a certain amount of time Brian wants $2000 and already has $1735 donated He has 43 days left to reach $2000
Brian has 60 supporters An author can get more supporters by interacting with them on the website or mainly by how attractive the page is The way he attracted his supporters is through the description of his book below You can apply the rules of a query letter to the same introduction to supporters on Pubslush
ldquo Human civilization has reached its pinnacle after a genius Dr Grypphon Caldwell creates the revolutionary O-Chip
a technology that turns the human mind into a wireless device Just by thinking people are able to turn electronics on and off access the internet change the temperature of a
room and communicate in any language without actually speaking out loud Syntax Corporation has become
a household name But one day something goes terribly wrong It begins when a husband continues to commu-nicate with his wife through one such device weeks after his death Within a few short days a group of completely random strangers are brought together to try to uncover the dark mysteries surrounding the O-Chip before time
runs out rdquo
Supporters also have a choice of getting a copy of the book -- an e-book copy soft cover or hard cover depending on how much they donate
Self-Publishing 10
Self-Publishing Flow Chart
Finish the manuscript Proof read it and have a polished final
draft
Hire an editor for your manuscript They can range from $500-$3000 depending on their
credentials
E-books usually use stock images for the cover and are cheaper to
publish on websites like Amazon
Hire a designer for the book cover They can cost a lot up to $1000 But itrsquos a good idea to make your book look great
E-book Physical Copy
Self-publishing has a lot of elements to it that the publisher usually does for you Although this flow chart doesnrsquot represent the end-all of what an author must do to self publish it is what an author must do to go above-and-beyond for their book to be successful A website to hire editors and artists to help with your book is Elance
Begin Here
Companies that help the author to self-publish and distribute their book are Createspace and Lulu However this can be expensive
Place a copyright in the book (something as easy as ldquo2014 John Smith all rights reserved)
and buy an ISBN number
Print on Demand Through a Printer
Find a printer to print the phys-ical copies and distribute them Market your book in any way
possible
Market your book with your friends and in any way possible to have them buy it through the
print website
DistributeMarket
$$$Not really
Self-publishing is less guarenteed to get the money you might get if you had your book published by a
major publishing company
Money
Publishers
Publishers 11
The Big Five ldquoThe Big Fiverdquo in New York City are the major publishers of the book world Although extremely difficult to get published with once yoursquore in you are guarenteed credibility and a paying audience There are many sub-distributors of the Big Five for different genres and works Some fiction books that each publishing house has published
Penguin Random HouseSimon amp Schuster MacmillanThe White Princess Philippa Gregory
Twisted Emma Chase
Under the Dome Part 1 Stephen King
The Here and Now Ann Brashares
Paris Edward Rutherford
Thunderstruck amp Other Stories
Elizabeth McCracken
Eleanor amp Park Rainbow Rowell
Illusion Sherrilyn Kenyon
Speak Laurie Halse
Anderson
HarpercollinsA Bloodsmoore
RomanceJoyce Carol Oates
A Burnable BookBruce Holsinger
31 Bond StreetHelen Horan
The GoldfinchDonna Tartt
NYPD RedJames Patterson Marshall Karp
Seven Wild SistersCharles de Lint
Hachette
ldquoIndierdquo PublishersIndependent publishers are ldquoeasierrdquo to get published with but less credible and have a smaller and morespecific audience These are some of the most prominant indie publishers out there
Publishing GeniusAkashic Books Persea Books Anvil Publishing New DirectionsPublishing Genius
was founded in 2006 and is a small press that focuses
on publishing books that ldquocreate sympathy and therefore a better
worldrdquo
A Brooklyn based publisher that
focuses on publishing urban
literary fiction and ldquopolitical nonfiction by authors who are either ignored by the mainstreamrdquo
Founded in 1975 Persearsquos goal is to
ldquopublish works that endure by meeting high standards of literary merit and
relevancerdquo
Anvil is a progressive book publisher based
in the Philippines They publish all genres from textbooks to
mysteries
An indie publisher with a long history New Directions was
founded in 1936 The founder claims
it is ldquoas a place where experimen-
talists could test their inventions by
publicationrdquo
Contracts and Payment 12
Contracts and Payment
1 GRANTING RIGHTS
The author hereby grants and assigns to the Publisher the exclusive rights to publish in the English language in book form in all countries of the world a Work now en-titled ltltTitle of bookgtgt (hereinafter called the Work) which title may be changed only by mutual consent in writing
2 REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES
The Author represents that he is the sole proprietor of the Work and that the Work to the best of his knowl-edge does not contain any libelous matter and does not violate the civil rights of any person or persons does not infringe any existing copyright and has not here-tofore been published in book form The Author shall hold harmless and indemnify the publisher from any recovery finally sustained by reason of any violations of copyright or other property of personal right provided however that the Publisher shall with all reasonable promptness notify the Author of any claim or suit which may involve the warranties of the Author hereunder and the Author agrees fully to cooperate in the de-fense thereof The warranties contained in this article do not extend to drawings illustrations insofar as not furnished by the Author or to any other material not furnished by the Author
3 DELIVERY
The Author agrees to deliver to the publisher a complete typewritten script as well as a complete electronic text of the Work in a format to be determined by the Publisher (hereinafter called the Script) If the Script shall not have been delivered within three (3) months after the date this agreement is signed the Publisher may at its option terminate this agreement by notice in writing posted
Making MoneyThe logistics of getting payment for your work is a bit complicated Itrsquos unlikely you will be able to support yourself off of the money you make from your first book alone if your work is published
ContractsA contract is what an agent will give the writer to sign that lays out the agreements between the writer and agent for the production of the book To the left is what a contract might look like Confusing language and legal terms hidden everywhere They are not something to be looked at lightly and however credible the agent an author always wants to make sure that every sentence and section is to their satisfac-tion Without looking it over an agent could claim anythingmdashincluding being the author of the writerrsquos book Remember contracts are meant to be changed and be a compromise between both parties
PaymentWriters can make money in three ways flat fees royalties and advance against royalties A flat fee gives the author money up front and that is all they will get Royalties is an amount of money the author gets for each book sold Advance against royalties is a mix of the two and the most common with money up front and royalties guarenteed depending on how many books are sold How much you get is all dependent on what is in your contract
RightsAnother very important thing included in the contract This explains who owns the book if the publisher distributes it as well as the agent who is getting it to the pub-lisher
Authors Who Succeeded
Authors who Succeeded 13
Jack Heath
Australian author Jack Heath published his novel The Lab with Pan Macmillan when he was 17 years old He had no agent and was lucky enough to have his book accepted on his first try However they asked him to rewrite it twice ldquoA writer only knows the story they want to tell whereas a publisher knows what story the readers want to buy Unless telling the story is more important to you than having anyone to tell it to Irsquod recommend making every change they ask forrdquo
No literary agent middot Published by Pan Macmillan
Amanda HockingSelf-published middot Later published by Macmillan
Amanda Hocking self-published her first book when she was 26 and sold 100000 copies within a year by using sources such as book bloggers Bedford St Martinrsquos Press a traditional publisher a part of Macmillan paid over $2 million for her book after bidding alongside Simon amp Schuster Random House and HarperCollins before they dropped out She has gone on to publish books for her Watersong series the first being pictured on the left She was later represented by liter-ary agent Steven Axelrod
Erin MorgensternAgented middot Published by Random House
Erin Morgenstern began her book by participating in NaNoWriMo and sent out many query letters to get an agent to represent her book She had to revise her book multiple times to get an agent to represent her and finally she was offered representation by agent Richard Pine Her book The Night Circus was published by Random House when she was 29 and ended up on as 2 on the New York Times Best Seller list She writes about updates and her experiences in the pub-lishing world on her blog
Authors who Succeeded 14
Beth Reekles Posted on Wattpad middot Found and published by Random House
Beth Reekles posted her novels on Wattpadd and gained about 60 thousand followers on the website before a Random House agent tracked her down She was published at 17 years old and ended up on TIMErsquos Most Influential Teens of 2013 list Her goal was to ldquowrite a novel she would want to readrdquo when she began writing it at 15
Amelia Atwater-RhodesLiterary Agent middot Published by Random House
Her high school teacher who also happened to be a literary agent overheard she was writing a book and wanted to read it He got her published with Random House when she was 15 years old Since then she has written and published 16 novels and has been called the successor to Anne Rice
These writers were able to do it and they were not that far off from where you are right now The fact that you are looking at this guide gives you a better chance than most Just remember
Itrsquos possibleBut itrsquos not easy It takes dedication
Some good books to take a look at to further help your cause
The Writerrsquos Market by Robert Lee Brewer Full of literary agents literary journals and publishers this is the bible for the writer serious about getting published
The Writerrsquos Little Helper Everything You Need to Know to Write Better and Get Published by James V Smith Jr A simple and very interesting book that has plenty of charts ideas and guidelines for a writer on
their way to editing and publishing a novel
The Pocket Muse by Monica Wood An artistic little book with pictures and prompts to help a writer get started when they are stuck with the dreaded writerrsquos block
On Writing by Stephen King Stephen Kingrsquos memoir on how he became so successful and his writing process A very interesting read that is hard to put down even for non-writers
Bibliography by Section
Introduction
ldquoBest Sellers Initially Rejectedrdquo Literary Rejections accessed March 7 2014 httpwwwliteraryrejectionscombest-sellers-initially-rejected
Encouragement and Fun Resources
ldquoAbsolute Write Forumsrdquo Absolute Write last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwabsolutewritecomforums
ldquoBe (Slightly) Afraid of Posting Your Work Onlinerdquo Writerrsquos Digest last modified April 25 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomeditor-blogsguide-to-literary-agentsbe-slightly- afraid-of-posting-your-work-online
ldquoThe Book Blogger Directoryrdquo Book Blogger Directory last modified August 28 2011 accessed February 19 2014 httpbookbloggerdirectorywordpresscom
ldquoJuke Pop Serialsrdquo Juke Pop Serials accessed February 21 2014 httpswwwjukepopserialscom
ldquoNaNoWriMordquo National Novel Writing Month last modified February 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpnanowrimoorg
ldquoPublisherrsquos Pinterestrdquo Pinterest accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpinterestcompublishingtrend
ldquoWattpadrdquo Wattpad accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwattpadcomabout
ldquoThe Writing Cafe Tagsrdquo The Writerrsquos Cafe on Tumblr last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpthewritingcafetumblrcomtags
The Manuscript
ldquoWhat Are the Guidelines for Formatting a Manuscriptrdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified March 16 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomonline-editorwhat-are-the-guidelines-for-format ing-a-manuscript
ldquoProper Manuscript Format Novel Formatrdquo William Shunn modified 2014 accessed February 21 2014 httpwwwshunnnetformatnovelhtml
Agent or No Agent
Francis Scott editor 2013 Novel amp Short Story Writerrsquos Market (Cincinnati Writerrsquos Digest Books 2012) Used to find agents publishers literary magazines and is basically the bible for any writer who is serious about their craft
ldquoMember Databaserdquo Association of Authorsrsquo Representatives accessed February 19 2014 httpaaronline orgFind
Query Letters
ldquoAnatomy of a Query Letterrdquo Huffington Post modified January 9 2014 accessed February 14 2014 http wwwhuffingtonpostcom20130109query-letter-_n_2434095html
ldquoQueriesmdashAn Inside Scoop (Lisa Shearinrsquos Query)rdquo Pub Rants modified August 9 2006 accessed May 6 2014 httppubrantsblogspotcom200608queriesan-inside-scoop-lisa-shearinshtml
ldquoSuccessful Query Letters for Literary Agentsrdquo Media Bistro modified December 23 2012 accessed Febru ary 19 2014 httpwwwmediabistrocomgalleycatsuccessful-query-letters-for-literary-agents_ b62590
ldquoWriting a Pitch-Perfect Query Letterrdquo Romance Writers on the Journey modified August 4 2008 accessed April 7 2014 httpromancewritersonthejourneywordpresscom20080824writing-a-pitch-perfect-query-let ter
Self-Publishing
ldquoAbout Pubslushrdquo Pubslush modified 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpubslushcomabout
ldquoHow to Self-Publish a Bookrdquo Wikihow httpwwwwikihowcomSelf-Publish-a-Book
Hellman Eric 2013 ldquoThe Author as Entrepreneurrdquo Publishers Weekly 260 no 21 22-23 Academic Search Complete EBSCOhost (accessed February 19 2014) httpwwwpublishersweeklycompwby-topic industry-newspublisher-newsarticle57403-the-author-as-entrepreneurhtml
ldquoKickstarterrdquo Kickstarter modified 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpswwwkickstartercom
ldquoPubslush Can the Kickstarter for Books Find its Nicherdquo The Next Web modified November 23 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpthenextwebcommedia20131125pubslush-can-kickstarter- books-find-nichewwkRw
Publishers
ldquoThe Big Fiverdquo publishers in New York City
Penguin Random House accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpenguinrandomhousecom Simon and Schuster accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwsimonandschustercomMacmillan accessed February 19 2014 httpusmacmillancom Harper Collins accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwharpercollinscom Hachette Book Group accessed February 19 2014 wwwhachettebookgroupcom
Indie PublishersSome well known independent publishers that are ldquoeasierrdquo to get into and also have some well known au-thors Explanations with them their genres and their history
Publishing Genius accessed February 19 2014 httppublishinggeniuscomAkashic Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwakashicbookscomPersea Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwperseabookscomnew-and-forthcomingNew Directions accessed February 19 2014 httpndbookscomAnvil Press Publishing accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwanvilpresscom
Royalties and Payment
ldquo11 Frequently Asked Questions About Book Royalties Advances and Moneyrdquo Writer Unboxed modified November 28 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwriterunboxedcom2011112811-fre quently-asked-questions-about-book-royalties-advances-and-making-money
ldquoPublishing Contracts 101rdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified October 6 2009 accessed February 19 2014 http wwwwritersdigestcomwriting-articlesby-writing-goalget-published-sell-my-workpublish ing-contracts-101
ldquoSample of Contractrdquo Index Books accessed April 24 2014 httpwwwindexbooksnetpublishingcontracthtm
Authors Who Have Succeeded
ldquoAgentedrdquo Erin Morgenstern modified May 27 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httperinmorgenstern com201005agented
ldquoAmanda Hocking Self-Publishing Successrdquo Become a 6 Figure Woman modified March 1 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwbecomea6figurewomancomamanda-hocking-self-publishing
ldquoFAQrdquo Author Beth Reekles Tumblr accessed February 19 2014 httpauthorbethreeklestumblrcomfaq
Table of Contents
Introduction 2
Encouragement Inspiration 3
The Manuscript 4
Agent or No Agent 5
Query Letters and You 6
Self-Publishing 9
Publishers 11
Contracts and Payment 12
Authors Who Succeeded 13
Introduction
Introduction 2
Using this GuideLinks are embedded throughout this guide If yoursquore viewing it digitally the links will appear with bolded blue text If yoursquore reading this guide in print the links will be cited
ldquoIt is so badly writtenrdquo on Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
ldquoYou have no business being a writer and should give uprdquo written to Zane Gray
ldquoAn absurd and uninteresting fantasy which was rubbish and dullrdquo on Lord of the Flies by William Golding
ldquoI recommend that it be buried under a stone for a thousand yearsrdquo on Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Being a writer isnrsquot easy
Itrsquos even more difficult to get your work out there and published
The process of getting a piece out there into the publishing world is a complicated thing but it is pos-sible While this guide may not help you attain a product of perfection it will help your manuscript have a chance to be published
The thing to remember about this guide is it will not guarantee that your manuscript will be published the first time out nor will you get an agent with your first query letter The best thing to remember is
do not give upThis guide specifically focuses on a fictional novel of any genre While this guide may be of use to non-fiction writers in some ways it is best used for the fiction writer It is meant to be inspirational and helpful to a single user and has many links to other great websites and resources
Encouragement Inspiration and Fun Resources
Encouragment Inspiration and Fun Resources 3
Perhaps yoursquore looking at this guide and hoping that you might be able to use that unfinished manuscript yoursquove been using as a doorstop for the past year but have no idea how to get back into the game
Story Development+ The Writing Cafe is full of links and tags that help writers to become inspired Information ranges from the history of medieval armor to the correct way to foreshadow While itrsquos uncertain who exactly is running The Writing Cafe the information is definitely useful You can also have questions answered
+ Absolute Write Forums is an interactive forum room with tons of writers agents and publishers to answer questions and converse with Authors have been known to use these forums to find out the best path to publish and improve their work
Publishers+ Pinterest has a board that posts every-thing to do with writing communities and publishers This is useful to see what pub-lishers are trending and what communities are popular
Promotion+ Wattpad can be used to post full length novels online Authors can track views and also read comments by readers This web-site has been known to have editors looking at the most popular novels and contacting authors in interest
+ Juke Pop Serials is a website similar to Wattpad but it posts serial novels This means that the novel is written chapter by chapter by the author and each chapter is posted online as itrsquos written Writers on Juke Pop Serials only succeed from votes that the readers give them Authors on Juke Pop can earn money from their popularity on the website
+ Book Bloggers Directory has hundreds of people willing to read blog and review your book Although it hasnrsquot been updated in quite a bit many of the book bloggers listed in the directory are still active
No Novel+ NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month is a website and writing community dedicated to the practice of writing a 50000 word novel in the month of Novem-ber If this is too intimidating the website still has great writing advice forums and pep-talks from authors like Terry Pratchett and Philippa Gregory If you win in No-vember you can get printed copies of your novel among other prizes
About posting work online itrsquos a risky thing Always ask yourself why yoursquore posting it online Your ideas are not safe on the internet and always assume that everyone can see them Writerrsquos Digest suggests that you donrsquot just post your work on a Wordpress blog to see what hap-pens because that means your writing is out there and itrsquos not safe
The Manuscript
The Manuscript 4
ldquoManuscript submissions (unfortunately) come in all shapes sizes fonts and (Irsquom not making this up) colorsrdquo- Editor Brian Klems
The quote above is not encouragement but a warning Novel manuscripts are strictly styled for publishing submission and are expected to be lacking of shapes sizes multiple fonts or colors Turning in an improper manuscript is the easiest and quickest way to be rejected for publishing
The Title Page
Title of the novel on the title page centered as well as the authorrsquos name One inch mar-gins all around
Authorrsquos name address phone number and e-mail as well as any other information deemed important to the editor
An approximate word count of the novel
Chapter Page
ldquoLast nametitle of novelpage rdquo
Chapter title is centered
Chapters must always begin after they end on the following page with the title centered like it is shown here
Agent or No Agent
Agent or no agent 5
Agent
You will have established credibility Most publishing houses wonrsquot glance at manuscripts without an agent attached to them
No AgentPros
They will do most of the work for you including finding the publishing house that suits your book
They will always know more about the publishing business than the author which is a good thing They know how to work with your book
An agent will be honest with you about your work If your stuff is bad they will let you know that It can save you a lot of time in pursuing projects that just wonrsquot work
You will most likely lose the ability to negotiate your contracts with publishing houses
Finding a ldquogoodrdquo and credible literary agent who will accept your work is a hard road Anyone can put their name underneath the title of ldquoliterary agentrdquo
Agents take commission and will get a percentage of the payment for the book when it begins to sell Wersquoll talk more about this later
You have control over everything that has to do with your book
Any money that comes in from your published book goes to you
Cons
You will know everything that is happening and how long the wait will be With an agent it can feel
like everything is taking forever to get done
It is very difficult to get published without an agent
Even when you have a publishing house interested in your work it might be a lot more work than you
expect
Your expertise has to adapt to what a literary agent would need to know You have to learn about
business negotiation and how the publishing side works
You donrsquot have to give up your rights to any publisher for your book
Query Letters and You
Query letters and you 6
Query letters are the proposal an author sends to an agent or publishing house to get their atten-tion on the manuscript Itrsquos the cover letter for the publishing world Query letters can vary with what yoursquore trying to get published whether itrsquos a short story a poem or a novel In this chapter wersquoll look at the novel query letter
Anatomy of a Query LetterEditorrsquos NamePublishing HouseCity State Zip Code
Dear (Editor)
I have seen your interest in books such as The March and The Great Wave and I think because of your fascination with a fast-paced nature novel will have you interested in my own work My 80000 word manuscript Hoops and Turns will be a good fit for you
Hoops and Turns takes place in an upstate New York town that is preparing for the worst out of hurricane Sandy The protagonist Charlotte Lark struggles with her family when they are stubborn enough to stay and face the hurricane while the rest of the town is evacuated Charlotte finds out that a missing convict has stayed behind as well--and threatens Charlottersquos family Itrsquos up to her to protect her family from both the hurricane and the missing convict
I believe this manuscript is a good fit for your type of audience because of Charlottersquos inner struggle to fit in with her family and the difficult choices she has to face in her situation Shersquos an inspirational female protagonist that has human flaws but is also a great woman to look up to
I have been previously published in The Nest literary magazine and this is my first novel I work in North Dakota as a high school math teacher Thank you for your time
Sincerely
(Writer)
This is to show yoursquove researched and hand-picked this agent You can also introduce yourself here as well as your novel
The intro
The storyCondense your manuscript into a short synopsis for the editor This is your chance to hook them in and make them want to read it
Credentials and sign-off A little bit about yourself if yoursquove been published before and a bit more about why your story is great If you havenrsquot been published before donrsquot lie that can sometimes be an eyecatcher Keep the sign-off professional and thank them for looking over your query letter
Query letters and you 7
The Perfect Query Letter
Herersquos the conflict and I love how she sums up the people who are looking for it as a way of clarifying the problem of being in possession of this amulet and how the plot will unfold
Dear Ms Nelson
I read on Publishers Marketplace that yoursquore interested in female-oriented fantasy I think that Thief of Souls the first novel in my fantasy detective series might interest you
What if you suddenly have a largely unknown potentially unlimited power What if that power just might eat your soul for breakfast lunch and dinner What if every magical mobster and sicko sorcerer in town wants that power And what if you canrsquot get rid of it Thatrsquos Raine Bena-resrsquo problem Shersquos a Seeker -- a finder of things lost and people missing Most of what shersquos hired to find doesnrsquot get lost by itself It has help Dependable help Help she can depend on to use blades or bolts or magical means to keep what they went to all the trouble to get
When her sometime partner steals an amulet from a local necromancer Raine ends up with the amulet and the trouble thatrsquos hot on its heels What looks like a plain silver disk turns out to be a lodestone to an ancient soul-stealing stone a stone that seemingly every magical mob-ster in the city wants -- as well as a few heavy-hitters from out-of-town goblins of the Khrynsani Order their sadistic high priest Guardians of the Conclave of Sorcerers the goblin king and his renegade brother and an elven spellsinger of dubious motives
Hooray she got my name right I get a lot of queries that say Dear Mr Nelson or better yet Dear Jenny Bent
Short and sweet but shows she did at least a little bit of research about me and what Irsquom looking for
Normally Irsquom not a big fan of what I call the ldquowhat if rdquo ques-tions starting the query but let me tell you what got me in this letter I just loved the tone The power might eat my soul for breakfast Mobster sicko These are fun terms to be kicking around for a fantasy novel I perked up immediately Right away it felt different to me and I was ready for the longer pitch blurb thatrsquos just about to follow
Irsquom so tickled I love the phrase ldquomost of what shersquos hired to find doesnrsquot get lost by itselfrdquo
Perfect fun tone (which matches the novel she wrote)
Literary agent Kristin Nelson posts query letters that have been accepted on her blog ldquoAs agents we arenrsquot looking for perfection Wersquore looking for connection a spark that this interests us and thatrsquos hard to definerdquo Nelson says before sharing Lisa Shearinrsquos query letter to Nelson Shearin later published her book Thief Souls as Magic Lost Trouble Found with Ace Books of Penguin Publishing with Kristin Nelson as her agent
Query letters and you 8
People Raine doesnrsquot want to have notice her let alone have to outrun or outwit She likes attention as much as the next girl but this is the kind she can do without Then therersquos what the amulet is doing to her New and improved magical abilities sound good in theory but Raine thinks her soul is a little much to pay for resume enhancement And when she tries to take the amulet off the amulet tries to take her out And when she tries to take the amulet off the amulet tries to take her out
Soon Raine starts to wonder if her spells steel and street smarts will keep her alive long enough to find a way to get rid of the amulet before it or anyone else gets rid of her And the worst part She isnrsquot even getting paid Itrsquos enough to make a girl consider a career change Thief of Souls is my first novel
Irsquom an editor at an advertising agency with prior experience in corporate communications and marketing Irsquod be glad to send you my complete manuscript for your review Thank you for your time and consideration and I look forward to hearing from you soon
Regards
Lisa Shearin
ldquoShe likes attention as much as the next girlrdquo I know Irsquom getting a modern voice with this fantasy blend Itrsquos subtle and well done
More story conflict info but notice Lisa sticks with the tone she adopt-ed Itrsquos not repetitive yet adds some depth to the story
Done Therersquos no lament-ing that shersquos never been published She has no other credentials to offer so she doesnrsquot I loved the query so far so I really donrsquot mind the lack here
Very hard-boiled sounding
A little tidbit about her that personalizes a little but since it doesnrsquot really relate to her novel she keeps it brief and thatrsquos fine
Professional wrap- up I want to see 30 pages without having to think too hard about it Irsquom sold on her tone that I know will be mirrored in her writing
What not to do
A website Slush Pile Hell posts some of the worst lines from query letters Here are a few
ldquoFirst of all I must warn you that I am violating your rules of submissionhelliprdquo
ldquoHello Say me what yoursquore thinking about my new book the question is whatrsquos going on Thank yourdquo
ldquoAre you looking for a potential bestseller If yes please continue reading If not stop It would be waste of your timerdquo
ldquoI know you will love my book I didnrsquot include any pages here in my query because Irsquod love for you to call me so that I can read an excerpt to you over the phonerdquo
Self-Publishing
Self-Publishing 9
The Author as Entrepreneur
Self-publishing might be one of the most difficult ways to get your book out there if you are trying to ldquomake it bigrdquo as an author but it has been done With all the news ways authors can get money to self-publish and print their books there are also a lot of options authors can work with
There are many ways authors can get their audience to invest in their book and get it to print Kickstarter has become more and more popular and so a branch-off of Kickstarter was made just for books called Pubslush Pubslush allows authors to post a convincing plea to have readers donate money to help produce their book People who donate get awards depending on how much they give The great thing is is that anyone can do it Your success depends on how well you can sell it
Brian Schwarz and shadesBrian Schwarz is an author who posted his book on Pubslush with a $2000 goal
An author chooses a goal to reach in a certain amount of time Brian wants $2000 and already has $1735 donated He has 43 days left to reach $2000
Brian has 60 supporters An author can get more supporters by interacting with them on the website or mainly by how attractive the page is The way he attracted his supporters is through the description of his book below You can apply the rules of a query letter to the same introduction to supporters on Pubslush
ldquo Human civilization has reached its pinnacle after a genius Dr Grypphon Caldwell creates the revolutionary O-Chip
a technology that turns the human mind into a wireless device Just by thinking people are able to turn electronics on and off access the internet change the temperature of a
room and communicate in any language without actually speaking out loud Syntax Corporation has become
a household name But one day something goes terribly wrong It begins when a husband continues to commu-nicate with his wife through one such device weeks after his death Within a few short days a group of completely random strangers are brought together to try to uncover the dark mysteries surrounding the O-Chip before time
runs out rdquo
Supporters also have a choice of getting a copy of the book -- an e-book copy soft cover or hard cover depending on how much they donate
Self-Publishing 10
Self-Publishing Flow Chart
Finish the manuscript Proof read it and have a polished final
draft
Hire an editor for your manuscript They can range from $500-$3000 depending on their
credentials
E-books usually use stock images for the cover and are cheaper to
publish on websites like Amazon
Hire a designer for the book cover They can cost a lot up to $1000 But itrsquos a good idea to make your book look great
E-book Physical Copy
Self-publishing has a lot of elements to it that the publisher usually does for you Although this flow chart doesnrsquot represent the end-all of what an author must do to self publish it is what an author must do to go above-and-beyond for their book to be successful A website to hire editors and artists to help with your book is Elance
Begin Here
Companies that help the author to self-publish and distribute their book are Createspace and Lulu However this can be expensive
Place a copyright in the book (something as easy as ldquo2014 John Smith all rights reserved)
and buy an ISBN number
Print on Demand Through a Printer
Find a printer to print the phys-ical copies and distribute them Market your book in any way
possible
Market your book with your friends and in any way possible to have them buy it through the
print website
DistributeMarket
$$$Not really
Self-publishing is less guarenteed to get the money you might get if you had your book published by a
major publishing company
Money
Publishers
Publishers 11
The Big Five ldquoThe Big Fiverdquo in New York City are the major publishers of the book world Although extremely difficult to get published with once yoursquore in you are guarenteed credibility and a paying audience There are many sub-distributors of the Big Five for different genres and works Some fiction books that each publishing house has published
Penguin Random HouseSimon amp Schuster MacmillanThe White Princess Philippa Gregory
Twisted Emma Chase
Under the Dome Part 1 Stephen King
The Here and Now Ann Brashares
Paris Edward Rutherford
Thunderstruck amp Other Stories
Elizabeth McCracken
Eleanor amp Park Rainbow Rowell
Illusion Sherrilyn Kenyon
Speak Laurie Halse
Anderson
HarpercollinsA Bloodsmoore
RomanceJoyce Carol Oates
A Burnable BookBruce Holsinger
31 Bond StreetHelen Horan
The GoldfinchDonna Tartt
NYPD RedJames Patterson Marshall Karp
Seven Wild SistersCharles de Lint
Hachette
ldquoIndierdquo PublishersIndependent publishers are ldquoeasierrdquo to get published with but less credible and have a smaller and morespecific audience These are some of the most prominant indie publishers out there
Publishing GeniusAkashic Books Persea Books Anvil Publishing New DirectionsPublishing Genius
was founded in 2006 and is a small press that focuses
on publishing books that ldquocreate sympathy and therefore a better
worldrdquo
A Brooklyn based publisher that
focuses on publishing urban
literary fiction and ldquopolitical nonfiction by authors who are either ignored by the mainstreamrdquo
Founded in 1975 Persearsquos goal is to
ldquopublish works that endure by meeting high standards of literary merit and
relevancerdquo
Anvil is a progressive book publisher based
in the Philippines They publish all genres from textbooks to
mysteries
An indie publisher with a long history New Directions was
founded in 1936 The founder claims
it is ldquoas a place where experimen-
talists could test their inventions by
publicationrdquo
Contracts and Payment 12
Contracts and Payment
1 GRANTING RIGHTS
The author hereby grants and assigns to the Publisher the exclusive rights to publish in the English language in book form in all countries of the world a Work now en-titled ltltTitle of bookgtgt (hereinafter called the Work) which title may be changed only by mutual consent in writing
2 REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES
The Author represents that he is the sole proprietor of the Work and that the Work to the best of his knowl-edge does not contain any libelous matter and does not violate the civil rights of any person or persons does not infringe any existing copyright and has not here-tofore been published in book form The Author shall hold harmless and indemnify the publisher from any recovery finally sustained by reason of any violations of copyright or other property of personal right provided however that the Publisher shall with all reasonable promptness notify the Author of any claim or suit which may involve the warranties of the Author hereunder and the Author agrees fully to cooperate in the de-fense thereof The warranties contained in this article do not extend to drawings illustrations insofar as not furnished by the Author or to any other material not furnished by the Author
3 DELIVERY
The Author agrees to deliver to the publisher a complete typewritten script as well as a complete electronic text of the Work in a format to be determined by the Publisher (hereinafter called the Script) If the Script shall not have been delivered within three (3) months after the date this agreement is signed the Publisher may at its option terminate this agreement by notice in writing posted
Making MoneyThe logistics of getting payment for your work is a bit complicated Itrsquos unlikely you will be able to support yourself off of the money you make from your first book alone if your work is published
ContractsA contract is what an agent will give the writer to sign that lays out the agreements between the writer and agent for the production of the book To the left is what a contract might look like Confusing language and legal terms hidden everywhere They are not something to be looked at lightly and however credible the agent an author always wants to make sure that every sentence and section is to their satisfac-tion Without looking it over an agent could claim anythingmdashincluding being the author of the writerrsquos book Remember contracts are meant to be changed and be a compromise between both parties
PaymentWriters can make money in three ways flat fees royalties and advance against royalties A flat fee gives the author money up front and that is all they will get Royalties is an amount of money the author gets for each book sold Advance against royalties is a mix of the two and the most common with money up front and royalties guarenteed depending on how many books are sold How much you get is all dependent on what is in your contract
RightsAnother very important thing included in the contract This explains who owns the book if the publisher distributes it as well as the agent who is getting it to the pub-lisher
Authors Who Succeeded
Authors who Succeeded 13
Jack Heath
Australian author Jack Heath published his novel The Lab with Pan Macmillan when he was 17 years old He had no agent and was lucky enough to have his book accepted on his first try However they asked him to rewrite it twice ldquoA writer only knows the story they want to tell whereas a publisher knows what story the readers want to buy Unless telling the story is more important to you than having anyone to tell it to Irsquod recommend making every change they ask forrdquo
No literary agent middot Published by Pan Macmillan
Amanda HockingSelf-published middot Later published by Macmillan
Amanda Hocking self-published her first book when she was 26 and sold 100000 copies within a year by using sources such as book bloggers Bedford St Martinrsquos Press a traditional publisher a part of Macmillan paid over $2 million for her book after bidding alongside Simon amp Schuster Random House and HarperCollins before they dropped out She has gone on to publish books for her Watersong series the first being pictured on the left She was later represented by liter-ary agent Steven Axelrod
Erin MorgensternAgented middot Published by Random House
Erin Morgenstern began her book by participating in NaNoWriMo and sent out many query letters to get an agent to represent her book She had to revise her book multiple times to get an agent to represent her and finally she was offered representation by agent Richard Pine Her book The Night Circus was published by Random House when she was 29 and ended up on as 2 on the New York Times Best Seller list She writes about updates and her experiences in the pub-lishing world on her blog
Authors who Succeeded 14
Beth Reekles Posted on Wattpad middot Found and published by Random House
Beth Reekles posted her novels on Wattpadd and gained about 60 thousand followers on the website before a Random House agent tracked her down She was published at 17 years old and ended up on TIMErsquos Most Influential Teens of 2013 list Her goal was to ldquowrite a novel she would want to readrdquo when she began writing it at 15
Amelia Atwater-RhodesLiterary Agent middot Published by Random House
Her high school teacher who also happened to be a literary agent overheard she was writing a book and wanted to read it He got her published with Random House when she was 15 years old Since then she has written and published 16 novels and has been called the successor to Anne Rice
These writers were able to do it and they were not that far off from where you are right now The fact that you are looking at this guide gives you a better chance than most Just remember
Itrsquos possibleBut itrsquos not easy It takes dedication
Some good books to take a look at to further help your cause
The Writerrsquos Market by Robert Lee Brewer Full of literary agents literary journals and publishers this is the bible for the writer serious about getting published
The Writerrsquos Little Helper Everything You Need to Know to Write Better and Get Published by James V Smith Jr A simple and very interesting book that has plenty of charts ideas and guidelines for a writer on
their way to editing and publishing a novel
The Pocket Muse by Monica Wood An artistic little book with pictures and prompts to help a writer get started when they are stuck with the dreaded writerrsquos block
On Writing by Stephen King Stephen Kingrsquos memoir on how he became so successful and his writing process A very interesting read that is hard to put down even for non-writers
Bibliography by Section
Introduction
ldquoBest Sellers Initially Rejectedrdquo Literary Rejections accessed March 7 2014 httpwwwliteraryrejectionscombest-sellers-initially-rejected
Encouragement and Fun Resources
ldquoAbsolute Write Forumsrdquo Absolute Write last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwabsolutewritecomforums
ldquoBe (Slightly) Afraid of Posting Your Work Onlinerdquo Writerrsquos Digest last modified April 25 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomeditor-blogsguide-to-literary-agentsbe-slightly- afraid-of-posting-your-work-online
ldquoThe Book Blogger Directoryrdquo Book Blogger Directory last modified August 28 2011 accessed February 19 2014 httpbookbloggerdirectorywordpresscom
ldquoJuke Pop Serialsrdquo Juke Pop Serials accessed February 21 2014 httpswwwjukepopserialscom
ldquoNaNoWriMordquo National Novel Writing Month last modified February 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpnanowrimoorg
ldquoPublisherrsquos Pinterestrdquo Pinterest accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpinterestcompublishingtrend
ldquoWattpadrdquo Wattpad accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwattpadcomabout
ldquoThe Writing Cafe Tagsrdquo The Writerrsquos Cafe on Tumblr last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpthewritingcafetumblrcomtags
The Manuscript
ldquoWhat Are the Guidelines for Formatting a Manuscriptrdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified March 16 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomonline-editorwhat-are-the-guidelines-for-format ing-a-manuscript
ldquoProper Manuscript Format Novel Formatrdquo William Shunn modified 2014 accessed February 21 2014 httpwwwshunnnetformatnovelhtml
Agent or No Agent
Francis Scott editor 2013 Novel amp Short Story Writerrsquos Market (Cincinnati Writerrsquos Digest Books 2012) Used to find agents publishers literary magazines and is basically the bible for any writer who is serious about their craft
ldquoMember Databaserdquo Association of Authorsrsquo Representatives accessed February 19 2014 httpaaronline orgFind
Query Letters
ldquoAnatomy of a Query Letterrdquo Huffington Post modified January 9 2014 accessed February 14 2014 http wwwhuffingtonpostcom20130109query-letter-_n_2434095html
ldquoQueriesmdashAn Inside Scoop (Lisa Shearinrsquos Query)rdquo Pub Rants modified August 9 2006 accessed May 6 2014 httppubrantsblogspotcom200608queriesan-inside-scoop-lisa-shearinshtml
ldquoSuccessful Query Letters for Literary Agentsrdquo Media Bistro modified December 23 2012 accessed Febru ary 19 2014 httpwwwmediabistrocomgalleycatsuccessful-query-letters-for-literary-agents_ b62590
ldquoWriting a Pitch-Perfect Query Letterrdquo Romance Writers on the Journey modified August 4 2008 accessed April 7 2014 httpromancewritersonthejourneywordpresscom20080824writing-a-pitch-perfect-query-let ter
Self-Publishing
ldquoAbout Pubslushrdquo Pubslush modified 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpubslushcomabout
ldquoHow to Self-Publish a Bookrdquo Wikihow httpwwwwikihowcomSelf-Publish-a-Book
Hellman Eric 2013 ldquoThe Author as Entrepreneurrdquo Publishers Weekly 260 no 21 22-23 Academic Search Complete EBSCOhost (accessed February 19 2014) httpwwwpublishersweeklycompwby-topic industry-newspublisher-newsarticle57403-the-author-as-entrepreneurhtml
ldquoKickstarterrdquo Kickstarter modified 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpswwwkickstartercom
ldquoPubslush Can the Kickstarter for Books Find its Nicherdquo The Next Web modified November 23 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpthenextwebcommedia20131125pubslush-can-kickstarter- books-find-nichewwkRw
Publishers
ldquoThe Big Fiverdquo publishers in New York City
Penguin Random House accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpenguinrandomhousecom Simon and Schuster accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwsimonandschustercomMacmillan accessed February 19 2014 httpusmacmillancom Harper Collins accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwharpercollinscom Hachette Book Group accessed February 19 2014 wwwhachettebookgroupcom
Indie PublishersSome well known independent publishers that are ldquoeasierrdquo to get into and also have some well known au-thors Explanations with them their genres and their history
Publishing Genius accessed February 19 2014 httppublishinggeniuscomAkashic Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwakashicbookscomPersea Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwperseabookscomnew-and-forthcomingNew Directions accessed February 19 2014 httpndbookscomAnvil Press Publishing accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwanvilpresscom
Royalties and Payment
ldquo11 Frequently Asked Questions About Book Royalties Advances and Moneyrdquo Writer Unboxed modified November 28 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwriterunboxedcom2011112811-fre quently-asked-questions-about-book-royalties-advances-and-making-money
ldquoPublishing Contracts 101rdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified October 6 2009 accessed February 19 2014 http wwwwritersdigestcomwriting-articlesby-writing-goalget-published-sell-my-workpublish ing-contracts-101
ldquoSample of Contractrdquo Index Books accessed April 24 2014 httpwwwindexbooksnetpublishingcontracthtm
Authors Who Have Succeeded
ldquoAgentedrdquo Erin Morgenstern modified May 27 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httperinmorgenstern com201005agented
ldquoAmanda Hocking Self-Publishing Successrdquo Become a 6 Figure Woman modified March 1 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwbecomea6figurewomancomamanda-hocking-self-publishing
ldquoFAQrdquo Author Beth Reekles Tumblr accessed February 19 2014 httpauthorbethreeklestumblrcomfaq
Introduction
Introduction 2
Using this GuideLinks are embedded throughout this guide If yoursquore viewing it digitally the links will appear with bolded blue text If yoursquore reading this guide in print the links will be cited
ldquoIt is so badly writtenrdquo on Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
ldquoYou have no business being a writer and should give uprdquo written to Zane Gray
ldquoAn absurd and uninteresting fantasy which was rubbish and dullrdquo on Lord of the Flies by William Golding
ldquoI recommend that it be buried under a stone for a thousand yearsrdquo on Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Being a writer isnrsquot easy
Itrsquos even more difficult to get your work out there and published
The process of getting a piece out there into the publishing world is a complicated thing but it is pos-sible While this guide may not help you attain a product of perfection it will help your manuscript have a chance to be published
The thing to remember about this guide is it will not guarantee that your manuscript will be published the first time out nor will you get an agent with your first query letter The best thing to remember is
do not give upThis guide specifically focuses on a fictional novel of any genre While this guide may be of use to non-fiction writers in some ways it is best used for the fiction writer It is meant to be inspirational and helpful to a single user and has many links to other great websites and resources
Encouragement Inspiration and Fun Resources
Encouragment Inspiration and Fun Resources 3
Perhaps yoursquore looking at this guide and hoping that you might be able to use that unfinished manuscript yoursquove been using as a doorstop for the past year but have no idea how to get back into the game
Story Development+ The Writing Cafe is full of links and tags that help writers to become inspired Information ranges from the history of medieval armor to the correct way to foreshadow While itrsquos uncertain who exactly is running The Writing Cafe the information is definitely useful You can also have questions answered
+ Absolute Write Forums is an interactive forum room with tons of writers agents and publishers to answer questions and converse with Authors have been known to use these forums to find out the best path to publish and improve their work
Publishers+ Pinterest has a board that posts every-thing to do with writing communities and publishers This is useful to see what pub-lishers are trending and what communities are popular
Promotion+ Wattpad can be used to post full length novels online Authors can track views and also read comments by readers This web-site has been known to have editors looking at the most popular novels and contacting authors in interest
+ Juke Pop Serials is a website similar to Wattpad but it posts serial novels This means that the novel is written chapter by chapter by the author and each chapter is posted online as itrsquos written Writers on Juke Pop Serials only succeed from votes that the readers give them Authors on Juke Pop can earn money from their popularity on the website
+ Book Bloggers Directory has hundreds of people willing to read blog and review your book Although it hasnrsquot been updated in quite a bit many of the book bloggers listed in the directory are still active
No Novel+ NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month is a website and writing community dedicated to the practice of writing a 50000 word novel in the month of Novem-ber If this is too intimidating the website still has great writing advice forums and pep-talks from authors like Terry Pratchett and Philippa Gregory If you win in No-vember you can get printed copies of your novel among other prizes
About posting work online itrsquos a risky thing Always ask yourself why yoursquore posting it online Your ideas are not safe on the internet and always assume that everyone can see them Writerrsquos Digest suggests that you donrsquot just post your work on a Wordpress blog to see what hap-pens because that means your writing is out there and itrsquos not safe
The Manuscript
The Manuscript 4
ldquoManuscript submissions (unfortunately) come in all shapes sizes fonts and (Irsquom not making this up) colorsrdquo- Editor Brian Klems
The quote above is not encouragement but a warning Novel manuscripts are strictly styled for publishing submission and are expected to be lacking of shapes sizes multiple fonts or colors Turning in an improper manuscript is the easiest and quickest way to be rejected for publishing
The Title Page
Title of the novel on the title page centered as well as the authorrsquos name One inch mar-gins all around
Authorrsquos name address phone number and e-mail as well as any other information deemed important to the editor
An approximate word count of the novel
Chapter Page
ldquoLast nametitle of novelpage rdquo
Chapter title is centered
Chapters must always begin after they end on the following page with the title centered like it is shown here
Agent or No Agent
Agent or no agent 5
Agent
You will have established credibility Most publishing houses wonrsquot glance at manuscripts without an agent attached to them
No AgentPros
They will do most of the work for you including finding the publishing house that suits your book
They will always know more about the publishing business than the author which is a good thing They know how to work with your book
An agent will be honest with you about your work If your stuff is bad they will let you know that It can save you a lot of time in pursuing projects that just wonrsquot work
You will most likely lose the ability to negotiate your contracts with publishing houses
Finding a ldquogoodrdquo and credible literary agent who will accept your work is a hard road Anyone can put their name underneath the title of ldquoliterary agentrdquo
Agents take commission and will get a percentage of the payment for the book when it begins to sell Wersquoll talk more about this later
You have control over everything that has to do with your book
Any money that comes in from your published book goes to you
Cons
You will know everything that is happening and how long the wait will be With an agent it can feel
like everything is taking forever to get done
It is very difficult to get published without an agent
Even when you have a publishing house interested in your work it might be a lot more work than you
expect
Your expertise has to adapt to what a literary agent would need to know You have to learn about
business negotiation and how the publishing side works
You donrsquot have to give up your rights to any publisher for your book
Query Letters and You
Query letters and you 6
Query letters are the proposal an author sends to an agent or publishing house to get their atten-tion on the manuscript Itrsquos the cover letter for the publishing world Query letters can vary with what yoursquore trying to get published whether itrsquos a short story a poem or a novel In this chapter wersquoll look at the novel query letter
Anatomy of a Query LetterEditorrsquos NamePublishing HouseCity State Zip Code
Dear (Editor)
I have seen your interest in books such as The March and The Great Wave and I think because of your fascination with a fast-paced nature novel will have you interested in my own work My 80000 word manuscript Hoops and Turns will be a good fit for you
Hoops and Turns takes place in an upstate New York town that is preparing for the worst out of hurricane Sandy The protagonist Charlotte Lark struggles with her family when they are stubborn enough to stay and face the hurricane while the rest of the town is evacuated Charlotte finds out that a missing convict has stayed behind as well--and threatens Charlottersquos family Itrsquos up to her to protect her family from both the hurricane and the missing convict
I believe this manuscript is a good fit for your type of audience because of Charlottersquos inner struggle to fit in with her family and the difficult choices she has to face in her situation Shersquos an inspirational female protagonist that has human flaws but is also a great woman to look up to
I have been previously published in The Nest literary magazine and this is my first novel I work in North Dakota as a high school math teacher Thank you for your time
Sincerely
(Writer)
This is to show yoursquove researched and hand-picked this agent You can also introduce yourself here as well as your novel
The intro
The storyCondense your manuscript into a short synopsis for the editor This is your chance to hook them in and make them want to read it
Credentials and sign-off A little bit about yourself if yoursquove been published before and a bit more about why your story is great If you havenrsquot been published before donrsquot lie that can sometimes be an eyecatcher Keep the sign-off professional and thank them for looking over your query letter
Query letters and you 7
The Perfect Query Letter
Herersquos the conflict and I love how she sums up the people who are looking for it as a way of clarifying the problem of being in possession of this amulet and how the plot will unfold
Dear Ms Nelson
I read on Publishers Marketplace that yoursquore interested in female-oriented fantasy I think that Thief of Souls the first novel in my fantasy detective series might interest you
What if you suddenly have a largely unknown potentially unlimited power What if that power just might eat your soul for breakfast lunch and dinner What if every magical mobster and sicko sorcerer in town wants that power And what if you canrsquot get rid of it Thatrsquos Raine Bena-resrsquo problem Shersquos a Seeker -- a finder of things lost and people missing Most of what shersquos hired to find doesnrsquot get lost by itself It has help Dependable help Help she can depend on to use blades or bolts or magical means to keep what they went to all the trouble to get
When her sometime partner steals an amulet from a local necromancer Raine ends up with the amulet and the trouble thatrsquos hot on its heels What looks like a plain silver disk turns out to be a lodestone to an ancient soul-stealing stone a stone that seemingly every magical mob-ster in the city wants -- as well as a few heavy-hitters from out-of-town goblins of the Khrynsani Order their sadistic high priest Guardians of the Conclave of Sorcerers the goblin king and his renegade brother and an elven spellsinger of dubious motives
Hooray she got my name right I get a lot of queries that say Dear Mr Nelson or better yet Dear Jenny Bent
Short and sweet but shows she did at least a little bit of research about me and what Irsquom looking for
Normally Irsquom not a big fan of what I call the ldquowhat if rdquo ques-tions starting the query but let me tell you what got me in this letter I just loved the tone The power might eat my soul for breakfast Mobster sicko These are fun terms to be kicking around for a fantasy novel I perked up immediately Right away it felt different to me and I was ready for the longer pitch blurb thatrsquos just about to follow
Irsquom so tickled I love the phrase ldquomost of what shersquos hired to find doesnrsquot get lost by itselfrdquo
Perfect fun tone (which matches the novel she wrote)
Literary agent Kristin Nelson posts query letters that have been accepted on her blog ldquoAs agents we arenrsquot looking for perfection Wersquore looking for connection a spark that this interests us and thatrsquos hard to definerdquo Nelson says before sharing Lisa Shearinrsquos query letter to Nelson Shearin later published her book Thief Souls as Magic Lost Trouble Found with Ace Books of Penguin Publishing with Kristin Nelson as her agent
Query letters and you 8
People Raine doesnrsquot want to have notice her let alone have to outrun or outwit She likes attention as much as the next girl but this is the kind she can do without Then therersquos what the amulet is doing to her New and improved magical abilities sound good in theory but Raine thinks her soul is a little much to pay for resume enhancement And when she tries to take the amulet off the amulet tries to take her out And when she tries to take the amulet off the amulet tries to take her out
Soon Raine starts to wonder if her spells steel and street smarts will keep her alive long enough to find a way to get rid of the amulet before it or anyone else gets rid of her And the worst part She isnrsquot even getting paid Itrsquos enough to make a girl consider a career change Thief of Souls is my first novel
Irsquom an editor at an advertising agency with prior experience in corporate communications and marketing Irsquod be glad to send you my complete manuscript for your review Thank you for your time and consideration and I look forward to hearing from you soon
Regards
Lisa Shearin
ldquoShe likes attention as much as the next girlrdquo I know Irsquom getting a modern voice with this fantasy blend Itrsquos subtle and well done
More story conflict info but notice Lisa sticks with the tone she adopt-ed Itrsquos not repetitive yet adds some depth to the story
Done Therersquos no lament-ing that shersquos never been published She has no other credentials to offer so she doesnrsquot I loved the query so far so I really donrsquot mind the lack here
Very hard-boiled sounding
A little tidbit about her that personalizes a little but since it doesnrsquot really relate to her novel she keeps it brief and thatrsquos fine
Professional wrap- up I want to see 30 pages without having to think too hard about it Irsquom sold on her tone that I know will be mirrored in her writing
What not to do
A website Slush Pile Hell posts some of the worst lines from query letters Here are a few
ldquoFirst of all I must warn you that I am violating your rules of submissionhelliprdquo
ldquoHello Say me what yoursquore thinking about my new book the question is whatrsquos going on Thank yourdquo
ldquoAre you looking for a potential bestseller If yes please continue reading If not stop It would be waste of your timerdquo
ldquoI know you will love my book I didnrsquot include any pages here in my query because Irsquod love for you to call me so that I can read an excerpt to you over the phonerdquo
Self-Publishing
Self-Publishing 9
The Author as Entrepreneur
Self-publishing might be one of the most difficult ways to get your book out there if you are trying to ldquomake it bigrdquo as an author but it has been done With all the news ways authors can get money to self-publish and print their books there are also a lot of options authors can work with
There are many ways authors can get their audience to invest in their book and get it to print Kickstarter has become more and more popular and so a branch-off of Kickstarter was made just for books called Pubslush Pubslush allows authors to post a convincing plea to have readers donate money to help produce their book People who donate get awards depending on how much they give The great thing is is that anyone can do it Your success depends on how well you can sell it
Brian Schwarz and shadesBrian Schwarz is an author who posted his book on Pubslush with a $2000 goal
An author chooses a goal to reach in a certain amount of time Brian wants $2000 and already has $1735 donated He has 43 days left to reach $2000
Brian has 60 supporters An author can get more supporters by interacting with them on the website or mainly by how attractive the page is The way he attracted his supporters is through the description of his book below You can apply the rules of a query letter to the same introduction to supporters on Pubslush
ldquo Human civilization has reached its pinnacle after a genius Dr Grypphon Caldwell creates the revolutionary O-Chip
a technology that turns the human mind into a wireless device Just by thinking people are able to turn electronics on and off access the internet change the temperature of a
room and communicate in any language without actually speaking out loud Syntax Corporation has become
a household name But one day something goes terribly wrong It begins when a husband continues to commu-nicate with his wife through one such device weeks after his death Within a few short days a group of completely random strangers are brought together to try to uncover the dark mysteries surrounding the O-Chip before time
runs out rdquo
Supporters also have a choice of getting a copy of the book -- an e-book copy soft cover or hard cover depending on how much they donate
Self-Publishing 10
Self-Publishing Flow Chart
Finish the manuscript Proof read it and have a polished final
draft
Hire an editor for your manuscript They can range from $500-$3000 depending on their
credentials
E-books usually use stock images for the cover and are cheaper to
publish on websites like Amazon
Hire a designer for the book cover They can cost a lot up to $1000 But itrsquos a good idea to make your book look great
E-book Physical Copy
Self-publishing has a lot of elements to it that the publisher usually does for you Although this flow chart doesnrsquot represent the end-all of what an author must do to self publish it is what an author must do to go above-and-beyond for their book to be successful A website to hire editors and artists to help with your book is Elance
Begin Here
Companies that help the author to self-publish and distribute their book are Createspace and Lulu However this can be expensive
Place a copyright in the book (something as easy as ldquo2014 John Smith all rights reserved)
and buy an ISBN number
Print on Demand Through a Printer
Find a printer to print the phys-ical copies and distribute them Market your book in any way
possible
Market your book with your friends and in any way possible to have them buy it through the
print website
DistributeMarket
$$$Not really
Self-publishing is less guarenteed to get the money you might get if you had your book published by a
major publishing company
Money
Publishers
Publishers 11
The Big Five ldquoThe Big Fiverdquo in New York City are the major publishers of the book world Although extremely difficult to get published with once yoursquore in you are guarenteed credibility and a paying audience There are many sub-distributors of the Big Five for different genres and works Some fiction books that each publishing house has published
Penguin Random HouseSimon amp Schuster MacmillanThe White Princess Philippa Gregory
Twisted Emma Chase
Under the Dome Part 1 Stephen King
The Here and Now Ann Brashares
Paris Edward Rutherford
Thunderstruck amp Other Stories
Elizabeth McCracken
Eleanor amp Park Rainbow Rowell
Illusion Sherrilyn Kenyon
Speak Laurie Halse
Anderson
HarpercollinsA Bloodsmoore
RomanceJoyce Carol Oates
A Burnable BookBruce Holsinger
31 Bond StreetHelen Horan
The GoldfinchDonna Tartt
NYPD RedJames Patterson Marshall Karp
Seven Wild SistersCharles de Lint
Hachette
ldquoIndierdquo PublishersIndependent publishers are ldquoeasierrdquo to get published with but less credible and have a smaller and morespecific audience These are some of the most prominant indie publishers out there
Publishing GeniusAkashic Books Persea Books Anvil Publishing New DirectionsPublishing Genius
was founded in 2006 and is a small press that focuses
on publishing books that ldquocreate sympathy and therefore a better
worldrdquo
A Brooklyn based publisher that
focuses on publishing urban
literary fiction and ldquopolitical nonfiction by authors who are either ignored by the mainstreamrdquo
Founded in 1975 Persearsquos goal is to
ldquopublish works that endure by meeting high standards of literary merit and
relevancerdquo
Anvil is a progressive book publisher based
in the Philippines They publish all genres from textbooks to
mysteries
An indie publisher with a long history New Directions was
founded in 1936 The founder claims
it is ldquoas a place where experimen-
talists could test their inventions by
publicationrdquo
Contracts and Payment 12
Contracts and Payment
1 GRANTING RIGHTS
The author hereby grants and assigns to the Publisher the exclusive rights to publish in the English language in book form in all countries of the world a Work now en-titled ltltTitle of bookgtgt (hereinafter called the Work) which title may be changed only by mutual consent in writing
2 REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES
The Author represents that he is the sole proprietor of the Work and that the Work to the best of his knowl-edge does not contain any libelous matter and does not violate the civil rights of any person or persons does not infringe any existing copyright and has not here-tofore been published in book form The Author shall hold harmless and indemnify the publisher from any recovery finally sustained by reason of any violations of copyright or other property of personal right provided however that the Publisher shall with all reasonable promptness notify the Author of any claim or suit which may involve the warranties of the Author hereunder and the Author agrees fully to cooperate in the de-fense thereof The warranties contained in this article do not extend to drawings illustrations insofar as not furnished by the Author or to any other material not furnished by the Author
3 DELIVERY
The Author agrees to deliver to the publisher a complete typewritten script as well as a complete electronic text of the Work in a format to be determined by the Publisher (hereinafter called the Script) If the Script shall not have been delivered within three (3) months after the date this agreement is signed the Publisher may at its option terminate this agreement by notice in writing posted
Making MoneyThe logistics of getting payment for your work is a bit complicated Itrsquos unlikely you will be able to support yourself off of the money you make from your first book alone if your work is published
ContractsA contract is what an agent will give the writer to sign that lays out the agreements between the writer and agent for the production of the book To the left is what a contract might look like Confusing language and legal terms hidden everywhere They are not something to be looked at lightly and however credible the agent an author always wants to make sure that every sentence and section is to their satisfac-tion Without looking it over an agent could claim anythingmdashincluding being the author of the writerrsquos book Remember contracts are meant to be changed and be a compromise between both parties
PaymentWriters can make money in three ways flat fees royalties and advance against royalties A flat fee gives the author money up front and that is all they will get Royalties is an amount of money the author gets for each book sold Advance against royalties is a mix of the two and the most common with money up front and royalties guarenteed depending on how many books are sold How much you get is all dependent on what is in your contract
RightsAnother very important thing included in the contract This explains who owns the book if the publisher distributes it as well as the agent who is getting it to the pub-lisher
Authors Who Succeeded
Authors who Succeeded 13
Jack Heath
Australian author Jack Heath published his novel The Lab with Pan Macmillan when he was 17 years old He had no agent and was lucky enough to have his book accepted on his first try However they asked him to rewrite it twice ldquoA writer only knows the story they want to tell whereas a publisher knows what story the readers want to buy Unless telling the story is more important to you than having anyone to tell it to Irsquod recommend making every change they ask forrdquo
No literary agent middot Published by Pan Macmillan
Amanda HockingSelf-published middot Later published by Macmillan
Amanda Hocking self-published her first book when she was 26 and sold 100000 copies within a year by using sources such as book bloggers Bedford St Martinrsquos Press a traditional publisher a part of Macmillan paid over $2 million for her book after bidding alongside Simon amp Schuster Random House and HarperCollins before they dropped out She has gone on to publish books for her Watersong series the first being pictured on the left She was later represented by liter-ary agent Steven Axelrod
Erin MorgensternAgented middot Published by Random House
Erin Morgenstern began her book by participating in NaNoWriMo and sent out many query letters to get an agent to represent her book She had to revise her book multiple times to get an agent to represent her and finally she was offered representation by agent Richard Pine Her book The Night Circus was published by Random House when she was 29 and ended up on as 2 on the New York Times Best Seller list She writes about updates and her experiences in the pub-lishing world on her blog
Authors who Succeeded 14
Beth Reekles Posted on Wattpad middot Found and published by Random House
Beth Reekles posted her novels on Wattpadd and gained about 60 thousand followers on the website before a Random House agent tracked her down She was published at 17 years old and ended up on TIMErsquos Most Influential Teens of 2013 list Her goal was to ldquowrite a novel she would want to readrdquo when she began writing it at 15
Amelia Atwater-RhodesLiterary Agent middot Published by Random House
Her high school teacher who also happened to be a literary agent overheard she was writing a book and wanted to read it He got her published with Random House when she was 15 years old Since then she has written and published 16 novels and has been called the successor to Anne Rice
These writers were able to do it and they were not that far off from where you are right now The fact that you are looking at this guide gives you a better chance than most Just remember
Itrsquos possibleBut itrsquos not easy It takes dedication
Some good books to take a look at to further help your cause
The Writerrsquos Market by Robert Lee Brewer Full of literary agents literary journals and publishers this is the bible for the writer serious about getting published
The Writerrsquos Little Helper Everything You Need to Know to Write Better and Get Published by James V Smith Jr A simple and very interesting book that has plenty of charts ideas and guidelines for a writer on
their way to editing and publishing a novel
The Pocket Muse by Monica Wood An artistic little book with pictures and prompts to help a writer get started when they are stuck with the dreaded writerrsquos block
On Writing by Stephen King Stephen Kingrsquos memoir on how he became so successful and his writing process A very interesting read that is hard to put down even for non-writers
Bibliography by Section
Introduction
ldquoBest Sellers Initially Rejectedrdquo Literary Rejections accessed March 7 2014 httpwwwliteraryrejectionscombest-sellers-initially-rejected
Encouragement and Fun Resources
ldquoAbsolute Write Forumsrdquo Absolute Write last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwabsolutewritecomforums
ldquoBe (Slightly) Afraid of Posting Your Work Onlinerdquo Writerrsquos Digest last modified April 25 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomeditor-blogsguide-to-literary-agentsbe-slightly- afraid-of-posting-your-work-online
ldquoThe Book Blogger Directoryrdquo Book Blogger Directory last modified August 28 2011 accessed February 19 2014 httpbookbloggerdirectorywordpresscom
ldquoJuke Pop Serialsrdquo Juke Pop Serials accessed February 21 2014 httpswwwjukepopserialscom
ldquoNaNoWriMordquo National Novel Writing Month last modified February 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpnanowrimoorg
ldquoPublisherrsquos Pinterestrdquo Pinterest accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpinterestcompublishingtrend
ldquoWattpadrdquo Wattpad accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwattpadcomabout
ldquoThe Writing Cafe Tagsrdquo The Writerrsquos Cafe on Tumblr last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpthewritingcafetumblrcomtags
The Manuscript
ldquoWhat Are the Guidelines for Formatting a Manuscriptrdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified March 16 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomonline-editorwhat-are-the-guidelines-for-format ing-a-manuscript
ldquoProper Manuscript Format Novel Formatrdquo William Shunn modified 2014 accessed February 21 2014 httpwwwshunnnetformatnovelhtml
Agent or No Agent
Francis Scott editor 2013 Novel amp Short Story Writerrsquos Market (Cincinnati Writerrsquos Digest Books 2012) Used to find agents publishers literary magazines and is basically the bible for any writer who is serious about their craft
ldquoMember Databaserdquo Association of Authorsrsquo Representatives accessed February 19 2014 httpaaronline orgFind
Query Letters
ldquoAnatomy of a Query Letterrdquo Huffington Post modified January 9 2014 accessed February 14 2014 http wwwhuffingtonpostcom20130109query-letter-_n_2434095html
ldquoQueriesmdashAn Inside Scoop (Lisa Shearinrsquos Query)rdquo Pub Rants modified August 9 2006 accessed May 6 2014 httppubrantsblogspotcom200608queriesan-inside-scoop-lisa-shearinshtml
ldquoSuccessful Query Letters for Literary Agentsrdquo Media Bistro modified December 23 2012 accessed Febru ary 19 2014 httpwwwmediabistrocomgalleycatsuccessful-query-letters-for-literary-agents_ b62590
ldquoWriting a Pitch-Perfect Query Letterrdquo Romance Writers on the Journey modified August 4 2008 accessed April 7 2014 httpromancewritersonthejourneywordpresscom20080824writing-a-pitch-perfect-query-let ter
Self-Publishing
ldquoAbout Pubslushrdquo Pubslush modified 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpubslushcomabout
ldquoHow to Self-Publish a Bookrdquo Wikihow httpwwwwikihowcomSelf-Publish-a-Book
Hellman Eric 2013 ldquoThe Author as Entrepreneurrdquo Publishers Weekly 260 no 21 22-23 Academic Search Complete EBSCOhost (accessed February 19 2014) httpwwwpublishersweeklycompwby-topic industry-newspublisher-newsarticle57403-the-author-as-entrepreneurhtml
ldquoKickstarterrdquo Kickstarter modified 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpswwwkickstartercom
ldquoPubslush Can the Kickstarter for Books Find its Nicherdquo The Next Web modified November 23 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpthenextwebcommedia20131125pubslush-can-kickstarter- books-find-nichewwkRw
Publishers
ldquoThe Big Fiverdquo publishers in New York City
Penguin Random House accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpenguinrandomhousecom Simon and Schuster accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwsimonandschustercomMacmillan accessed February 19 2014 httpusmacmillancom Harper Collins accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwharpercollinscom Hachette Book Group accessed February 19 2014 wwwhachettebookgroupcom
Indie PublishersSome well known independent publishers that are ldquoeasierrdquo to get into and also have some well known au-thors Explanations with them their genres and their history
Publishing Genius accessed February 19 2014 httppublishinggeniuscomAkashic Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwakashicbookscomPersea Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwperseabookscomnew-and-forthcomingNew Directions accessed February 19 2014 httpndbookscomAnvil Press Publishing accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwanvilpresscom
Royalties and Payment
ldquo11 Frequently Asked Questions About Book Royalties Advances and Moneyrdquo Writer Unboxed modified November 28 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwriterunboxedcom2011112811-fre quently-asked-questions-about-book-royalties-advances-and-making-money
ldquoPublishing Contracts 101rdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified October 6 2009 accessed February 19 2014 http wwwwritersdigestcomwriting-articlesby-writing-goalget-published-sell-my-workpublish ing-contracts-101
ldquoSample of Contractrdquo Index Books accessed April 24 2014 httpwwwindexbooksnetpublishingcontracthtm
Authors Who Have Succeeded
ldquoAgentedrdquo Erin Morgenstern modified May 27 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httperinmorgenstern com201005agented
ldquoAmanda Hocking Self-Publishing Successrdquo Become a 6 Figure Woman modified March 1 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwbecomea6figurewomancomamanda-hocking-self-publishing
ldquoFAQrdquo Author Beth Reekles Tumblr accessed February 19 2014 httpauthorbethreeklestumblrcomfaq
Encouragement Inspiration and Fun Resources
Encouragment Inspiration and Fun Resources 3
Perhaps yoursquore looking at this guide and hoping that you might be able to use that unfinished manuscript yoursquove been using as a doorstop for the past year but have no idea how to get back into the game
Story Development+ The Writing Cafe is full of links and tags that help writers to become inspired Information ranges from the history of medieval armor to the correct way to foreshadow While itrsquos uncertain who exactly is running The Writing Cafe the information is definitely useful You can also have questions answered
+ Absolute Write Forums is an interactive forum room with tons of writers agents and publishers to answer questions and converse with Authors have been known to use these forums to find out the best path to publish and improve their work
Publishers+ Pinterest has a board that posts every-thing to do with writing communities and publishers This is useful to see what pub-lishers are trending and what communities are popular
Promotion+ Wattpad can be used to post full length novels online Authors can track views and also read comments by readers This web-site has been known to have editors looking at the most popular novels and contacting authors in interest
+ Juke Pop Serials is a website similar to Wattpad but it posts serial novels This means that the novel is written chapter by chapter by the author and each chapter is posted online as itrsquos written Writers on Juke Pop Serials only succeed from votes that the readers give them Authors on Juke Pop can earn money from their popularity on the website
+ Book Bloggers Directory has hundreds of people willing to read blog and review your book Although it hasnrsquot been updated in quite a bit many of the book bloggers listed in the directory are still active
No Novel+ NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month is a website and writing community dedicated to the practice of writing a 50000 word novel in the month of Novem-ber If this is too intimidating the website still has great writing advice forums and pep-talks from authors like Terry Pratchett and Philippa Gregory If you win in No-vember you can get printed copies of your novel among other prizes
About posting work online itrsquos a risky thing Always ask yourself why yoursquore posting it online Your ideas are not safe on the internet and always assume that everyone can see them Writerrsquos Digest suggests that you donrsquot just post your work on a Wordpress blog to see what hap-pens because that means your writing is out there and itrsquos not safe
The Manuscript
The Manuscript 4
ldquoManuscript submissions (unfortunately) come in all shapes sizes fonts and (Irsquom not making this up) colorsrdquo- Editor Brian Klems
The quote above is not encouragement but a warning Novel manuscripts are strictly styled for publishing submission and are expected to be lacking of shapes sizes multiple fonts or colors Turning in an improper manuscript is the easiest and quickest way to be rejected for publishing
The Title Page
Title of the novel on the title page centered as well as the authorrsquos name One inch mar-gins all around
Authorrsquos name address phone number and e-mail as well as any other information deemed important to the editor
An approximate word count of the novel
Chapter Page
ldquoLast nametitle of novelpage rdquo
Chapter title is centered
Chapters must always begin after they end on the following page with the title centered like it is shown here
Agent or No Agent
Agent or no agent 5
Agent
You will have established credibility Most publishing houses wonrsquot glance at manuscripts without an agent attached to them
No AgentPros
They will do most of the work for you including finding the publishing house that suits your book
They will always know more about the publishing business than the author which is a good thing They know how to work with your book
An agent will be honest with you about your work If your stuff is bad they will let you know that It can save you a lot of time in pursuing projects that just wonrsquot work
You will most likely lose the ability to negotiate your contracts with publishing houses
Finding a ldquogoodrdquo and credible literary agent who will accept your work is a hard road Anyone can put their name underneath the title of ldquoliterary agentrdquo
Agents take commission and will get a percentage of the payment for the book when it begins to sell Wersquoll talk more about this later
You have control over everything that has to do with your book
Any money that comes in from your published book goes to you
Cons
You will know everything that is happening and how long the wait will be With an agent it can feel
like everything is taking forever to get done
It is very difficult to get published without an agent
Even when you have a publishing house interested in your work it might be a lot more work than you
expect
Your expertise has to adapt to what a literary agent would need to know You have to learn about
business negotiation and how the publishing side works
You donrsquot have to give up your rights to any publisher for your book
Query Letters and You
Query letters and you 6
Query letters are the proposal an author sends to an agent or publishing house to get their atten-tion on the manuscript Itrsquos the cover letter for the publishing world Query letters can vary with what yoursquore trying to get published whether itrsquos a short story a poem or a novel In this chapter wersquoll look at the novel query letter
Anatomy of a Query LetterEditorrsquos NamePublishing HouseCity State Zip Code
Dear (Editor)
I have seen your interest in books such as The March and The Great Wave and I think because of your fascination with a fast-paced nature novel will have you interested in my own work My 80000 word manuscript Hoops and Turns will be a good fit for you
Hoops and Turns takes place in an upstate New York town that is preparing for the worst out of hurricane Sandy The protagonist Charlotte Lark struggles with her family when they are stubborn enough to stay and face the hurricane while the rest of the town is evacuated Charlotte finds out that a missing convict has stayed behind as well--and threatens Charlottersquos family Itrsquos up to her to protect her family from both the hurricane and the missing convict
I believe this manuscript is a good fit for your type of audience because of Charlottersquos inner struggle to fit in with her family and the difficult choices she has to face in her situation Shersquos an inspirational female protagonist that has human flaws but is also a great woman to look up to
I have been previously published in The Nest literary magazine and this is my first novel I work in North Dakota as a high school math teacher Thank you for your time
Sincerely
(Writer)
This is to show yoursquove researched and hand-picked this agent You can also introduce yourself here as well as your novel
The intro
The storyCondense your manuscript into a short synopsis for the editor This is your chance to hook them in and make them want to read it
Credentials and sign-off A little bit about yourself if yoursquove been published before and a bit more about why your story is great If you havenrsquot been published before donrsquot lie that can sometimes be an eyecatcher Keep the sign-off professional and thank them for looking over your query letter
Query letters and you 7
The Perfect Query Letter
Herersquos the conflict and I love how she sums up the people who are looking for it as a way of clarifying the problem of being in possession of this amulet and how the plot will unfold
Dear Ms Nelson
I read on Publishers Marketplace that yoursquore interested in female-oriented fantasy I think that Thief of Souls the first novel in my fantasy detective series might interest you
What if you suddenly have a largely unknown potentially unlimited power What if that power just might eat your soul for breakfast lunch and dinner What if every magical mobster and sicko sorcerer in town wants that power And what if you canrsquot get rid of it Thatrsquos Raine Bena-resrsquo problem Shersquos a Seeker -- a finder of things lost and people missing Most of what shersquos hired to find doesnrsquot get lost by itself It has help Dependable help Help she can depend on to use blades or bolts or magical means to keep what they went to all the trouble to get
When her sometime partner steals an amulet from a local necromancer Raine ends up with the amulet and the trouble thatrsquos hot on its heels What looks like a plain silver disk turns out to be a lodestone to an ancient soul-stealing stone a stone that seemingly every magical mob-ster in the city wants -- as well as a few heavy-hitters from out-of-town goblins of the Khrynsani Order their sadistic high priest Guardians of the Conclave of Sorcerers the goblin king and his renegade brother and an elven spellsinger of dubious motives
Hooray she got my name right I get a lot of queries that say Dear Mr Nelson or better yet Dear Jenny Bent
Short and sweet but shows she did at least a little bit of research about me and what Irsquom looking for
Normally Irsquom not a big fan of what I call the ldquowhat if rdquo ques-tions starting the query but let me tell you what got me in this letter I just loved the tone The power might eat my soul for breakfast Mobster sicko These are fun terms to be kicking around for a fantasy novel I perked up immediately Right away it felt different to me and I was ready for the longer pitch blurb thatrsquos just about to follow
Irsquom so tickled I love the phrase ldquomost of what shersquos hired to find doesnrsquot get lost by itselfrdquo
Perfect fun tone (which matches the novel she wrote)
Literary agent Kristin Nelson posts query letters that have been accepted on her blog ldquoAs agents we arenrsquot looking for perfection Wersquore looking for connection a spark that this interests us and thatrsquos hard to definerdquo Nelson says before sharing Lisa Shearinrsquos query letter to Nelson Shearin later published her book Thief Souls as Magic Lost Trouble Found with Ace Books of Penguin Publishing with Kristin Nelson as her agent
Query letters and you 8
People Raine doesnrsquot want to have notice her let alone have to outrun or outwit She likes attention as much as the next girl but this is the kind she can do without Then therersquos what the amulet is doing to her New and improved magical abilities sound good in theory but Raine thinks her soul is a little much to pay for resume enhancement And when she tries to take the amulet off the amulet tries to take her out And when she tries to take the amulet off the amulet tries to take her out
Soon Raine starts to wonder if her spells steel and street smarts will keep her alive long enough to find a way to get rid of the amulet before it or anyone else gets rid of her And the worst part She isnrsquot even getting paid Itrsquos enough to make a girl consider a career change Thief of Souls is my first novel
Irsquom an editor at an advertising agency with prior experience in corporate communications and marketing Irsquod be glad to send you my complete manuscript for your review Thank you for your time and consideration and I look forward to hearing from you soon
Regards
Lisa Shearin
ldquoShe likes attention as much as the next girlrdquo I know Irsquom getting a modern voice with this fantasy blend Itrsquos subtle and well done
More story conflict info but notice Lisa sticks with the tone she adopt-ed Itrsquos not repetitive yet adds some depth to the story
Done Therersquos no lament-ing that shersquos never been published She has no other credentials to offer so she doesnrsquot I loved the query so far so I really donrsquot mind the lack here
Very hard-boiled sounding
A little tidbit about her that personalizes a little but since it doesnrsquot really relate to her novel she keeps it brief and thatrsquos fine
Professional wrap- up I want to see 30 pages without having to think too hard about it Irsquom sold on her tone that I know will be mirrored in her writing
What not to do
A website Slush Pile Hell posts some of the worst lines from query letters Here are a few
ldquoFirst of all I must warn you that I am violating your rules of submissionhelliprdquo
ldquoHello Say me what yoursquore thinking about my new book the question is whatrsquos going on Thank yourdquo
ldquoAre you looking for a potential bestseller If yes please continue reading If not stop It would be waste of your timerdquo
ldquoI know you will love my book I didnrsquot include any pages here in my query because Irsquod love for you to call me so that I can read an excerpt to you over the phonerdquo
Self-Publishing
Self-Publishing 9
The Author as Entrepreneur
Self-publishing might be one of the most difficult ways to get your book out there if you are trying to ldquomake it bigrdquo as an author but it has been done With all the news ways authors can get money to self-publish and print their books there are also a lot of options authors can work with
There are many ways authors can get their audience to invest in their book and get it to print Kickstarter has become more and more popular and so a branch-off of Kickstarter was made just for books called Pubslush Pubslush allows authors to post a convincing plea to have readers donate money to help produce their book People who donate get awards depending on how much they give The great thing is is that anyone can do it Your success depends on how well you can sell it
Brian Schwarz and shadesBrian Schwarz is an author who posted his book on Pubslush with a $2000 goal
An author chooses a goal to reach in a certain amount of time Brian wants $2000 and already has $1735 donated He has 43 days left to reach $2000
Brian has 60 supporters An author can get more supporters by interacting with them on the website or mainly by how attractive the page is The way he attracted his supporters is through the description of his book below You can apply the rules of a query letter to the same introduction to supporters on Pubslush
ldquo Human civilization has reached its pinnacle after a genius Dr Grypphon Caldwell creates the revolutionary O-Chip
a technology that turns the human mind into a wireless device Just by thinking people are able to turn electronics on and off access the internet change the temperature of a
room and communicate in any language without actually speaking out loud Syntax Corporation has become
a household name But one day something goes terribly wrong It begins when a husband continues to commu-nicate with his wife through one such device weeks after his death Within a few short days a group of completely random strangers are brought together to try to uncover the dark mysteries surrounding the O-Chip before time
runs out rdquo
Supporters also have a choice of getting a copy of the book -- an e-book copy soft cover or hard cover depending on how much they donate
Self-Publishing 10
Self-Publishing Flow Chart
Finish the manuscript Proof read it and have a polished final
draft
Hire an editor for your manuscript They can range from $500-$3000 depending on their
credentials
E-books usually use stock images for the cover and are cheaper to
publish on websites like Amazon
Hire a designer for the book cover They can cost a lot up to $1000 But itrsquos a good idea to make your book look great
E-book Physical Copy
Self-publishing has a lot of elements to it that the publisher usually does for you Although this flow chart doesnrsquot represent the end-all of what an author must do to self publish it is what an author must do to go above-and-beyond for their book to be successful A website to hire editors and artists to help with your book is Elance
Begin Here
Companies that help the author to self-publish and distribute their book are Createspace and Lulu However this can be expensive
Place a copyright in the book (something as easy as ldquo2014 John Smith all rights reserved)
and buy an ISBN number
Print on Demand Through a Printer
Find a printer to print the phys-ical copies and distribute them Market your book in any way
possible
Market your book with your friends and in any way possible to have them buy it through the
print website
DistributeMarket
$$$Not really
Self-publishing is less guarenteed to get the money you might get if you had your book published by a
major publishing company
Money
Publishers
Publishers 11
The Big Five ldquoThe Big Fiverdquo in New York City are the major publishers of the book world Although extremely difficult to get published with once yoursquore in you are guarenteed credibility and a paying audience There are many sub-distributors of the Big Five for different genres and works Some fiction books that each publishing house has published
Penguin Random HouseSimon amp Schuster MacmillanThe White Princess Philippa Gregory
Twisted Emma Chase
Under the Dome Part 1 Stephen King
The Here and Now Ann Brashares
Paris Edward Rutherford
Thunderstruck amp Other Stories
Elizabeth McCracken
Eleanor amp Park Rainbow Rowell
Illusion Sherrilyn Kenyon
Speak Laurie Halse
Anderson
HarpercollinsA Bloodsmoore
RomanceJoyce Carol Oates
A Burnable BookBruce Holsinger
31 Bond StreetHelen Horan
The GoldfinchDonna Tartt
NYPD RedJames Patterson Marshall Karp
Seven Wild SistersCharles de Lint
Hachette
ldquoIndierdquo PublishersIndependent publishers are ldquoeasierrdquo to get published with but less credible and have a smaller and morespecific audience These are some of the most prominant indie publishers out there
Publishing GeniusAkashic Books Persea Books Anvil Publishing New DirectionsPublishing Genius
was founded in 2006 and is a small press that focuses
on publishing books that ldquocreate sympathy and therefore a better
worldrdquo
A Brooklyn based publisher that
focuses on publishing urban
literary fiction and ldquopolitical nonfiction by authors who are either ignored by the mainstreamrdquo
Founded in 1975 Persearsquos goal is to
ldquopublish works that endure by meeting high standards of literary merit and
relevancerdquo
Anvil is a progressive book publisher based
in the Philippines They publish all genres from textbooks to
mysteries
An indie publisher with a long history New Directions was
founded in 1936 The founder claims
it is ldquoas a place where experimen-
talists could test their inventions by
publicationrdquo
Contracts and Payment 12
Contracts and Payment
1 GRANTING RIGHTS
The author hereby grants and assigns to the Publisher the exclusive rights to publish in the English language in book form in all countries of the world a Work now en-titled ltltTitle of bookgtgt (hereinafter called the Work) which title may be changed only by mutual consent in writing
2 REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES
The Author represents that he is the sole proprietor of the Work and that the Work to the best of his knowl-edge does not contain any libelous matter and does not violate the civil rights of any person or persons does not infringe any existing copyright and has not here-tofore been published in book form The Author shall hold harmless and indemnify the publisher from any recovery finally sustained by reason of any violations of copyright or other property of personal right provided however that the Publisher shall with all reasonable promptness notify the Author of any claim or suit which may involve the warranties of the Author hereunder and the Author agrees fully to cooperate in the de-fense thereof The warranties contained in this article do not extend to drawings illustrations insofar as not furnished by the Author or to any other material not furnished by the Author
3 DELIVERY
The Author agrees to deliver to the publisher a complete typewritten script as well as a complete electronic text of the Work in a format to be determined by the Publisher (hereinafter called the Script) If the Script shall not have been delivered within three (3) months after the date this agreement is signed the Publisher may at its option terminate this agreement by notice in writing posted
Making MoneyThe logistics of getting payment for your work is a bit complicated Itrsquos unlikely you will be able to support yourself off of the money you make from your first book alone if your work is published
ContractsA contract is what an agent will give the writer to sign that lays out the agreements between the writer and agent for the production of the book To the left is what a contract might look like Confusing language and legal terms hidden everywhere They are not something to be looked at lightly and however credible the agent an author always wants to make sure that every sentence and section is to their satisfac-tion Without looking it over an agent could claim anythingmdashincluding being the author of the writerrsquos book Remember contracts are meant to be changed and be a compromise between both parties
PaymentWriters can make money in three ways flat fees royalties and advance against royalties A flat fee gives the author money up front and that is all they will get Royalties is an amount of money the author gets for each book sold Advance against royalties is a mix of the two and the most common with money up front and royalties guarenteed depending on how many books are sold How much you get is all dependent on what is in your contract
RightsAnother very important thing included in the contract This explains who owns the book if the publisher distributes it as well as the agent who is getting it to the pub-lisher
Authors Who Succeeded
Authors who Succeeded 13
Jack Heath
Australian author Jack Heath published his novel The Lab with Pan Macmillan when he was 17 years old He had no agent and was lucky enough to have his book accepted on his first try However they asked him to rewrite it twice ldquoA writer only knows the story they want to tell whereas a publisher knows what story the readers want to buy Unless telling the story is more important to you than having anyone to tell it to Irsquod recommend making every change they ask forrdquo
No literary agent middot Published by Pan Macmillan
Amanda HockingSelf-published middot Later published by Macmillan
Amanda Hocking self-published her first book when she was 26 and sold 100000 copies within a year by using sources such as book bloggers Bedford St Martinrsquos Press a traditional publisher a part of Macmillan paid over $2 million for her book after bidding alongside Simon amp Schuster Random House and HarperCollins before they dropped out She has gone on to publish books for her Watersong series the first being pictured on the left She was later represented by liter-ary agent Steven Axelrod
Erin MorgensternAgented middot Published by Random House
Erin Morgenstern began her book by participating in NaNoWriMo and sent out many query letters to get an agent to represent her book She had to revise her book multiple times to get an agent to represent her and finally she was offered representation by agent Richard Pine Her book The Night Circus was published by Random House when she was 29 and ended up on as 2 on the New York Times Best Seller list She writes about updates and her experiences in the pub-lishing world on her blog
Authors who Succeeded 14
Beth Reekles Posted on Wattpad middot Found and published by Random House
Beth Reekles posted her novels on Wattpadd and gained about 60 thousand followers on the website before a Random House agent tracked her down She was published at 17 years old and ended up on TIMErsquos Most Influential Teens of 2013 list Her goal was to ldquowrite a novel she would want to readrdquo when she began writing it at 15
Amelia Atwater-RhodesLiterary Agent middot Published by Random House
Her high school teacher who also happened to be a literary agent overheard she was writing a book and wanted to read it He got her published with Random House when she was 15 years old Since then she has written and published 16 novels and has been called the successor to Anne Rice
These writers were able to do it and they were not that far off from where you are right now The fact that you are looking at this guide gives you a better chance than most Just remember
Itrsquos possibleBut itrsquos not easy It takes dedication
Some good books to take a look at to further help your cause
The Writerrsquos Market by Robert Lee Brewer Full of literary agents literary journals and publishers this is the bible for the writer serious about getting published
The Writerrsquos Little Helper Everything You Need to Know to Write Better and Get Published by James V Smith Jr A simple and very interesting book that has plenty of charts ideas and guidelines for a writer on
their way to editing and publishing a novel
The Pocket Muse by Monica Wood An artistic little book with pictures and prompts to help a writer get started when they are stuck with the dreaded writerrsquos block
On Writing by Stephen King Stephen Kingrsquos memoir on how he became so successful and his writing process A very interesting read that is hard to put down even for non-writers
Bibliography by Section
Introduction
ldquoBest Sellers Initially Rejectedrdquo Literary Rejections accessed March 7 2014 httpwwwliteraryrejectionscombest-sellers-initially-rejected
Encouragement and Fun Resources
ldquoAbsolute Write Forumsrdquo Absolute Write last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwabsolutewritecomforums
ldquoBe (Slightly) Afraid of Posting Your Work Onlinerdquo Writerrsquos Digest last modified April 25 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomeditor-blogsguide-to-literary-agentsbe-slightly- afraid-of-posting-your-work-online
ldquoThe Book Blogger Directoryrdquo Book Blogger Directory last modified August 28 2011 accessed February 19 2014 httpbookbloggerdirectorywordpresscom
ldquoJuke Pop Serialsrdquo Juke Pop Serials accessed February 21 2014 httpswwwjukepopserialscom
ldquoNaNoWriMordquo National Novel Writing Month last modified February 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpnanowrimoorg
ldquoPublisherrsquos Pinterestrdquo Pinterest accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpinterestcompublishingtrend
ldquoWattpadrdquo Wattpad accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwattpadcomabout
ldquoThe Writing Cafe Tagsrdquo The Writerrsquos Cafe on Tumblr last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpthewritingcafetumblrcomtags
The Manuscript
ldquoWhat Are the Guidelines for Formatting a Manuscriptrdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified March 16 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomonline-editorwhat-are-the-guidelines-for-format ing-a-manuscript
ldquoProper Manuscript Format Novel Formatrdquo William Shunn modified 2014 accessed February 21 2014 httpwwwshunnnetformatnovelhtml
Agent or No Agent
Francis Scott editor 2013 Novel amp Short Story Writerrsquos Market (Cincinnati Writerrsquos Digest Books 2012) Used to find agents publishers literary magazines and is basically the bible for any writer who is serious about their craft
ldquoMember Databaserdquo Association of Authorsrsquo Representatives accessed February 19 2014 httpaaronline orgFind
Query Letters
ldquoAnatomy of a Query Letterrdquo Huffington Post modified January 9 2014 accessed February 14 2014 http wwwhuffingtonpostcom20130109query-letter-_n_2434095html
ldquoQueriesmdashAn Inside Scoop (Lisa Shearinrsquos Query)rdquo Pub Rants modified August 9 2006 accessed May 6 2014 httppubrantsblogspotcom200608queriesan-inside-scoop-lisa-shearinshtml
ldquoSuccessful Query Letters for Literary Agentsrdquo Media Bistro modified December 23 2012 accessed Febru ary 19 2014 httpwwwmediabistrocomgalleycatsuccessful-query-letters-for-literary-agents_ b62590
ldquoWriting a Pitch-Perfect Query Letterrdquo Romance Writers on the Journey modified August 4 2008 accessed April 7 2014 httpromancewritersonthejourneywordpresscom20080824writing-a-pitch-perfect-query-let ter
Self-Publishing
ldquoAbout Pubslushrdquo Pubslush modified 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpubslushcomabout
ldquoHow to Self-Publish a Bookrdquo Wikihow httpwwwwikihowcomSelf-Publish-a-Book
Hellman Eric 2013 ldquoThe Author as Entrepreneurrdquo Publishers Weekly 260 no 21 22-23 Academic Search Complete EBSCOhost (accessed February 19 2014) httpwwwpublishersweeklycompwby-topic industry-newspublisher-newsarticle57403-the-author-as-entrepreneurhtml
ldquoKickstarterrdquo Kickstarter modified 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpswwwkickstartercom
ldquoPubslush Can the Kickstarter for Books Find its Nicherdquo The Next Web modified November 23 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpthenextwebcommedia20131125pubslush-can-kickstarter- books-find-nichewwkRw
Publishers
ldquoThe Big Fiverdquo publishers in New York City
Penguin Random House accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpenguinrandomhousecom Simon and Schuster accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwsimonandschustercomMacmillan accessed February 19 2014 httpusmacmillancom Harper Collins accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwharpercollinscom Hachette Book Group accessed February 19 2014 wwwhachettebookgroupcom
Indie PublishersSome well known independent publishers that are ldquoeasierrdquo to get into and also have some well known au-thors Explanations with them their genres and their history
Publishing Genius accessed February 19 2014 httppublishinggeniuscomAkashic Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwakashicbookscomPersea Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwperseabookscomnew-and-forthcomingNew Directions accessed February 19 2014 httpndbookscomAnvil Press Publishing accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwanvilpresscom
Royalties and Payment
ldquo11 Frequently Asked Questions About Book Royalties Advances and Moneyrdquo Writer Unboxed modified November 28 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwriterunboxedcom2011112811-fre quently-asked-questions-about-book-royalties-advances-and-making-money
ldquoPublishing Contracts 101rdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified October 6 2009 accessed February 19 2014 http wwwwritersdigestcomwriting-articlesby-writing-goalget-published-sell-my-workpublish ing-contracts-101
ldquoSample of Contractrdquo Index Books accessed April 24 2014 httpwwwindexbooksnetpublishingcontracthtm
Authors Who Have Succeeded
ldquoAgentedrdquo Erin Morgenstern modified May 27 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httperinmorgenstern com201005agented
ldquoAmanda Hocking Self-Publishing Successrdquo Become a 6 Figure Woman modified March 1 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwbecomea6figurewomancomamanda-hocking-self-publishing
ldquoFAQrdquo Author Beth Reekles Tumblr accessed February 19 2014 httpauthorbethreeklestumblrcomfaq
The Manuscript
The Manuscript 4
ldquoManuscript submissions (unfortunately) come in all shapes sizes fonts and (Irsquom not making this up) colorsrdquo- Editor Brian Klems
The quote above is not encouragement but a warning Novel manuscripts are strictly styled for publishing submission and are expected to be lacking of shapes sizes multiple fonts or colors Turning in an improper manuscript is the easiest and quickest way to be rejected for publishing
The Title Page
Title of the novel on the title page centered as well as the authorrsquos name One inch mar-gins all around
Authorrsquos name address phone number and e-mail as well as any other information deemed important to the editor
An approximate word count of the novel
Chapter Page
ldquoLast nametitle of novelpage rdquo
Chapter title is centered
Chapters must always begin after they end on the following page with the title centered like it is shown here
Agent or No Agent
Agent or no agent 5
Agent
You will have established credibility Most publishing houses wonrsquot glance at manuscripts without an agent attached to them
No AgentPros
They will do most of the work for you including finding the publishing house that suits your book
They will always know more about the publishing business than the author which is a good thing They know how to work with your book
An agent will be honest with you about your work If your stuff is bad they will let you know that It can save you a lot of time in pursuing projects that just wonrsquot work
You will most likely lose the ability to negotiate your contracts with publishing houses
Finding a ldquogoodrdquo and credible literary agent who will accept your work is a hard road Anyone can put their name underneath the title of ldquoliterary agentrdquo
Agents take commission and will get a percentage of the payment for the book when it begins to sell Wersquoll talk more about this later
You have control over everything that has to do with your book
Any money that comes in from your published book goes to you
Cons
You will know everything that is happening and how long the wait will be With an agent it can feel
like everything is taking forever to get done
It is very difficult to get published without an agent
Even when you have a publishing house interested in your work it might be a lot more work than you
expect
Your expertise has to adapt to what a literary agent would need to know You have to learn about
business negotiation and how the publishing side works
You donrsquot have to give up your rights to any publisher for your book
Query Letters and You
Query letters and you 6
Query letters are the proposal an author sends to an agent or publishing house to get their atten-tion on the manuscript Itrsquos the cover letter for the publishing world Query letters can vary with what yoursquore trying to get published whether itrsquos a short story a poem or a novel In this chapter wersquoll look at the novel query letter
Anatomy of a Query LetterEditorrsquos NamePublishing HouseCity State Zip Code
Dear (Editor)
I have seen your interest in books such as The March and The Great Wave and I think because of your fascination with a fast-paced nature novel will have you interested in my own work My 80000 word manuscript Hoops and Turns will be a good fit for you
Hoops and Turns takes place in an upstate New York town that is preparing for the worst out of hurricane Sandy The protagonist Charlotte Lark struggles with her family when they are stubborn enough to stay and face the hurricane while the rest of the town is evacuated Charlotte finds out that a missing convict has stayed behind as well--and threatens Charlottersquos family Itrsquos up to her to protect her family from both the hurricane and the missing convict
I believe this manuscript is a good fit for your type of audience because of Charlottersquos inner struggle to fit in with her family and the difficult choices she has to face in her situation Shersquos an inspirational female protagonist that has human flaws but is also a great woman to look up to
I have been previously published in The Nest literary magazine and this is my first novel I work in North Dakota as a high school math teacher Thank you for your time
Sincerely
(Writer)
This is to show yoursquove researched and hand-picked this agent You can also introduce yourself here as well as your novel
The intro
The storyCondense your manuscript into a short synopsis for the editor This is your chance to hook them in and make them want to read it
Credentials and sign-off A little bit about yourself if yoursquove been published before and a bit more about why your story is great If you havenrsquot been published before donrsquot lie that can sometimes be an eyecatcher Keep the sign-off professional and thank them for looking over your query letter
Query letters and you 7
The Perfect Query Letter
Herersquos the conflict and I love how she sums up the people who are looking for it as a way of clarifying the problem of being in possession of this amulet and how the plot will unfold
Dear Ms Nelson
I read on Publishers Marketplace that yoursquore interested in female-oriented fantasy I think that Thief of Souls the first novel in my fantasy detective series might interest you
What if you suddenly have a largely unknown potentially unlimited power What if that power just might eat your soul for breakfast lunch and dinner What if every magical mobster and sicko sorcerer in town wants that power And what if you canrsquot get rid of it Thatrsquos Raine Bena-resrsquo problem Shersquos a Seeker -- a finder of things lost and people missing Most of what shersquos hired to find doesnrsquot get lost by itself It has help Dependable help Help she can depend on to use blades or bolts or magical means to keep what they went to all the trouble to get
When her sometime partner steals an amulet from a local necromancer Raine ends up with the amulet and the trouble thatrsquos hot on its heels What looks like a plain silver disk turns out to be a lodestone to an ancient soul-stealing stone a stone that seemingly every magical mob-ster in the city wants -- as well as a few heavy-hitters from out-of-town goblins of the Khrynsani Order their sadistic high priest Guardians of the Conclave of Sorcerers the goblin king and his renegade brother and an elven spellsinger of dubious motives
Hooray she got my name right I get a lot of queries that say Dear Mr Nelson or better yet Dear Jenny Bent
Short and sweet but shows she did at least a little bit of research about me and what Irsquom looking for
Normally Irsquom not a big fan of what I call the ldquowhat if rdquo ques-tions starting the query but let me tell you what got me in this letter I just loved the tone The power might eat my soul for breakfast Mobster sicko These are fun terms to be kicking around for a fantasy novel I perked up immediately Right away it felt different to me and I was ready for the longer pitch blurb thatrsquos just about to follow
Irsquom so tickled I love the phrase ldquomost of what shersquos hired to find doesnrsquot get lost by itselfrdquo
Perfect fun tone (which matches the novel she wrote)
Literary agent Kristin Nelson posts query letters that have been accepted on her blog ldquoAs agents we arenrsquot looking for perfection Wersquore looking for connection a spark that this interests us and thatrsquos hard to definerdquo Nelson says before sharing Lisa Shearinrsquos query letter to Nelson Shearin later published her book Thief Souls as Magic Lost Trouble Found with Ace Books of Penguin Publishing with Kristin Nelson as her agent
Query letters and you 8
People Raine doesnrsquot want to have notice her let alone have to outrun or outwit She likes attention as much as the next girl but this is the kind she can do without Then therersquos what the amulet is doing to her New and improved magical abilities sound good in theory but Raine thinks her soul is a little much to pay for resume enhancement And when she tries to take the amulet off the amulet tries to take her out And when she tries to take the amulet off the amulet tries to take her out
Soon Raine starts to wonder if her spells steel and street smarts will keep her alive long enough to find a way to get rid of the amulet before it or anyone else gets rid of her And the worst part She isnrsquot even getting paid Itrsquos enough to make a girl consider a career change Thief of Souls is my first novel
Irsquom an editor at an advertising agency with prior experience in corporate communications and marketing Irsquod be glad to send you my complete manuscript for your review Thank you for your time and consideration and I look forward to hearing from you soon
Regards
Lisa Shearin
ldquoShe likes attention as much as the next girlrdquo I know Irsquom getting a modern voice with this fantasy blend Itrsquos subtle and well done
More story conflict info but notice Lisa sticks with the tone she adopt-ed Itrsquos not repetitive yet adds some depth to the story
Done Therersquos no lament-ing that shersquos never been published She has no other credentials to offer so she doesnrsquot I loved the query so far so I really donrsquot mind the lack here
Very hard-boiled sounding
A little tidbit about her that personalizes a little but since it doesnrsquot really relate to her novel she keeps it brief and thatrsquos fine
Professional wrap- up I want to see 30 pages without having to think too hard about it Irsquom sold on her tone that I know will be mirrored in her writing
What not to do
A website Slush Pile Hell posts some of the worst lines from query letters Here are a few
ldquoFirst of all I must warn you that I am violating your rules of submissionhelliprdquo
ldquoHello Say me what yoursquore thinking about my new book the question is whatrsquos going on Thank yourdquo
ldquoAre you looking for a potential bestseller If yes please continue reading If not stop It would be waste of your timerdquo
ldquoI know you will love my book I didnrsquot include any pages here in my query because Irsquod love for you to call me so that I can read an excerpt to you over the phonerdquo
Self-Publishing
Self-Publishing 9
The Author as Entrepreneur
Self-publishing might be one of the most difficult ways to get your book out there if you are trying to ldquomake it bigrdquo as an author but it has been done With all the news ways authors can get money to self-publish and print their books there are also a lot of options authors can work with
There are many ways authors can get their audience to invest in their book and get it to print Kickstarter has become more and more popular and so a branch-off of Kickstarter was made just for books called Pubslush Pubslush allows authors to post a convincing plea to have readers donate money to help produce their book People who donate get awards depending on how much they give The great thing is is that anyone can do it Your success depends on how well you can sell it
Brian Schwarz and shadesBrian Schwarz is an author who posted his book on Pubslush with a $2000 goal
An author chooses a goal to reach in a certain amount of time Brian wants $2000 and already has $1735 donated He has 43 days left to reach $2000
Brian has 60 supporters An author can get more supporters by interacting with them on the website or mainly by how attractive the page is The way he attracted his supporters is through the description of his book below You can apply the rules of a query letter to the same introduction to supporters on Pubslush
ldquo Human civilization has reached its pinnacle after a genius Dr Grypphon Caldwell creates the revolutionary O-Chip
a technology that turns the human mind into a wireless device Just by thinking people are able to turn electronics on and off access the internet change the temperature of a
room and communicate in any language without actually speaking out loud Syntax Corporation has become
a household name But one day something goes terribly wrong It begins when a husband continues to commu-nicate with his wife through one such device weeks after his death Within a few short days a group of completely random strangers are brought together to try to uncover the dark mysteries surrounding the O-Chip before time
runs out rdquo
Supporters also have a choice of getting a copy of the book -- an e-book copy soft cover or hard cover depending on how much they donate
Self-Publishing 10
Self-Publishing Flow Chart
Finish the manuscript Proof read it and have a polished final
draft
Hire an editor for your manuscript They can range from $500-$3000 depending on their
credentials
E-books usually use stock images for the cover and are cheaper to
publish on websites like Amazon
Hire a designer for the book cover They can cost a lot up to $1000 But itrsquos a good idea to make your book look great
E-book Physical Copy
Self-publishing has a lot of elements to it that the publisher usually does for you Although this flow chart doesnrsquot represent the end-all of what an author must do to self publish it is what an author must do to go above-and-beyond for their book to be successful A website to hire editors and artists to help with your book is Elance
Begin Here
Companies that help the author to self-publish and distribute their book are Createspace and Lulu However this can be expensive
Place a copyright in the book (something as easy as ldquo2014 John Smith all rights reserved)
and buy an ISBN number
Print on Demand Through a Printer
Find a printer to print the phys-ical copies and distribute them Market your book in any way
possible
Market your book with your friends and in any way possible to have them buy it through the
print website
DistributeMarket
$$$Not really
Self-publishing is less guarenteed to get the money you might get if you had your book published by a
major publishing company
Money
Publishers
Publishers 11
The Big Five ldquoThe Big Fiverdquo in New York City are the major publishers of the book world Although extremely difficult to get published with once yoursquore in you are guarenteed credibility and a paying audience There are many sub-distributors of the Big Five for different genres and works Some fiction books that each publishing house has published
Penguin Random HouseSimon amp Schuster MacmillanThe White Princess Philippa Gregory
Twisted Emma Chase
Under the Dome Part 1 Stephen King
The Here and Now Ann Brashares
Paris Edward Rutherford
Thunderstruck amp Other Stories
Elizabeth McCracken
Eleanor amp Park Rainbow Rowell
Illusion Sherrilyn Kenyon
Speak Laurie Halse
Anderson
HarpercollinsA Bloodsmoore
RomanceJoyce Carol Oates
A Burnable BookBruce Holsinger
31 Bond StreetHelen Horan
The GoldfinchDonna Tartt
NYPD RedJames Patterson Marshall Karp
Seven Wild SistersCharles de Lint
Hachette
ldquoIndierdquo PublishersIndependent publishers are ldquoeasierrdquo to get published with but less credible and have a smaller and morespecific audience These are some of the most prominant indie publishers out there
Publishing GeniusAkashic Books Persea Books Anvil Publishing New DirectionsPublishing Genius
was founded in 2006 and is a small press that focuses
on publishing books that ldquocreate sympathy and therefore a better
worldrdquo
A Brooklyn based publisher that
focuses on publishing urban
literary fiction and ldquopolitical nonfiction by authors who are either ignored by the mainstreamrdquo
Founded in 1975 Persearsquos goal is to
ldquopublish works that endure by meeting high standards of literary merit and
relevancerdquo
Anvil is a progressive book publisher based
in the Philippines They publish all genres from textbooks to
mysteries
An indie publisher with a long history New Directions was
founded in 1936 The founder claims
it is ldquoas a place where experimen-
talists could test their inventions by
publicationrdquo
Contracts and Payment 12
Contracts and Payment
1 GRANTING RIGHTS
The author hereby grants and assigns to the Publisher the exclusive rights to publish in the English language in book form in all countries of the world a Work now en-titled ltltTitle of bookgtgt (hereinafter called the Work) which title may be changed only by mutual consent in writing
2 REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES
The Author represents that he is the sole proprietor of the Work and that the Work to the best of his knowl-edge does not contain any libelous matter and does not violate the civil rights of any person or persons does not infringe any existing copyright and has not here-tofore been published in book form The Author shall hold harmless and indemnify the publisher from any recovery finally sustained by reason of any violations of copyright or other property of personal right provided however that the Publisher shall with all reasonable promptness notify the Author of any claim or suit which may involve the warranties of the Author hereunder and the Author agrees fully to cooperate in the de-fense thereof The warranties contained in this article do not extend to drawings illustrations insofar as not furnished by the Author or to any other material not furnished by the Author
3 DELIVERY
The Author agrees to deliver to the publisher a complete typewritten script as well as a complete electronic text of the Work in a format to be determined by the Publisher (hereinafter called the Script) If the Script shall not have been delivered within three (3) months after the date this agreement is signed the Publisher may at its option terminate this agreement by notice in writing posted
Making MoneyThe logistics of getting payment for your work is a bit complicated Itrsquos unlikely you will be able to support yourself off of the money you make from your first book alone if your work is published
ContractsA contract is what an agent will give the writer to sign that lays out the agreements between the writer and agent for the production of the book To the left is what a contract might look like Confusing language and legal terms hidden everywhere They are not something to be looked at lightly and however credible the agent an author always wants to make sure that every sentence and section is to their satisfac-tion Without looking it over an agent could claim anythingmdashincluding being the author of the writerrsquos book Remember contracts are meant to be changed and be a compromise between both parties
PaymentWriters can make money in three ways flat fees royalties and advance against royalties A flat fee gives the author money up front and that is all they will get Royalties is an amount of money the author gets for each book sold Advance against royalties is a mix of the two and the most common with money up front and royalties guarenteed depending on how many books are sold How much you get is all dependent on what is in your contract
RightsAnother very important thing included in the contract This explains who owns the book if the publisher distributes it as well as the agent who is getting it to the pub-lisher
Authors Who Succeeded
Authors who Succeeded 13
Jack Heath
Australian author Jack Heath published his novel The Lab with Pan Macmillan when he was 17 years old He had no agent and was lucky enough to have his book accepted on his first try However they asked him to rewrite it twice ldquoA writer only knows the story they want to tell whereas a publisher knows what story the readers want to buy Unless telling the story is more important to you than having anyone to tell it to Irsquod recommend making every change they ask forrdquo
No literary agent middot Published by Pan Macmillan
Amanda HockingSelf-published middot Later published by Macmillan
Amanda Hocking self-published her first book when she was 26 and sold 100000 copies within a year by using sources such as book bloggers Bedford St Martinrsquos Press a traditional publisher a part of Macmillan paid over $2 million for her book after bidding alongside Simon amp Schuster Random House and HarperCollins before they dropped out She has gone on to publish books for her Watersong series the first being pictured on the left She was later represented by liter-ary agent Steven Axelrod
Erin MorgensternAgented middot Published by Random House
Erin Morgenstern began her book by participating in NaNoWriMo and sent out many query letters to get an agent to represent her book She had to revise her book multiple times to get an agent to represent her and finally she was offered representation by agent Richard Pine Her book The Night Circus was published by Random House when she was 29 and ended up on as 2 on the New York Times Best Seller list She writes about updates and her experiences in the pub-lishing world on her blog
Authors who Succeeded 14
Beth Reekles Posted on Wattpad middot Found and published by Random House
Beth Reekles posted her novels on Wattpadd and gained about 60 thousand followers on the website before a Random House agent tracked her down She was published at 17 years old and ended up on TIMErsquos Most Influential Teens of 2013 list Her goal was to ldquowrite a novel she would want to readrdquo when she began writing it at 15
Amelia Atwater-RhodesLiterary Agent middot Published by Random House
Her high school teacher who also happened to be a literary agent overheard she was writing a book and wanted to read it He got her published with Random House when she was 15 years old Since then she has written and published 16 novels and has been called the successor to Anne Rice
These writers were able to do it and they were not that far off from where you are right now The fact that you are looking at this guide gives you a better chance than most Just remember
Itrsquos possibleBut itrsquos not easy It takes dedication
Some good books to take a look at to further help your cause
The Writerrsquos Market by Robert Lee Brewer Full of literary agents literary journals and publishers this is the bible for the writer serious about getting published
The Writerrsquos Little Helper Everything You Need to Know to Write Better and Get Published by James V Smith Jr A simple and very interesting book that has plenty of charts ideas and guidelines for a writer on
their way to editing and publishing a novel
The Pocket Muse by Monica Wood An artistic little book with pictures and prompts to help a writer get started when they are stuck with the dreaded writerrsquos block
On Writing by Stephen King Stephen Kingrsquos memoir on how he became so successful and his writing process A very interesting read that is hard to put down even for non-writers
Bibliography by Section
Introduction
ldquoBest Sellers Initially Rejectedrdquo Literary Rejections accessed March 7 2014 httpwwwliteraryrejectionscombest-sellers-initially-rejected
Encouragement and Fun Resources
ldquoAbsolute Write Forumsrdquo Absolute Write last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwabsolutewritecomforums
ldquoBe (Slightly) Afraid of Posting Your Work Onlinerdquo Writerrsquos Digest last modified April 25 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomeditor-blogsguide-to-literary-agentsbe-slightly- afraid-of-posting-your-work-online
ldquoThe Book Blogger Directoryrdquo Book Blogger Directory last modified August 28 2011 accessed February 19 2014 httpbookbloggerdirectorywordpresscom
ldquoJuke Pop Serialsrdquo Juke Pop Serials accessed February 21 2014 httpswwwjukepopserialscom
ldquoNaNoWriMordquo National Novel Writing Month last modified February 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpnanowrimoorg
ldquoPublisherrsquos Pinterestrdquo Pinterest accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpinterestcompublishingtrend
ldquoWattpadrdquo Wattpad accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwattpadcomabout
ldquoThe Writing Cafe Tagsrdquo The Writerrsquos Cafe on Tumblr last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpthewritingcafetumblrcomtags
The Manuscript
ldquoWhat Are the Guidelines for Formatting a Manuscriptrdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified March 16 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomonline-editorwhat-are-the-guidelines-for-format ing-a-manuscript
ldquoProper Manuscript Format Novel Formatrdquo William Shunn modified 2014 accessed February 21 2014 httpwwwshunnnetformatnovelhtml
Agent or No Agent
Francis Scott editor 2013 Novel amp Short Story Writerrsquos Market (Cincinnati Writerrsquos Digest Books 2012) Used to find agents publishers literary magazines and is basically the bible for any writer who is serious about their craft
ldquoMember Databaserdquo Association of Authorsrsquo Representatives accessed February 19 2014 httpaaronline orgFind
Query Letters
ldquoAnatomy of a Query Letterrdquo Huffington Post modified January 9 2014 accessed February 14 2014 http wwwhuffingtonpostcom20130109query-letter-_n_2434095html
ldquoQueriesmdashAn Inside Scoop (Lisa Shearinrsquos Query)rdquo Pub Rants modified August 9 2006 accessed May 6 2014 httppubrantsblogspotcom200608queriesan-inside-scoop-lisa-shearinshtml
ldquoSuccessful Query Letters for Literary Agentsrdquo Media Bistro modified December 23 2012 accessed Febru ary 19 2014 httpwwwmediabistrocomgalleycatsuccessful-query-letters-for-literary-agents_ b62590
ldquoWriting a Pitch-Perfect Query Letterrdquo Romance Writers on the Journey modified August 4 2008 accessed April 7 2014 httpromancewritersonthejourneywordpresscom20080824writing-a-pitch-perfect-query-let ter
Self-Publishing
ldquoAbout Pubslushrdquo Pubslush modified 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpubslushcomabout
ldquoHow to Self-Publish a Bookrdquo Wikihow httpwwwwikihowcomSelf-Publish-a-Book
Hellman Eric 2013 ldquoThe Author as Entrepreneurrdquo Publishers Weekly 260 no 21 22-23 Academic Search Complete EBSCOhost (accessed February 19 2014) httpwwwpublishersweeklycompwby-topic industry-newspublisher-newsarticle57403-the-author-as-entrepreneurhtml
ldquoKickstarterrdquo Kickstarter modified 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpswwwkickstartercom
ldquoPubslush Can the Kickstarter for Books Find its Nicherdquo The Next Web modified November 23 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpthenextwebcommedia20131125pubslush-can-kickstarter- books-find-nichewwkRw
Publishers
ldquoThe Big Fiverdquo publishers in New York City
Penguin Random House accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpenguinrandomhousecom Simon and Schuster accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwsimonandschustercomMacmillan accessed February 19 2014 httpusmacmillancom Harper Collins accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwharpercollinscom Hachette Book Group accessed February 19 2014 wwwhachettebookgroupcom
Indie PublishersSome well known independent publishers that are ldquoeasierrdquo to get into and also have some well known au-thors Explanations with them their genres and their history
Publishing Genius accessed February 19 2014 httppublishinggeniuscomAkashic Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwakashicbookscomPersea Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwperseabookscomnew-and-forthcomingNew Directions accessed February 19 2014 httpndbookscomAnvil Press Publishing accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwanvilpresscom
Royalties and Payment
ldquo11 Frequently Asked Questions About Book Royalties Advances and Moneyrdquo Writer Unboxed modified November 28 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwriterunboxedcom2011112811-fre quently-asked-questions-about-book-royalties-advances-and-making-money
ldquoPublishing Contracts 101rdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified October 6 2009 accessed February 19 2014 http wwwwritersdigestcomwriting-articlesby-writing-goalget-published-sell-my-workpublish ing-contracts-101
ldquoSample of Contractrdquo Index Books accessed April 24 2014 httpwwwindexbooksnetpublishingcontracthtm
Authors Who Have Succeeded
ldquoAgentedrdquo Erin Morgenstern modified May 27 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httperinmorgenstern com201005agented
ldquoAmanda Hocking Self-Publishing Successrdquo Become a 6 Figure Woman modified March 1 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwbecomea6figurewomancomamanda-hocking-self-publishing
ldquoFAQrdquo Author Beth Reekles Tumblr accessed February 19 2014 httpauthorbethreeklestumblrcomfaq
Agent or No Agent
Agent or no agent 5
Agent
You will have established credibility Most publishing houses wonrsquot glance at manuscripts without an agent attached to them
No AgentPros
They will do most of the work for you including finding the publishing house that suits your book
They will always know more about the publishing business than the author which is a good thing They know how to work with your book
An agent will be honest with you about your work If your stuff is bad they will let you know that It can save you a lot of time in pursuing projects that just wonrsquot work
You will most likely lose the ability to negotiate your contracts with publishing houses
Finding a ldquogoodrdquo and credible literary agent who will accept your work is a hard road Anyone can put their name underneath the title of ldquoliterary agentrdquo
Agents take commission and will get a percentage of the payment for the book when it begins to sell Wersquoll talk more about this later
You have control over everything that has to do with your book
Any money that comes in from your published book goes to you
Cons
You will know everything that is happening and how long the wait will be With an agent it can feel
like everything is taking forever to get done
It is very difficult to get published without an agent
Even when you have a publishing house interested in your work it might be a lot more work than you
expect
Your expertise has to adapt to what a literary agent would need to know You have to learn about
business negotiation and how the publishing side works
You donrsquot have to give up your rights to any publisher for your book
Query Letters and You
Query letters and you 6
Query letters are the proposal an author sends to an agent or publishing house to get their atten-tion on the manuscript Itrsquos the cover letter for the publishing world Query letters can vary with what yoursquore trying to get published whether itrsquos a short story a poem or a novel In this chapter wersquoll look at the novel query letter
Anatomy of a Query LetterEditorrsquos NamePublishing HouseCity State Zip Code
Dear (Editor)
I have seen your interest in books such as The March and The Great Wave and I think because of your fascination with a fast-paced nature novel will have you interested in my own work My 80000 word manuscript Hoops and Turns will be a good fit for you
Hoops and Turns takes place in an upstate New York town that is preparing for the worst out of hurricane Sandy The protagonist Charlotte Lark struggles with her family when they are stubborn enough to stay and face the hurricane while the rest of the town is evacuated Charlotte finds out that a missing convict has stayed behind as well--and threatens Charlottersquos family Itrsquos up to her to protect her family from both the hurricane and the missing convict
I believe this manuscript is a good fit for your type of audience because of Charlottersquos inner struggle to fit in with her family and the difficult choices she has to face in her situation Shersquos an inspirational female protagonist that has human flaws but is also a great woman to look up to
I have been previously published in The Nest literary magazine and this is my first novel I work in North Dakota as a high school math teacher Thank you for your time
Sincerely
(Writer)
This is to show yoursquove researched and hand-picked this agent You can also introduce yourself here as well as your novel
The intro
The storyCondense your manuscript into a short synopsis for the editor This is your chance to hook them in and make them want to read it
Credentials and sign-off A little bit about yourself if yoursquove been published before and a bit more about why your story is great If you havenrsquot been published before donrsquot lie that can sometimes be an eyecatcher Keep the sign-off professional and thank them for looking over your query letter
Query letters and you 7
The Perfect Query Letter
Herersquos the conflict and I love how she sums up the people who are looking for it as a way of clarifying the problem of being in possession of this amulet and how the plot will unfold
Dear Ms Nelson
I read on Publishers Marketplace that yoursquore interested in female-oriented fantasy I think that Thief of Souls the first novel in my fantasy detective series might interest you
What if you suddenly have a largely unknown potentially unlimited power What if that power just might eat your soul for breakfast lunch and dinner What if every magical mobster and sicko sorcerer in town wants that power And what if you canrsquot get rid of it Thatrsquos Raine Bena-resrsquo problem Shersquos a Seeker -- a finder of things lost and people missing Most of what shersquos hired to find doesnrsquot get lost by itself It has help Dependable help Help she can depend on to use blades or bolts or magical means to keep what they went to all the trouble to get
When her sometime partner steals an amulet from a local necromancer Raine ends up with the amulet and the trouble thatrsquos hot on its heels What looks like a plain silver disk turns out to be a lodestone to an ancient soul-stealing stone a stone that seemingly every magical mob-ster in the city wants -- as well as a few heavy-hitters from out-of-town goblins of the Khrynsani Order their sadistic high priest Guardians of the Conclave of Sorcerers the goblin king and his renegade brother and an elven spellsinger of dubious motives
Hooray she got my name right I get a lot of queries that say Dear Mr Nelson or better yet Dear Jenny Bent
Short and sweet but shows she did at least a little bit of research about me and what Irsquom looking for
Normally Irsquom not a big fan of what I call the ldquowhat if rdquo ques-tions starting the query but let me tell you what got me in this letter I just loved the tone The power might eat my soul for breakfast Mobster sicko These are fun terms to be kicking around for a fantasy novel I perked up immediately Right away it felt different to me and I was ready for the longer pitch blurb thatrsquos just about to follow
Irsquom so tickled I love the phrase ldquomost of what shersquos hired to find doesnrsquot get lost by itselfrdquo
Perfect fun tone (which matches the novel she wrote)
Literary agent Kristin Nelson posts query letters that have been accepted on her blog ldquoAs agents we arenrsquot looking for perfection Wersquore looking for connection a spark that this interests us and thatrsquos hard to definerdquo Nelson says before sharing Lisa Shearinrsquos query letter to Nelson Shearin later published her book Thief Souls as Magic Lost Trouble Found with Ace Books of Penguin Publishing with Kristin Nelson as her agent
Query letters and you 8
People Raine doesnrsquot want to have notice her let alone have to outrun or outwit She likes attention as much as the next girl but this is the kind she can do without Then therersquos what the amulet is doing to her New and improved magical abilities sound good in theory but Raine thinks her soul is a little much to pay for resume enhancement And when she tries to take the amulet off the amulet tries to take her out And when she tries to take the amulet off the amulet tries to take her out
Soon Raine starts to wonder if her spells steel and street smarts will keep her alive long enough to find a way to get rid of the amulet before it or anyone else gets rid of her And the worst part She isnrsquot even getting paid Itrsquos enough to make a girl consider a career change Thief of Souls is my first novel
Irsquom an editor at an advertising agency with prior experience in corporate communications and marketing Irsquod be glad to send you my complete manuscript for your review Thank you for your time and consideration and I look forward to hearing from you soon
Regards
Lisa Shearin
ldquoShe likes attention as much as the next girlrdquo I know Irsquom getting a modern voice with this fantasy blend Itrsquos subtle and well done
More story conflict info but notice Lisa sticks with the tone she adopt-ed Itrsquos not repetitive yet adds some depth to the story
Done Therersquos no lament-ing that shersquos never been published She has no other credentials to offer so she doesnrsquot I loved the query so far so I really donrsquot mind the lack here
Very hard-boiled sounding
A little tidbit about her that personalizes a little but since it doesnrsquot really relate to her novel she keeps it brief and thatrsquos fine
Professional wrap- up I want to see 30 pages without having to think too hard about it Irsquom sold on her tone that I know will be mirrored in her writing
What not to do
A website Slush Pile Hell posts some of the worst lines from query letters Here are a few
ldquoFirst of all I must warn you that I am violating your rules of submissionhelliprdquo
ldquoHello Say me what yoursquore thinking about my new book the question is whatrsquos going on Thank yourdquo
ldquoAre you looking for a potential bestseller If yes please continue reading If not stop It would be waste of your timerdquo
ldquoI know you will love my book I didnrsquot include any pages here in my query because Irsquod love for you to call me so that I can read an excerpt to you over the phonerdquo
Self-Publishing
Self-Publishing 9
The Author as Entrepreneur
Self-publishing might be one of the most difficult ways to get your book out there if you are trying to ldquomake it bigrdquo as an author but it has been done With all the news ways authors can get money to self-publish and print their books there are also a lot of options authors can work with
There are many ways authors can get their audience to invest in their book and get it to print Kickstarter has become more and more popular and so a branch-off of Kickstarter was made just for books called Pubslush Pubslush allows authors to post a convincing plea to have readers donate money to help produce their book People who donate get awards depending on how much they give The great thing is is that anyone can do it Your success depends on how well you can sell it
Brian Schwarz and shadesBrian Schwarz is an author who posted his book on Pubslush with a $2000 goal
An author chooses a goal to reach in a certain amount of time Brian wants $2000 and already has $1735 donated He has 43 days left to reach $2000
Brian has 60 supporters An author can get more supporters by interacting with them on the website or mainly by how attractive the page is The way he attracted his supporters is through the description of his book below You can apply the rules of a query letter to the same introduction to supporters on Pubslush
ldquo Human civilization has reached its pinnacle after a genius Dr Grypphon Caldwell creates the revolutionary O-Chip
a technology that turns the human mind into a wireless device Just by thinking people are able to turn electronics on and off access the internet change the temperature of a
room and communicate in any language without actually speaking out loud Syntax Corporation has become
a household name But one day something goes terribly wrong It begins when a husband continues to commu-nicate with his wife through one such device weeks after his death Within a few short days a group of completely random strangers are brought together to try to uncover the dark mysteries surrounding the O-Chip before time
runs out rdquo
Supporters also have a choice of getting a copy of the book -- an e-book copy soft cover or hard cover depending on how much they donate
Self-Publishing 10
Self-Publishing Flow Chart
Finish the manuscript Proof read it and have a polished final
draft
Hire an editor for your manuscript They can range from $500-$3000 depending on their
credentials
E-books usually use stock images for the cover and are cheaper to
publish on websites like Amazon
Hire a designer for the book cover They can cost a lot up to $1000 But itrsquos a good idea to make your book look great
E-book Physical Copy
Self-publishing has a lot of elements to it that the publisher usually does for you Although this flow chart doesnrsquot represent the end-all of what an author must do to self publish it is what an author must do to go above-and-beyond for their book to be successful A website to hire editors and artists to help with your book is Elance
Begin Here
Companies that help the author to self-publish and distribute their book are Createspace and Lulu However this can be expensive
Place a copyright in the book (something as easy as ldquo2014 John Smith all rights reserved)
and buy an ISBN number
Print on Demand Through a Printer
Find a printer to print the phys-ical copies and distribute them Market your book in any way
possible
Market your book with your friends and in any way possible to have them buy it through the
print website
DistributeMarket
$$$Not really
Self-publishing is less guarenteed to get the money you might get if you had your book published by a
major publishing company
Money
Publishers
Publishers 11
The Big Five ldquoThe Big Fiverdquo in New York City are the major publishers of the book world Although extremely difficult to get published with once yoursquore in you are guarenteed credibility and a paying audience There are many sub-distributors of the Big Five for different genres and works Some fiction books that each publishing house has published
Penguin Random HouseSimon amp Schuster MacmillanThe White Princess Philippa Gregory
Twisted Emma Chase
Under the Dome Part 1 Stephen King
The Here and Now Ann Brashares
Paris Edward Rutherford
Thunderstruck amp Other Stories
Elizabeth McCracken
Eleanor amp Park Rainbow Rowell
Illusion Sherrilyn Kenyon
Speak Laurie Halse
Anderson
HarpercollinsA Bloodsmoore
RomanceJoyce Carol Oates
A Burnable BookBruce Holsinger
31 Bond StreetHelen Horan
The GoldfinchDonna Tartt
NYPD RedJames Patterson Marshall Karp
Seven Wild SistersCharles de Lint
Hachette
ldquoIndierdquo PublishersIndependent publishers are ldquoeasierrdquo to get published with but less credible and have a smaller and morespecific audience These are some of the most prominant indie publishers out there
Publishing GeniusAkashic Books Persea Books Anvil Publishing New DirectionsPublishing Genius
was founded in 2006 and is a small press that focuses
on publishing books that ldquocreate sympathy and therefore a better
worldrdquo
A Brooklyn based publisher that
focuses on publishing urban
literary fiction and ldquopolitical nonfiction by authors who are either ignored by the mainstreamrdquo
Founded in 1975 Persearsquos goal is to
ldquopublish works that endure by meeting high standards of literary merit and
relevancerdquo
Anvil is a progressive book publisher based
in the Philippines They publish all genres from textbooks to
mysteries
An indie publisher with a long history New Directions was
founded in 1936 The founder claims
it is ldquoas a place where experimen-
talists could test their inventions by
publicationrdquo
Contracts and Payment 12
Contracts and Payment
1 GRANTING RIGHTS
The author hereby grants and assigns to the Publisher the exclusive rights to publish in the English language in book form in all countries of the world a Work now en-titled ltltTitle of bookgtgt (hereinafter called the Work) which title may be changed only by mutual consent in writing
2 REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES
The Author represents that he is the sole proprietor of the Work and that the Work to the best of his knowl-edge does not contain any libelous matter and does not violate the civil rights of any person or persons does not infringe any existing copyright and has not here-tofore been published in book form The Author shall hold harmless and indemnify the publisher from any recovery finally sustained by reason of any violations of copyright or other property of personal right provided however that the Publisher shall with all reasonable promptness notify the Author of any claim or suit which may involve the warranties of the Author hereunder and the Author agrees fully to cooperate in the de-fense thereof The warranties contained in this article do not extend to drawings illustrations insofar as not furnished by the Author or to any other material not furnished by the Author
3 DELIVERY
The Author agrees to deliver to the publisher a complete typewritten script as well as a complete electronic text of the Work in a format to be determined by the Publisher (hereinafter called the Script) If the Script shall not have been delivered within three (3) months after the date this agreement is signed the Publisher may at its option terminate this agreement by notice in writing posted
Making MoneyThe logistics of getting payment for your work is a bit complicated Itrsquos unlikely you will be able to support yourself off of the money you make from your first book alone if your work is published
ContractsA contract is what an agent will give the writer to sign that lays out the agreements between the writer and agent for the production of the book To the left is what a contract might look like Confusing language and legal terms hidden everywhere They are not something to be looked at lightly and however credible the agent an author always wants to make sure that every sentence and section is to their satisfac-tion Without looking it over an agent could claim anythingmdashincluding being the author of the writerrsquos book Remember contracts are meant to be changed and be a compromise between both parties
PaymentWriters can make money in three ways flat fees royalties and advance against royalties A flat fee gives the author money up front and that is all they will get Royalties is an amount of money the author gets for each book sold Advance against royalties is a mix of the two and the most common with money up front and royalties guarenteed depending on how many books are sold How much you get is all dependent on what is in your contract
RightsAnother very important thing included in the contract This explains who owns the book if the publisher distributes it as well as the agent who is getting it to the pub-lisher
Authors Who Succeeded
Authors who Succeeded 13
Jack Heath
Australian author Jack Heath published his novel The Lab with Pan Macmillan when he was 17 years old He had no agent and was lucky enough to have his book accepted on his first try However they asked him to rewrite it twice ldquoA writer only knows the story they want to tell whereas a publisher knows what story the readers want to buy Unless telling the story is more important to you than having anyone to tell it to Irsquod recommend making every change they ask forrdquo
No literary agent middot Published by Pan Macmillan
Amanda HockingSelf-published middot Later published by Macmillan
Amanda Hocking self-published her first book when she was 26 and sold 100000 copies within a year by using sources such as book bloggers Bedford St Martinrsquos Press a traditional publisher a part of Macmillan paid over $2 million for her book after bidding alongside Simon amp Schuster Random House and HarperCollins before they dropped out She has gone on to publish books for her Watersong series the first being pictured on the left She was later represented by liter-ary agent Steven Axelrod
Erin MorgensternAgented middot Published by Random House
Erin Morgenstern began her book by participating in NaNoWriMo and sent out many query letters to get an agent to represent her book She had to revise her book multiple times to get an agent to represent her and finally she was offered representation by agent Richard Pine Her book The Night Circus was published by Random House when she was 29 and ended up on as 2 on the New York Times Best Seller list She writes about updates and her experiences in the pub-lishing world on her blog
Authors who Succeeded 14
Beth Reekles Posted on Wattpad middot Found and published by Random House
Beth Reekles posted her novels on Wattpadd and gained about 60 thousand followers on the website before a Random House agent tracked her down She was published at 17 years old and ended up on TIMErsquos Most Influential Teens of 2013 list Her goal was to ldquowrite a novel she would want to readrdquo when she began writing it at 15
Amelia Atwater-RhodesLiterary Agent middot Published by Random House
Her high school teacher who also happened to be a literary agent overheard she was writing a book and wanted to read it He got her published with Random House when she was 15 years old Since then she has written and published 16 novels and has been called the successor to Anne Rice
These writers were able to do it and they were not that far off from where you are right now The fact that you are looking at this guide gives you a better chance than most Just remember
Itrsquos possibleBut itrsquos not easy It takes dedication
Some good books to take a look at to further help your cause
The Writerrsquos Market by Robert Lee Brewer Full of literary agents literary journals and publishers this is the bible for the writer serious about getting published
The Writerrsquos Little Helper Everything You Need to Know to Write Better and Get Published by James V Smith Jr A simple and very interesting book that has plenty of charts ideas and guidelines for a writer on
their way to editing and publishing a novel
The Pocket Muse by Monica Wood An artistic little book with pictures and prompts to help a writer get started when they are stuck with the dreaded writerrsquos block
On Writing by Stephen King Stephen Kingrsquos memoir on how he became so successful and his writing process A very interesting read that is hard to put down even for non-writers
Bibliography by Section
Introduction
ldquoBest Sellers Initially Rejectedrdquo Literary Rejections accessed March 7 2014 httpwwwliteraryrejectionscombest-sellers-initially-rejected
Encouragement and Fun Resources
ldquoAbsolute Write Forumsrdquo Absolute Write last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwabsolutewritecomforums
ldquoBe (Slightly) Afraid of Posting Your Work Onlinerdquo Writerrsquos Digest last modified April 25 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomeditor-blogsguide-to-literary-agentsbe-slightly- afraid-of-posting-your-work-online
ldquoThe Book Blogger Directoryrdquo Book Blogger Directory last modified August 28 2011 accessed February 19 2014 httpbookbloggerdirectorywordpresscom
ldquoJuke Pop Serialsrdquo Juke Pop Serials accessed February 21 2014 httpswwwjukepopserialscom
ldquoNaNoWriMordquo National Novel Writing Month last modified February 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpnanowrimoorg
ldquoPublisherrsquos Pinterestrdquo Pinterest accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpinterestcompublishingtrend
ldquoWattpadrdquo Wattpad accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwattpadcomabout
ldquoThe Writing Cafe Tagsrdquo The Writerrsquos Cafe on Tumblr last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpthewritingcafetumblrcomtags
The Manuscript
ldquoWhat Are the Guidelines for Formatting a Manuscriptrdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified March 16 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomonline-editorwhat-are-the-guidelines-for-format ing-a-manuscript
ldquoProper Manuscript Format Novel Formatrdquo William Shunn modified 2014 accessed February 21 2014 httpwwwshunnnetformatnovelhtml
Agent or No Agent
Francis Scott editor 2013 Novel amp Short Story Writerrsquos Market (Cincinnati Writerrsquos Digest Books 2012) Used to find agents publishers literary magazines and is basically the bible for any writer who is serious about their craft
ldquoMember Databaserdquo Association of Authorsrsquo Representatives accessed February 19 2014 httpaaronline orgFind
Query Letters
ldquoAnatomy of a Query Letterrdquo Huffington Post modified January 9 2014 accessed February 14 2014 http wwwhuffingtonpostcom20130109query-letter-_n_2434095html
ldquoQueriesmdashAn Inside Scoop (Lisa Shearinrsquos Query)rdquo Pub Rants modified August 9 2006 accessed May 6 2014 httppubrantsblogspotcom200608queriesan-inside-scoop-lisa-shearinshtml
ldquoSuccessful Query Letters for Literary Agentsrdquo Media Bistro modified December 23 2012 accessed Febru ary 19 2014 httpwwwmediabistrocomgalleycatsuccessful-query-letters-for-literary-agents_ b62590
ldquoWriting a Pitch-Perfect Query Letterrdquo Romance Writers on the Journey modified August 4 2008 accessed April 7 2014 httpromancewritersonthejourneywordpresscom20080824writing-a-pitch-perfect-query-let ter
Self-Publishing
ldquoAbout Pubslushrdquo Pubslush modified 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpubslushcomabout
ldquoHow to Self-Publish a Bookrdquo Wikihow httpwwwwikihowcomSelf-Publish-a-Book
Hellman Eric 2013 ldquoThe Author as Entrepreneurrdquo Publishers Weekly 260 no 21 22-23 Academic Search Complete EBSCOhost (accessed February 19 2014) httpwwwpublishersweeklycompwby-topic industry-newspublisher-newsarticle57403-the-author-as-entrepreneurhtml
ldquoKickstarterrdquo Kickstarter modified 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpswwwkickstartercom
ldquoPubslush Can the Kickstarter for Books Find its Nicherdquo The Next Web modified November 23 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpthenextwebcommedia20131125pubslush-can-kickstarter- books-find-nichewwkRw
Publishers
ldquoThe Big Fiverdquo publishers in New York City
Penguin Random House accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpenguinrandomhousecom Simon and Schuster accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwsimonandschustercomMacmillan accessed February 19 2014 httpusmacmillancom Harper Collins accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwharpercollinscom Hachette Book Group accessed February 19 2014 wwwhachettebookgroupcom
Indie PublishersSome well known independent publishers that are ldquoeasierrdquo to get into and also have some well known au-thors Explanations with them their genres and their history
Publishing Genius accessed February 19 2014 httppublishinggeniuscomAkashic Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwakashicbookscomPersea Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwperseabookscomnew-and-forthcomingNew Directions accessed February 19 2014 httpndbookscomAnvil Press Publishing accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwanvilpresscom
Royalties and Payment
ldquo11 Frequently Asked Questions About Book Royalties Advances and Moneyrdquo Writer Unboxed modified November 28 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwriterunboxedcom2011112811-fre quently-asked-questions-about-book-royalties-advances-and-making-money
ldquoPublishing Contracts 101rdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified October 6 2009 accessed February 19 2014 http wwwwritersdigestcomwriting-articlesby-writing-goalget-published-sell-my-workpublish ing-contracts-101
ldquoSample of Contractrdquo Index Books accessed April 24 2014 httpwwwindexbooksnetpublishingcontracthtm
Authors Who Have Succeeded
ldquoAgentedrdquo Erin Morgenstern modified May 27 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httperinmorgenstern com201005agented
ldquoAmanda Hocking Self-Publishing Successrdquo Become a 6 Figure Woman modified March 1 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwbecomea6figurewomancomamanda-hocking-self-publishing
ldquoFAQrdquo Author Beth Reekles Tumblr accessed February 19 2014 httpauthorbethreeklestumblrcomfaq
Query Letters and You
Query letters and you 6
Query letters are the proposal an author sends to an agent or publishing house to get their atten-tion on the manuscript Itrsquos the cover letter for the publishing world Query letters can vary with what yoursquore trying to get published whether itrsquos a short story a poem or a novel In this chapter wersquoll look at the novel query letter
Anatomy of a Query LetterEditorrsquos NamePublishing HouseCity State Zip Code
Dear (Editor)
I have seen your interest in books such as The March and The Great Wave and I think because of your fascination with a fast-paced nature novel will have you interested in my own work My 80000 word manuscript Hoops and Turns will be a good fit for you
Hoops and Turns takes place in an upstate New York town that is preparing for the worst out of hurricane Sandy The protagonist Charlotte Lark struggles with her family when they are stubborn enough to stay and face the hurricane while the rest of the town is evacuated Charlotte finds out that a missing convict has stayed behind as well--and threatens Charlottersquos family Itrsquos up to her to protect her family from both the hurricane and the missing convict
I believe this manuscript is a good fit for your type of audience because of Charlottersquos inner struggle to fit in with her family and the difficult choices she has to face in her situation Shersquos an inspirational female protagonist that has human flaws but is also a great woman to look up to
I have been previously published in The Nest literary magazine and this is my first novel I work in North Dakota as a high school math teacher Thank you for your time
Sincerely
(Writer)
This is to show yoursquove researched and hand-picked this agent You can also introduce yourself here as well as your novel
The intro
The storyCondense your manuscript into a short synopsis for the editor This is your chance to hook them in and make them want to read it
Credentials and sign-off A little bit about yourself if yoursquove been published before and a bit more about why your story is great If you havenrsquot been published before donrsquot lie that can sometimes be an eyecatcher Keep the sign-off professional and thank them for looking over your query letter
Query letters and you 7
The Perfect Query Letter
Herersquos the conflict and I love how she sums up the people who are looking for it as a way of clarifying the problem of being in possession of this amulet and how the plot will unfold
Dear Ms Nelson
I read on Publishers Marketplace that yoursquore interested in female-oriented fantasy I think that Thief of Souls the first novel in my fantasy detective series might interest you
What if you suddenly have a largely unknown potentially unlimited power What if that power just might eat your soul for breakfast lunch and dinner What if every magical mobster and sicko sorcerer in town wants that power And what if you canrsquot get rid of it Thatrsquos Raine Bena-resrsquo problem Shersquos a Seeker -- a finder of things lost and people missing Most of what shersquos hired to find doesnrsquot get lost by itself It has help Dependable help Help she can depend on to use blades or bolts or magical means to keep what they went to all the trouble to get
When her sometime partner steals an amulet from a local necromancer Raine ends up with the amulet and the trouble thatrsquos hot on its heels What looks like a plain silver disk turns out to be a lodestone to an ancient soul-stealing stone a stone that seemingly every magical mob-ster in the city wants -- as well as a few heavy-hitters from out-of-town goblins of the Khrynsani Order their sadistic high priest Guardians of the Conclave of Sorcerers the goblin king and his renegade brother and an elven spellsinger of dubious motives
Hooray she got my name right I get a lot of queries that say Dear Mr Nelson or better yet Dear Jenny Bent
Short and sweet but shows she did at least a little bit of research about me and what Irsquom looking for
Normally Irsquom not a big fan of what I call the ldquowhat if rdquo ques-tions starting the query but let me tell you what got me in this letter I just loved the tone The power might eat my soul for breakfast Mobster sicko These are fun terms to be kicking around for a fantasy novel I perked up immediately Right away it felt different to me and I was ready for the longer pitch blurb thatrsquos just about to follow
Irsquom so tickled I love the phrase ldquomost of what shersquos hired to find doesnrsquot get lost by itselfrdquo
Perfect fun tone (which matches the novel she wrote)
Literary agent Kristin Nelson posts query letters that have been accepted on her blog ldquoAs agents we arenrsquot looking for perfection Wersquore looking for connection a spark that this interests us and thatrsquos hard to definerdquo Nelson says before sharing Lisa Shearinrsquos query letter to Nelson Shearin later published her book Thief Souls as Magic Lost Trouble Found with Ace Books of Penguin Publishing with Kristin Nelson as her agent
Query letters and you 8
People Raine doesnrsquot want to have notice her let alone have to outrun or outwit She likes attention as much as the next girl but this is the kind she can do without Then therersquos what the amulet is doing to her New and improved magical abilities sound good in theory but Raine thinks her soul is a little much to pay for resume enhancement And when she tries to take the amulet off the amulet tries to take her out And when she tries to take the amulet off the amulet tries to take her out
Soon Raine starts to wonder if her spells steel and street smarts will keep her alive long enough to find a way to get rid of the amulet before it or anyone else gets rid of her And the worst part She isnrsquot even getting paid Itrsquos enough to make a girl consider a career change Thief of Souls is my first novel
Irsquom an editor at an advertising agency with prior experience in corporate communications and marketing Irsquod be glad to send you my complete manuscript for your review Thank you for your time and consideration and I look forward to hearing from you soon
Regards
Lisa Shearin
ldquoShe likes attention as much as the next girlrdquo I know Irsquom getting a modern voice with this fantasy blend Itrsquos subtle and well done
More story conflict info but notice Lisa sticks with the tone she adopt-ed Itrsquos not repetitive yet adds some depth to the story
Done Therersquos no lament-ing that shersquos never been published She has no other credentials to offer so she doesnrsquot I loved the query so far so I really donrsquot mind the lack here
Very hard-boiled sounding
A little tidbit about her that personalizes a little but since it doesnrsquot really relate to her novel she keeps it brief and thatrsquos fine
Professional wrap- up I want to see 30 pages without having to think too hard about it Irsquom sold on her tone that I know will be mirrored in her writing
What not to do
A website Slush Pile Hell posts some of the worst lines from query letters Here are a few
ldquoFirst of all I must warn you that I am violating your rules of submissionhelliprdquo
ldquoHello Say me what yoursquore thinking about my new book the question is whatrsquos going on Thank yourdquo
ldquoAre you looking for a potential bestseller If yes please continue reading If not stop It would be waste of your timerdquo
ldquoI know you will love my book I didnrsquot include any pages here in my query because Irsquod love for you to call me so that I can read an excerpt to you over the phonerdquo
Self-Publishing
Self-Publishing 9
The Author as Entrepreneur
Self-publishing might be one of the most difficult ways to get your book out there if you are trying to ldquomake it bigrdquo as an author but it has been done With all the news ways authors can get money to self-publish and print their books there are also a lot of options authors can work with
There are many ways authors can get their audience to invest in their book and get it to print Kickstarter has become more and more popular and so a branch-off of Kickstarter was made just for books called Pubslush Pubslush allows authors to post a convincing plea to have readers donate money to help produce their book People who donate get awards depending on how much they give The great thing is is that anyone can do it Your success depends on how well you can sell it
Brian Schwarz and shadesBrian Schwarz is an author who posted his book on Pubslush with a $2000 goal
An author chooses a goal to reach in a certain amount of time Brian wants $2000 and already has $1735 donated He has 43 days left to reach $2000
Brian has 60 supporters An author can get more supporters by interacting with them on the website or mainly by how attractive the page is The way he attracted his supporters is through the description of his book below You can apply the rules of a query letter to the same introduction to supporters on Pubslush
ldquo Human civilization has reached its pinnacle after a genius Dr Grypphon Caldwell creates the revolutionary O-Chip
a technology that turns the human mind into a wireless device Just by thinking people are able to turn electronics on and off access the internet change the temperature of a
room and communicate in any language without actually speaking out loud Syntax Corporation has become
a household name But one day something goes terribly wrong It begins when a husband continues to commu-nicate with his wife through one such device weeks after his death Within a few short days a group of completely random strangers are brought together to try to uncover the dark mysteries surrounding the O-Chip before time
runs out rdquo
Supporters also have a choice of getting a copy of the book -- an e-book copy soft cover or hard cover depending on how much they donate
Self-Publishing 10
Self-Publishing Flow Chart
Finish the manuscript Proof read it and have a polished final
draft
Hire an editor for your manuscript They can range from $500-$3000 depending on their
credentials
E-books usually use stock images for the cover and are cheaper to
publish on websites like Amazon
Hire a designer for the book cover They can cost a lot up to $1000 But itrsquos a good idea to make your book look great
E-book Physical Copy
Self-publishing has a lot of elements to it that the publisher usually does for you Although this flow chart doesnrsquot represent the end-all of what an author must do to self publish it is what an author must do to go above-and-beyond for their book to be successful A website to hire editors and artists to help with your book is Elance
Begin Here
Companies that help the author to self-publish and distribute their book are Createspace and Lulu However this can be expensive
Place a copyright in the book (something as easy as ldquo2014 John Smith all rights reserved)
and buy an ISBN number
Print on Demand Through a Printer
Find a printer to print the phys-ical copies and distribute them Market your book in any way
possible
Market your book with your friends and in any way possible to have them buy it through the
print website
DistributeMarket
$$$Not really
Self-publishing is less guarenteed to get the money you might get if you had your book published by a
major publishing company
Money
Publishers
Publishers 11
The Big Five ldquoThe Big Fiverdquo in New York City are the major publishers of the book world Although extremely difficult to get published with once yoursquore in you are guarenteed credibility and a paying audience There are many sub-distributors of the Big Five for different genres and works Some fiction books that each publishing house has published
Penguin Random HouseSimon amp Schuster MacmillanThe White Princess Philippa Gregory
Twisted Emma Chase
Under the Dome Part 1 Stephen King
The Here and Now Ann Brashares
Paris Edward Rutherford
Thunderstruck amp Other Stories
Elizabeth McCracken
Eleanor amp Park Rainbow Rowell
Illusion Sherrilyn Kenyon
Speak Laurie Halse
Anderson
HarpercollinsA Bloodsmoore
RomanceJoyce Carol Oates
A Burnable BookBruce Holsinger
31 Bond StreetHelen Horan
The GoldfinchDonna Tartt
NYPD RedJames Patterson Marshall Karp
Seven Wild SistersCharles de Lint
Hachette
ldquoIndierdquo PublishersIndependent publishers are ldquoeasierrdquo to get published with but less credible and have a smaller and morespecific audience These are some of the most prominant indie publishers out there
Publishing GeniusAkashic Books Persea Books Anvil Publishing New DirectionsPublishing Genius
was founded in 2006 and is a small press that focuses
on publishing books that ldquocreate sympathy and therefore a better
worldrdquo
A Brooklyn based publisher that
focuses on publishing urban
literary fiction and ldquopolitical nonfiction by authors who are either ignored by the mainstreamrdquo
Founded in 1975 Persearsquos goal is to
ldquopublish works that endure by meeting high standards of literary merit and
relevancerdquo
Anvil is a progressive book publisher based
in the Philippines They publish all genres from textbooks to
mysteries
An indie publisher with a long history New Directions was
founded in 1936 The founder claims
it is ldquoas a place where experimen-
talists could test their inventions by
publicationrdquo
Contracts and Payment 12
Contracts and Payment
1 GRANTING RIGHTS
The author hereby grants and assigns to the Publisher the exclusive rights to publish in the English language in book form in all countries of the world a Work now en-titled ltltTitle of bookgtgt (hereinafter called the Work) which title may be changed only by mutual consent in writing
2 REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES
The Author represents that he is the sole proprietor of the Work and that the Work to the best of his knowl-edge does not contain any libelous matter and does not violate the civil rights of any person or persons does not infringe any existing copyright and has not here-tofore been published in book form The Author shall hold harmless and indemnify the publisher from any recovery finally sustained by reason of any violations of copyright or other property of personal right provided however that the Publisher shall with all reasonable promptness notify the Author of any claim or suit which may involve the warranties of the Author hereunder and the Author agrees fully to cooperate in the de-fense thereof The warranties contained in this article do not extend to drawings illustrations insofar as not furnished by the Author or to any other material not furnished by the Author
3 DELIVERY
The Author agrees to deliver to the publisher a complete typewritten script as well as a complete electronic text of the Work in a format to be determined by the Publisher (hereinafter called the Script) If the Script shall not have been delivered within three (3) months after the date this agreement is signed the Publisher may at its option terminate this agreement by notice in writing posted
Making MoneyThe logistics of getting payment for your work is a bit complicated Itrsquos unlikely you will be able to support yourself off of the money you make from your first book alone if your work is published
ContractsA contract is what an agent will give the writer to sign that lays out the agreements between the writer and agent for the production of the book To the left is what a contract might look like Confusing language and legal terms hidden everywhere They are not something to be looked at lightly and however credible the agent an author always wants to make sure that every sentence and section is to their satisfac-tion Without looking it over an agent could claim anythingmdashincluding being the author of the writerrsquos book Remember contracts are meant to be changed and be a compromise between both parties
PaymentWriters can make money in three ways flat fees royalties and advance against royalties A flat fee gives the author money up front and that is all they will get Royalties is an amount of money the author gets for each book sold Advance against royalties is a mix of the two and the most common with money up front and royalties guarenteed depending on how many books are sold How much you get is all dependent on what is in your contract
RightsAnother very important thing included in the contract This explains who owns the book if the publisher distributes it as well as the agent who is getting it to the pub-lisher
Authors Who Succeeded
Authors who Succeeded 13
Jack Heath
Australian author Jack Heath published his novel The Lab with Pan Macmillan when he was 17 years old He had no agent and was lucky enough to have his book accepted on his first try However they asked him to rewrite it twice ldquoA writer only knows the story they want to tell whereas a publisher knows what story the readers want to buy Unless telling the story is more important to you than having anyone to tell it to Irsquod recommend making every change they ask forrdquo
No literary agent middot Published by Pan Macmillan
Amanda HockingSelf-published middot Later published by Macmillan
Amanda Hocking self-published her first book when she was 26 and sold 100000 copies within a year by using sources such as book bloggers Bedford St Martinrsquos Press a traditional publisher a part of Macmillan paid over $2 million for her book after bidding alongside Simon amp Schuster Random House and HarperCollins before they dropped out She has gone on to publish books for her Watersong series the first being pictured on the left She was later represented by liter-ary agent Steven Axelrod
Erin MorgensternAgented middot Published by Random House
Erin Morgenstern began her book by participating in NaNoWriMo and sent out many query letters to get an agent to represent her book She had to revise her book multiple times to get an agent to represent her and finally she was offered representation by agent Richard Pine Her book The Night Circus was published by Random House when she was 29 and ended up on as 2 on the New York Times Best Seller list She writes about updates and her experiences in the pub-lishing world on her blog
Authors who Succeeded 14
Beth Reekles Posted on Wattpad middot Found and published by Random House
Beth Reekles posted her novels on Wattpadd and gained about 60 thousand followers on the website before a Random House agent tracked her down She was published at 17 years old and ended up on TIMErsquos Most Influential Teens of 2013 list Her goal was to ldquowrite a novel she would want to readrdquo when she began writing it at 15
Amelia Atwater-RhodesLiterary Agent middot Published by Random House
Her high school teacher who also happened to be a literary agent overheard she was writing a book and wanted to read it He got her published with Random House when she was 15 years old Since then she has written and published 16 novels and has been called the successor to Anne Rice
These writers were able to do it and they were not that far off from where you are right now The fact that you are looking at this guide gives you a better chance than most Just remember
Itrsquos possibleBut itrsquos not easy It takes dedication
Some good books to take a look at to further help your cause
The Writerrsquos Market by Robert Lee Brewer Full of literary agents literary journals and publishers this is the bible for the writer serious about getting published
The Writerrsquos Little Helper Everything You Need to Know to Write Better and Get Published by James V Smith Jr A simple and very interesting book that has plenty of charts ideas and guidelines for a writer on
their way to editing and publishing a novel
The Pocket Muse by Monica Wood An artistic little book with pictures and prompts to help a writer get started when they are stuck with the dreaded writerrsquos block
On Writing by Stephen King Stephen Kingrsquos memoir on how he became so successful and his writing process A very interesting read that is hard to put down even for non-writers
Bibliography by Section
Introduction
ldquoBest Sellers Initially Rejectedrdquo Literary Rejections accessed March 7 2014 httpwwwliteraryrejectionscombest-sellers-initially-rejected
Encouragement and Fun Resources
ldquoAbsolute Write Forumsrdquo Absolute Write last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwabsolutewritecomforums
ldquoBe (Slightly) Afraid of Posting Your Work Onlinerdquo Writerrsquos Digest last modified April 25 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomeditor-blogsguide-to-literary-agentsbe-slightly- afraid-of-posting-your-work-online
ldquoThe Book Blogger Directoryrdquo Book Blogger Directory last modified August 28 2011 accessed February 19 2014 httpbookbloggerdirectorywordpresscom
ldquoJuke Pop Serialsrdquo Juke Pop Serials accessed February 21 2014 httpswwwjukepopserialscom
ldquoNaNoWriMordquo National Novel Writing Month last modified February 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpnanowrimoorg
ldquoPublisherrsquos Pinterestrdquo Pinterest accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpinterestcompublishingtrend
ldquoWattpadrdquo Wattpad accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwattpadcomabout
ldquoThe Writing Cafe Tagsrdquo The Writerrsquos Cafe on Tumblr last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpthewritingcafetumblrcomtags
The Manuscript
ldquoWhat Are the Guidelines for Formatting a Manuscriptrdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified March 16 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomonline-editorwhat-are-the-guidelines-for-format ing-a-manuscript
ldquoProper Manuscript Format Novel Formatrdquo William Shunn modified 2014 accessed February 21 2014 httpwwwshunnnetformatnovelhtml
Agent or No Agent
Francis Scott editor 2013 Novel amp Short Story Writerrsquos Market (Cincinnati Writerrsquos Digest Books 2012) Used to find agents publishers literary magazines and is basically the bible for any writer who is serious about their craft
ldquoMember Databaserdquo Association of Authorsrsquo Representatives accessed February 19 2014 httpaaronline orgFind
Query Letters
ldquoAnatomy of a Query Letterrdquo Huffington Post modified January 9 2014 accessed February 14 2014 http wwwhuffingtonpostcom20130109query-letter-_n_2434095html
ldquoQueriesmdashAn Inside Scoop (Lisa Shearinrsquos Query)rdquo Pub Rants modified August 9 2006 accessed May 6 2014 httppubrantsblogspotcom200608queriesan-inside-scoop-lisa-shearinshtml
ldquoSuccessful Query Letters for Literary Agentsrdquo Media Bistro modified December 23 2012 accessed Febru ary 19 2014 httpwwwmediabistrocomgalleycatsuccessful-query-letters-for-literary-agents_ b62590
ldquoWriting a Pitch-Perfect Query Letterrdquo Romance Writers on the Journey modified August 4 2008 accessed April 7 2014 httpromancewritersonthejourneywordpresscom20080824writing-a-pitch-perfect-query-let ter
Self-Publishing
ldquoAbout Pubslushrdquo Pubslush modified 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpubslushcomabout
ldquoHow to Self-Publish a Bookrdquo Wikihow httpwwwwikihowcomSelf-Publish-a-Book
Hellman Eric 2013 ldquoThe Author as Entrepreneurrdquo Publishers Weekly 260 no 21 22-23 Academic Search Complete EBSCOhost (accessed February 19 2014) httpwwwpublishersweeklycompwby-topic industry-newspublisher-newsarticle57403-the-author-as-entrepreneurhtml
ldquoKickstarterrdquo Kickstarter modified 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpswwwkickstartercom
ldquoPubslush Can the Kickstarter for Books Find its Nicherdquo The Next Web modified November 23 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpthenextwebcommedia20131125pubslush-can-kickstarter- books-find-nichewwkRw
Publishers
ldquoThe Big Fiverdquo publishers in New York City
Penguin Random House accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpenguinrandomhousecom Simon and Schuster accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwsimonandschustercomMacmillan accessed February 19 2014 httpusmacmillancom Harper Collins accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwharpercollinscom Hachette Book Group accessed February 19 2014 wwwhachettebookgroupcom
Indie PublishersSome well known independent publishers that are ldquoeasierrdquo to get into and also have some well known au-thors Explanations with them their genres and their history
Publishing Genius accessed February 19 2014 httppublishinggeniuscomAkashic Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwakashicbookscomPersea Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwperseabookscomnew-and-forthcomingNew Directions accessed February 19 2014 httpndbookscomAnvil Press Publishing accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwanvilpresscom
Royalties and Payment
ldquo11 Frequently Asked Questions About Book Royalties Advances and Moneyrdquo Writer Unboxed modified November 28 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwriterunboxedcom2011112811-fre quently-asked-questions-about-book-royalties-advances-and-making-money
ldquoPublishing Contracts 101rdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified October 6 2009 accessed February 19 2014 http wwwwritersdigestcomwriting-articlesby-writing-goalget-published-sell-my-workpublish ing-contracts-101
ldquoSample of Contractrdquo Index Books accessed April 24 2014 httpwwwindexbooksnetpublishingcontracthtm
Authors Who Have Succeeded
ldquoAgentedrdquo Erin Morgenstern modified May 27 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httperinmorgenstern com201005agented
ldquoAmanda Hocking Self-Publishing Successrdquo Become a 6 Figure Woman modified March 1 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwbecomea6figurewomancomamanda-hocking-self-publishing
ldquoFAQrdquo Author Beth Reekles Tumblr accessed February 19 2014 httpauthorbethreeklestumblrcomfaq
Query letters and you 7
The Perfect Query Letter
Herersquos the conflict and I love how she sums up the people who are looking for it as a way of clarifying the problem of being in possession of this amulet and how the plot will unfold
Dear Ms Nelson
I read on Publishers Marketplace that yoursquore interested in female-oriented fantasy I think that Thief of Souls the first novel in my fantasy detective series might interest you
What if you suddenly have a largely unknown potentially unlimited power What if that power just might eat your soul for breakfast lunch and dinner What if every magical mobster and sicko sorcerer in town wants that power And what if you canrsquot get rid of it Thatrsquos Raine Bena-resrsquo problem Shersquos a Seeker -- a finder of things lost and people missing Most of what shersquos hired to find doesnrsquot get lost by itself It has help Dependable help Help she can depend on to use blades or bolts or magical means to keep what they went to all the trouble to get
When her sometime partner steals an amulet from a local necromancer Raine ends up with the amulet and the trouble thatrsquos hot on its heels What looks like a plain silver disk turns out to be a lodestone to an ancient soul-stealing stone a stone that seemingly every magical mob-ster in the city wants -- as well as a few heavy-hitters from out-of-town goblins of the Khrynsani Order their sadistic high priest Guardians of the Conclave of Sorcerers the goblin king and his renegade brother and an elven spellsinger of dubious motives
Hooray she got my name right I get a lot of queries that say Dear Mr Nelson or better yet Dear Jenny Bent
Short and sweet but shows she did at least a little bit of research about me and what Irsquom looking for
Normally Irsquom not a big fan of what I call the ldquowhat if rdquo ques-tions starting the query but let me tell you what got me in this letter I just loved the tone The power might eat my soul for breakfast Mobster sicko These are fun terms to be kicking around for a fantasy novel I perked up immediately Right away it felt different to me and I was ready for the longer pitch blurb thatrsquos just about to follow
Irsquom so tickled I love the phrase ldquomost of what shersquos hired to find doesnrsquot get lost by itselfrdquo
Perfect fun tone (which matches the novel she wrote)
Literary agent Kristin Nelson posts query letters that have been accepted on her blog ldquoAs agents we arenrsquot looking for perfection Wersquore looking for connection a spark that this interests us and thatrsquos hard to definerdquo Nelson says before sharing Lisa Shearinrsquos query letter to Nelson Shearin later published her book Thief Souls as Magic Lost Trouble Found with Ace Books of Penguin Publishing with Kristin Nelson as her agent
Query letters and you 8
People Raine doesnrsquot want to have notice her let alone have to outrun or outwit She likes attention as much as the next girl but this is the kind she can do without Then therersquos what the amulet is doing to her New and improved magical abilities sound good in theory but Raine thinks her soul is a little much to pay for resume enhancement And when she tries to take the amulet off the amulet tries to take her out And when she tries to take the amulet off the amulet tries to take her out
Soon Raine starts to wonder if her spells steel and street smarts will keep her alive long enough to find a way to get rid of the amulet before it or anyone else gets rid of her And the worst part She isnrsquot even getting paid Itrsquos enough to make a girl consider a career change Thief of Souls is my first novel
Irsquom an editor at an advertising agency with prior experience in corporate communications and marketing Irsquod be glad to send you my complete manuscript for your review Thank you for your time and consideration and I look forward to hearing from you soon
Regards
Lisa Shearin
ldquoShe likes attention as much as the next girlrdquo I know Irsquom getting a modern voice with this fantasy blend Itrsquos subtle and well done
More story conflict info but notice Lisa sticks with the tone she adopt-ed Itrsquos not repetitive yet adds some depth to the story
Done Therersquos no lament-ing that shersquos never been published She has no other credentials to offer so she doesnrsquot I loved the query so far so I really donrsquot mind the lack here
Very hard-boiled sounding
A little tidbit about her that personalizes a little but since it doesnrsquot really relate to her novel she keeps it brief and thatrsquos fine
Professional wrap- up I want to see 30 pages without having to think too hard about it Irsquom sold on her tone that I know will be mirrored in her writing
What not to do
A website Slush Pile Hell posts some of the worst lines from query letters Here are a few
ldquoFirst of all I must warn you that I am violating your rules of submissionhelliprdquo
ldquoHello Say me what yoursquore thinking about my new book the question is whatrsquos going on Thank yourdquo
ldquoAre you looking for a potential bestseller If yes please continue reading If not stop It would be waste of your timerdquo
ldquoI know you will love my book I didnrsquot include any pages here in my query because Irsquod love for you to call me so that I can read an excerpt to you over the phonerdquo
Self-Publishing
Self-Publishing 9
The Author as Entrepreneur
Self-publishing might be one of the most difficult ways to get your book out there if you are trying to ldquomake it bigrdquo as an author but it has been done With all the news ways authors can get money to self-publish and print their books there are also a lot of options authors can work with
There are many ways authors can get their audience to invest in their book and get it to print Kickstarter has become more and more popular and so a branch-off of Kickstarter was made just for books called Pubslush Pubslush allows authors to post a convincing plea to have readers donate money to help produce their book People who donate get awards depending on how much they give The great thing is is that anyone can do it Your success depends on how well you can sell it
Brian Schwarz and shadesBrian Schwarz is an author who posted his book on Pubslush with a $2000 goal
An author chooses a goal to reach in a certain amount of time Brian wants $2000 and already has $1735 donated He has 43 days left to reach $2000
Brian has 60 supporters An author can get more supporters by interacting with them on the website or mainly by how attractive the page is The way he attracted his supporters is through the description of his book below You can apply the rules of a query letter to the same introduction to supporters on Pubslush
ldquo Human civilization has reached its pinnacle after a genius Dr Grypphon Caldwell creates the revolutionary O-Chip
a technology that turns the human mind into a wireless device Just by thinking people are able to turn electronics on and off access the internet change the temperature of a
room and communicate in any language without actually speaking out loud Syntax Corporation has become
a household name But one day something goes terribly wrong It begins when a husband continues to commu-nicate with his wife through one such device weeks after his death Within a few short days a group of completely random strangers are brought together to try to uncover the dark mysteries surrounding the O-Chip before time
runs out rdquo
Supporters also have a choice of getting a copy of the book -- an e-book copy soft cover or hard cover depending on how much they donate
Self-Publishing 10
Self-Publishing Flow Chart
Finish the manuscript Proof read it and have a polished final
draft
Hire an editor for your manuscript They can range from $500-$3000 depending on their
credentials
E-books usually use stock images for the cover and are cheaper to
publish on websites like Amazon
Hire a designer for the book cover They can cost a lot up to $1000 But itrsquos a good idea to make your book look great
E-book Physical Copy
Self-publishing has a lot of elements to it that the publisher usually does for you Although this flow chart doesnrsquot represent the end-all of what an author must do to self publish it is what an author must do to go above-and-beyond for their book to be successful A website to hire editors and artists to help with your book is Elance
Begin Here
Companies that help the author to self-publish and distribute their book are Createspace and Lulu However this can be expensive
Place a copyright in the book (something as easy as ldquo2014 John Smith all rights reserved)
and buy an ISBN number
Print on Demand Through a Printer
Find a printer to print the phys-ical copies and distribute them Market your book in any way
possible
Market your book with your friends and in any way possible to have them buy it through the
print website
DistributeMarket
$$$Not really
Self-publishing is less guarenteed to get the money you might get if you had your book published by a
major publishing company
Money
Publishers
Publishers 11
The Big Five ldquoThe Big Fiverdquo in New York City are the major publishers of the book world Although extremely difficult to get published with once yoursquore in you are guarenteed credibility and a paying audience There are many sub-distributors of the Big Five for different genres and works Some fiction books that each publishing house has published
Penguin Random HouseSimon amp Schuster MacmillanThe White Princess Philippa Gregory
Twisted Emma Chase
Under the Dome Part 1 Stephen King
The Here and Now Ann Brashares
Paris Edward Rutherford
Thunderstruck amp Other Stories
Elizabeth McCracken
Eleanor amp Park Rainbow Rowell
Illusion Sherrilyn Kenyon
Speak Laurie Halse
Anderson
HarpercollinsA Bloodsmoore
RomanceJoyce Carol Oates
A Burnable BookBruce Holsinger
31 Bond StreetHelen Horan
The GoldfinchDonna Tartt
NYPD RedJames Patterson Marshall Karp
Seven Wild SistersCharles de Lint
Hachette
ldquoIndierdquo PublishersIndependent publishers are ldquoeasierrdquo to get published with but less credible and have a smaller and morespecific audience These are some of the most prominant indie publishers out there
Publishing GeniusAkashic Books Persea Books Anvil Publishing New DirectionsPublishing Genius
was founded in 2006 and is a small press that focuses
on publishing books that ldquocreate sympathy and therefore a better
worldrdquo
A Brooklyn based publisher that
focuses on publishing urban
literary fiction and ldquopolitical nonfiction by authors who are either ignored by the mainstreamrdquo
Founded in 1975 Persearsquos goal is to
ldquopublish works that endure by meeting high standards of literary merit and
relevancerdquo
Anvil is a progressive book publisher based
in the Philippines They publish all genres from textbooks to
mysteries
An indie publisher with a long history New Directions was
founded in 1936 The founder claims
it is ldquoas a place where experimen-
talists could test their inventions by
publicationrdquo
Contracts and Payment 12
Contracts and Payment
1 GRANTING RIGHTS
The author hereby grants and assigns to the Publisher the exclusive rights to publish in the English language in book form in all countries of the world a Work now en-titled ltltTitle of bookgtgt (hereinafter called the Work) which title may be changed only by mutual consent in writing
2 REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES
The Author represents that he is the sole proprietor of the Work and that the Work to the best of his knowl-edge does not contain any libelous matter and does not violate the civil rights of any person or persons does not infringe any existing copyright and has not here-tofore been published in book form The Author shall hold harmless and indemnify the publisher from any recovery finally sustained by reason of any violations of copyright or other property of personal right provided however that the Publisher shall with all reasonable promptness notify the Author of any claim or suit which may involve the warranties of the Author hereunder and the Author agrees fully to cooperate in the de-fense thereof The warranties contained in this article do not extend to drawings illustrations insofar as not furnished by the Author or to any other material not furnished by the Author
3 DELIVERY
The Author agrees to deliver to the publisher a complete typewritten script as well as a complete electronic text of the Work in a format to be determined by the Publisher (hereinafter called the Script) If the Script shall not have been delivered within three (3) months after the date this agreement is signed the Publisher may at its option terminate this agreement by notice in writing posted
Making MoneyThe logistics of getting payment for your work is a bit complicated Itrsquos unlikely you will be able to support yourself off of the money you make from your first book alone if your work is published
ContractsA contract is what an agent will give the writer to sign that lays out the agreements between the writer and agent for the production of the book To the left is what a contract might look like Confusing language and legal terms hidden everywhere They are not something to be looked at lightly and however credible the agent an author always wants to make sure that every sentence and section is to their satisfac-tion Without looking it over an agent could claim anythingmdashincluding being the author of the writerrsquos book Remember contracts are meant to be changed and be a compromise between both parties
PaymentWriters can make money in three ways flat fees royalties and advance against royalties A flat fee gives the author money up front and that is all they will get Royalties is an amount of money the author gets for each book sold Advance against royalties is a mix of the two and the most common with money up front and royalties guarenteed depending on how many books are sold How much you get is all dependent on what is in your contract
RightsAnother very important thing included in the contract This explains who owns the book if the publisher distributes it as well as the agent who is getting it to the pub-lisher
Authors Who Succeeded
Authors who Succeeded 13
Jack Heath
Australian author Jack Heath published his novel The Lab with Pan Macmillan when he was 17 years old He had no agent and was lucky enough to have his book accepted on his first try However they asked him to rewrite it twice ldquoA writer only knows the story they want to tell whereas a publisher knows what story the readers want to buy Unless telling the story is more important to you than having anyone to tell it to Irsquod recommend making every change they ask forrdquo
No literary agent middot Published by Pan Macmillan
Amanda HockingSelf-published middot Later published by Macmillan
Amanda Hocking self-published her first book when she was 26 and sold 100000 copies within a year by using sources such as book bloggers Bedford St Martinrsquos Press a traditional publisher a part of Macmillan paid over $2 million for her book after bidding alongside Simon amp Schuster Random House and HarperCollins before they dropped out She has gone on to publish books for her Watersong series the first being pictured on the left She was later represented by liter-ary agent Steven Axelrod
Erin MorgensternAgented middot Published by Random House
Erin Morgenstern began her book by participating in NaNoWriMo and sent out many query letters to get an agent to represent her book She had to revise her book multiple times to get an agent to represent her and finally she was offered representation by agent Richard Pine Her book The Night Circus was published by Random House when she was 29 and ended up on as 2 on the New York Times Best Seller list She writes about updates and her experiences in the pub-lishing world on her blog
Authors who Succeeded 14
Beth Reekles Posted on Wattpad middot Found and published by Random House
Beth Reekles posted her novels on Wattpadd and gained about 60 thousand followers on the website before a Random House agent tracked her down She was published at 17 years old and ended up on TIMErsquos Most Influential Teens of 2013 list Her goal was to ldquowrite a novel she would want to readrdquo when she began writing it at 15
Amelia Atwater-RhodesLiterary Agent middot Published by Random House
Her high school teacher who also happened to be a literary agent overheard she was writing a book and wanted to read it He got her published with Random House when she was 15 years old Since then she has written and published 16 novels and has been called the successor to Anne Rice
These writers were able to do it and they were not that far off from where you are right now The fact that you are looking at this guide gives you a better chance than most Just remember
Itrsquos possibleBut itrsquos not easy It takes dedication
Some good books to take a look at to further help your cause
The Writerrsquos Market by Robert Lee Brewer Full of literary agents literary journals and publishers this is the bible for the writer serious about getting published
The Writerrsquos Little Helper Everything You Need to Know to Write Better and Get Published by James V Smith Jr A simple and very interesting book that has plenty of charts ideas and guidelines for a writer on
their way to editing and publishing a novel
The Pocket Muse by Monica Wood An artistic little book with pictures and prompts to help a writer get started when they are stuck with the dreaded writerrsquos block
On Writing by Stephen King Stephen Kingrsquos memoir on how he became so successful and his writing process A very interesting read that is hard to put down even for non-writers
Bibliography by Section
Introduction
ldquoBest Sellers Initially Rejectedrdquo Literary Rejections accessed March 7 2014 httpwwwliteraryrejectionscombest-sellers-initially-rejected
Encouragement and Fun Resources
ldquoAbsolute Write Forumsrdquo Absolute Write last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwabsolutewritecomforums
ldquoBe (Slightly) Afraid of Posting Your Work Onlinerdquo Writerrsquos Digest last modified April 25 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomeditor-blogsguide-to-literary-agentsbe-slightly- afraid-of-posting-your-work-online
ldquoThe Book Blogger Directoryrdquo Book Blogger Directory last modified August 28 2011 accessed February 19 2014 httpbookbloggerdirectorywordpresscom
ldquoJuke Pop Serialsrdquo Juke Pop Serials accessed February 21 2014 httpswwwjukepopserialscom
ldquoNaNoWriMordquo National Novel Writing Month last modified February 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpnanowrimoorg
ldquoPublisherrsquos Pinterestrdquo Pinterest accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpinterestcompublishingtrend
ldquoWattpadrdquo Wattpad accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwattpadcomabout
ldquoThe Writing Cafe Tagsrdquo The Writerrsquos Cafe on Tumblr last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpthewritingcafetumblrcomtags
The Manuscript
ldquoWhat Are the Guidelines for Formatting a Manuscriptrdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified March 16 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomonline-editorwhat-are-the-guidelines-for-format ing-a-manuscript
ldquoProper Manuscript Format Novel Formatrdquo William Shunn modified 2014 accessed February 21 2014 httpwwwshunnnetformatnovelhtml
Agent or No Agent
Francis Scott editor 2013 Novel amp Short Story Writerrsquos Market (Cincinnati Writerrsquos Digest Books 2012) Used to find agents publishers literary magazines and is basically the bible for any writer who is serious about their craft
ldquoMember Databaserdquo Association of Authorsrsquo Representatives accessed February 19 2014 httpaaronline orgFind
Query Letters
ldquoAnatomy of a Query Letterrdquo Huffington Post modified January 9 2014 accessed February 14 2014 http wwwhuffingtonpostcom20130109query-letter-_n_2434095html
ldquoQueriesmdashAn Inside Scoop (Lisa Shearinrsquos Query)rdquo Pub Rants modified August 9 2006 accessed May 6 2014 httppubrantsblogspotcom200608queriesan-inside-scoop-lisa-shearinshtml
ldquoSuccessful Query Letters for Literary Agentsrdquo Media Bistro modified December 23 2012 accessed Febru ary 19 2014 httpwwwmediabistrocomgalleycatsuccessful-query-letters-for-literary-agents_ b62590
ldquoWriting a Pitch-Perfect Query Letterrdquo Romance Writers on the Journey modified August 4 2008 accessed April 7 2014 httpromancewritersonthejourneywordpresscom20080824writing-a-pitch-perfect-query-let ter
Self-Publishing
ldquoAbout Pubslushrdquo Pubslush modified 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpubslushcomabout
ldquoHow to Self-Publish a Bookrdquo Wikihow httpwwwwikihowcomSelf-Publish-a-Book
Hellman Eric 2013 ldquoThe Author as Entrepreneurrdquo Publishers Weekly 260 no 21 22-23 Academic Search Complete EBSCOhost (accessed February 19 2014) httpwwwpublishersweeklycompwby-topic industry-newspublisher-newsarticle57403-the-author-as-entrepreneurhtml
ldquoKickstarterrdquo Kickstarter modified 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpswwwkickstartercom
ldquoPubslush Can the Kickstarter for Books Find its Nicherdquo The Next Web modified November 23 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpthenextwebcommedia20131125pubslush-can-kickstarter- books-find-nichewwkRw
Publishers
ldquoThe Big Fiverdquo publishers in New York City
Penguin Random House accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpenguinrandomhousecom Simon and Schuster accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwsimonandschustercomMacmillan accessed February 19 2014 httpusmacmillancom Harper Collins accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwharpercollinscom Hachette Book Group accessed February 19 2014 wwwhachettebookgroupcom
Indie PublishersSome well known independent publishers that are ldquoeasierrdquo to get into and also have some well known au-thors Explanations with them their genres and their history
Publishing Genius accessed February 19 2014 httppublishinggeniuscomAkashic Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwakashicbookscomPersea Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwperseabookscomnew-and-forthcomingNew Directions accessed February 19 2014 httpndbookscomAnvil Press Publishing accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwanvilpresscom
Royalties and Payment
ldquo11 Frequently Asked Questions About Book Royalties Advances and Moneyrdquo Writer Unboxed modified November 28 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwriterunboxedcom2011112811-fre quently-asked-questions-about-book-royalties-advances-and-making-money
ldquoPublishing Contracts 101rdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified October 6 2009 accessed February 19 2014 http wwwwritersdigestcomwriting-articlesby-writing-goalget-published-sell-my-workpublish ing-contracts-101
ldquoSample of Contractrdquo Index Books accessed April 24 2014 httpwwwindexbooksnetpublishingcontracthtm
Authors Who Have Succeeded
ldquoAgentedrdquo Erin Morgenstern modified May 27 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httperinmorgenstern com201005agented
ldquoAmanda Hocking Self-Publishing Successrdquo Become a 6 Figure Woman modified March 1 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwbecomea6figurewomancomamanda-hocking-self-publishing
ldquoFAQrdquo Author Beth Reekles Tumblr accessed February 19 2014 httpauthorbethreeklestumblrcomfaq
Query letters and you 8
People Raine doesnrsquot want to have notice her let alone have to outrun or outwit She likes attention as much as the next girl but this is the kind she can do without Then therersquos what the amulet is doing to her New and improved magical abilities sound good in theory but Raine thinks her soul is a little much to pay for resume enhancement And when she tries to take the amulet off the amulet tries to take her out And when she tries to take the amulet off the amulet tries to take her out
Soon Raine starts to wonder if her spells steel and street smarts will keep her alive long enough to find a way to get rid of the amulet before it or anyone else gets rid of her And the worst part She isnrsquot even getting paid Itrsquos enough to make a girl consider a career change Thief of Souls is my first novel
Irsquom an editor at an advertising agency with prior experience in corporate communications and marketing Irsquod be glad to send you my complete manuscript for your review Thank you for your time and consideration and I look forward to hearing from you soon
Regards
Lisa Shearin
ldquoShe likes attention as much as the next girlrdquo I know Irsquom getting a modern voice with this fantasy blend Itrsquos subtle and well done
More story conflict info but notice Lisa sticks with the tone she adopt-ed Itrsquos not repetitive yet adds some depth to the story
Done Therersquos no lament-ing that shersquos never been published She has no other credentials to offer so she doesnrsquot I loved the query so far so I really donrsquot mind the lack here
Very hard-boiled sounding
A little tidbit about her that personalizes a little but since it doesnrsquot really relate to her novel she keeps it brief and thatrsquos fine
Professional wrap- up I want to see 30 pages without having to think too hard about it Irsquom sold on her tone that I know will be mirrored in her writing
What not to do
A website Slush Pile Hell posts some of the worst lines from query letters Here are a few
ldquoFirst of all I must warn you that I am violating your rules of submissionhelliprdquo
ldquoHello Say me what yoursquore thinking about my new book the question is whatrsquos going on Thank yourdquo
ldquoAre you looking for a potential bestseller If yes please continue reading If not stop It would be waste of your timerdquo
ldquoI know you will love my book I didnrsquot include any pages here in my query because Irsquod love for you to call me so that I can read an excerpt to you over the phonerdquo
Self-Publishing
Self-Publishing 9
The Author as Entrepreneur
Self-publishing might be one of the most difficult ways to get your book out there if you are trying to ldquomake it bigrdquo as an author but it has been done With all the news ways authors can get money to self-publish and print their books there are also a lot of options authors can work with
There are many ways authors can get their audience to invest in their book and get it to print Kickstarter has become more and more popular and so a branch-off of Kickstarter was made just for books called Pubslush Pubslush allows authors to post a convincing plea to have readers donate money to help produce their book People who donate get awards depending on how much they give The great thing is is that anyone can do it Your success depends on how well you can sell it
Brian Schwarz and shadesBrian Schwarz is an author who posted his book on Pubslush with a $2000 goal
An author chooses a goal to reach in a certain amount of time Brian wants $2000 and already has $1735 donated He has 43 days left to reach $2000
Brian has 60 supporters An author can get more supporters by interacting with them on the website or mainly by how attractive the page is The way he attracted his supporters is through the description of his book below You can apply the rules of a query letter to the same introduction to supporters on Pubslush
ldquo Human civilization has reached its pinnacle after a genius Dr Grypphon Caldwell creates the revolutionary O-Chip
a technology that turns the human mind into a wireless device Just by thinking people are able to turn electronics on and off access the internet change the temperature of a
room and communicate in any language without actually speaking out loud Syntax Corporation has become
a household name But one day something goes terribly wrong It begins when a husband continues to commu-nicate with his wife through one such device weeks after his death Within a few short days a group of completely random strangers are brought together to try to uncover the dark mysteries surrounding the O-Chip before time
runs out rdquo
Supporters also have a choice of getting a copy of the book -- an e-book copy soft cover or hard cover depending on how much they donate
Self-Publishing 10
Self-Publishing Flow Chart
Finish the manuscript Proof read it and have a polished final
draft
Hire an editor for your manuscript They can range from $500-$3000 depending on their
credentials
E-books usually use stock images for the cover and are cheaper to
publish on websites like Amazon
Hire a designer for the book cover They can cost a lot up to $1000 But itrsquos a good idea to make your book look great
E-book Physical Copy
Self-publishing has a lot of elements to it that the publisher usually does for you Although this flow chart doesnrsquot represent the end-all of what an author must do to self publish it is what an author must do to go above-and-beyond for their book to be successful A website to hire editors and artists to help with your book is Elance
Begin Here
Companies that help the author to self-publish and distribute their book are Createspace and Lulu However this can be expensive
Place a copyright in the book (something as easy as ldquo2014 John Smith all rights reserved)
and buy an ISBN number
Print on Demand Through a Printer
Find a printer to print the phys-ical copies and distribute them Market your book in any way
possible
Market your book with your friends and in any way possible to have them buy it through the
print website
DistributeMarket
$$$Not really
Self-publishing is less guarenteed to get the money you might get if you had your book published by a
major publishing company
Money
Publishers
Publishers 11
The Big Five ldquoThe Big Fiverdquo in New York City are the major publishers of the book world Although extremely difficult to get published with once yoursquore in you are guarenteed credibility and a paying audience There are many sub-distributors of the Big Five for different genres and works Some fiction books that each publishing house has published
Penguin Random HouseSimon amp Schuster MacmillanThe White Princess Philippa Gregory
Twisted Emma Chase
Under the Dome Part 1 Stephen King
The Here and Now Ann Brashares
Paris Edward Rutherford
Thunderstruck amp Other Stories
Elizabeth McCracken
Eleanor amp Park Rainbow Rowell
Illusion Sherrilyn Kenyon
Speak Laurie Halse
Anderson
HarpercollinsA Bloodsmoore
RomanceJoyce Carol Oates
A Burnable BookBruce Holsinger
31 Bond StreetHelen Horan
The GoldfinchDonna Tartt
NYPD RedJames Patterson Marshall Karp
Seven Wild SistersCharles de Lint
Hachette
ldquoIndierdquo PublishersIndependent publishers are ldquoeasierrdquo to get published with but less credible and have a smaller and morespecific audience These are some of the most prominant indie publishers out there
Publishing GeniusAkashic Books Persea Books Anvil Publishing New DirectionsPublishing Genius
was founded in 2006 and is a small press that focuses
on publishing books that ldquocreate sympathy and therefore a better
worldrdquo
A Brooklyn based publisher that
focuses on publishing urban
literary fiction and ldquopolitical nonfiction by authors who are either ignored by the mainstreamrdquo
Founded in 1975 Persearsquos goal is to
ldquopublish works that endure by meeting high standards of literary merit and
relevancerdquo
Anvil is a progressive book publisher based
in the Philippines They publish all genres from textbooks to
mysteries
An indie publisher with a long history New Directions was
founded in 1936 The founder claims
it is ldquoas a place where experimen-
talists could test their inventions by
publicationrdquo
Contracts and Payment 12
Contracts and Payment
1 GRANTING RIGHTS
The author hereby grants and assigns to the Publisher the exclusive rights to publish in the English language in book form in all countries of the world a Work now en-titled ltltTitle of bookgtgt (hereinafter called the Work) which title may be changed only by mutual consent in writing
2 REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES
The Author represents that he is the sole proprietor of the Work and that the Work to the best of his knowl-edge does not contain any libelous matter and does not violate the civil rights of any person or persons does not infringe any existing copyright and has not here-tofore been published in book form The Author shall hold harmless and indemnify the publisher from any recovery finally sustained by reason of any violations of copyright or other property of personal right provided however that the Publisher shall with all reasonable promptness notify the Author of any claim or suit which may involve the warranties of the Author hereunder and the Author agrees fully to cooperate in the de-fense thereof The warranties contained in this article do not extend to drawings illustrations insofar as not furnished by the Author or to any other material not furnished by the Author
3 DELIVERY
The Author agrees to deliver to the publisher a complete typewritten script as well as a complete electronic text of the Work in a format to be determined by the Publisher (hereinafter called the Script) If the Script shall not have been delivered within three (3) months after the date this agreement is signed the Publisher may at its option terminate this agreement by notice in writing posted
Making MoneyThe logistics of getting payment for your work is a bit complicated Itrsquos unlikely you will be able to support yourself off of the money you make from your first book alone if your work is published
ContractsA contract is what an agent will give the writer to sign that lays out the agreements between the writer and agent for the production of the book To the left is what a contract might look like Confusing language and legal terms hidden everywhere They are not something to be looked at lightly and however credible the agent an author always wants to make sure that every sentence and section is to their satisfac-tion Without looking it over an agent could claim anythingmdashincluding being the author of the writerrsquos book Remember contracts are meant to be changed and be a compromise between both parties
PaymentWriters can make money in three ways flat fees royalties and advance against royalties A flat fee gives the author money up front and that is all they will get Royalties is an amount of money the author gets for each book sold Advance against royalties is a mix of the two and the most common with money up front and royalties guarenteed depending on how many books are sold How much you get is all dependent on what is in your contract
RightsAnother very important thing included in the contract This explains who owns the book if the publisher distributes it as well as the agent who is getting it to the pub-lisher
Authors Who Succeeded
Authors who Succeeded 13
Jack Heath
Australian author Jack Heath published his novel The Lab with Pan Macmillan when he was 17 years old He had no agent and was lucky enough to have his book accepted on his first try However they asked him to rewrite it twice ldquoA writer only knows the story they want to tell whereas a publisher knows what story the readers want to buy Unless telling the story is more important to you than having anyone to tell it to Irsquod recommend making every change they ask forrdquo
No literary agent middot Published by Pan Macmillan
Amanda HockingSelf-published middot Later published by Macmillan
Amanda Hocking self-published her first book when she was 26 and sold 100000 copies within a year by using sources such as book bloggers Bedford St Martinrsquos Press a traditional publisher a part of Macmillan paid over $2 million for her book after bidding alongside Simon amp Schuster Random House and HarperCollins before they dropped out She has gone on to publish books for her Watersong series the first being pictured on the left She was later represented by liter-ary agent Steven Axelrod
Erin MorgensternAgented middot Published by Random House
Erin Morgenstern began her book by participating in NaNoWriMo and sent out many query letters to get an agent to represent her book She had to revise her book multiple times to get an agent to represent her and finally she was offered representation by agent Richard Pine Her book The Night Circus was published by Random House when she was 29 and ended up on as 2 on the New York Times Best Seller list She writes about updates and her experiences in the pub-lishing world on her blog
Authors who Succeeded 14
Beth Reekles Posted on Wattpad middot Found and published by Random House
Beth Reekles posted her novels on Wattpadd and gained about 60 thousand followers on the website before a Random House agent tracked her down She was published at 17 years old and ended up on TIMErsquos Most Influential Teens of 2013 list Her goal was to ldquowrite a novel she would want to readrdquo when she began writing it at 15
Amelia Atwater-RhodesLiterary Agent middot Published by Random House
Her high school teacher who also happened to be a literary agent overheard she was writing a book and wanted to read it He got her published with Random House when she was 15 years old Since then she has written and published 16 novels and has been called the successor to Anne Rice
These writers were able to do it and they were not that far off from where you are right now The fact that you are looking at this guide gives you a better chance than most Just remember
Itrsquos possibleBut itrsquos not easy It takes dedication
Some good books to take a look at to further help your cause
The Writerrsquos Market by Robert Lee Brewer Full of literary agents literary journals and publishers this is the bible for the writer serious about getting published
The Writerrsquos Little Helper Everything You Need to Know to Write Better and Get Published by James V Smith Jr A simple and very interesting book that has plenty of charts ideas and guidelines for a writer on
their way to editing and publishing a novel
The Pocket Muse by Monica Wood An artistic little book with pictures and prompts to help a writer get started when they are stuck with the dreaded writerrsquos block
On Writing by Stephen King Stephen Kingrsquos memoir on how he became so successful and his writing process A very interesting read that is hard to put down even for non-writers
Bibliography by Section
Introduction
ldquoBest Sellers Initially Rejectedrdquo Literary Rejections accessed March 7 2014 httpwwwliteraryrejectionscombest-sellers-initially-rejected
Encouragement and Fun Resources
ldquoAbsolute Write Forumsrdquo Absolute Write last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwabsolutewritecomforums
ldquoBe (Slightly) Afraid of Posting Your Work Onlinerdquo Writerrsquos Digest last modified April 25 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomeditor-blogsguide-to-literary-agentsbe-slightly- afraid-of-posting-your-work-online
ldquoThe Book Blogger Directoryrdquo Book Blogger Directory last modified August 28 2011 accessed February 19 2014 httpbookbloggerdirectorywordpresscom
ldquoJuke Pop Serialsrdquo Juke Pop Serials accessed February 21 2014 httpswwwjukepopserialscom
ldquoNaNoWriMordquo National Novel Writing Month last modified February 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpnanowrimoorg
ldquoPublisherrsquos Pinterestrdquo Pinterest accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpinterestcompublishingtrend
ldquoWattpadrdquo Wattpad accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwattpadcomabout
ldquoThe Writing Cafe Tagsrdquo The Writerrsquos Cafe on Tumblr last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpthewritingcafetumblrcomtags
The Manuscript
ldquoWhat Are the Guidelines for Formatting a Manuscriptrdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified March 16 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomonline-editorwhat-are-the-guidelines-for-format ing-a-manuscript
ldquoProper Manuscript Format Novel Formatrdquo William Shunn modified 2014 accessed February 21 2014 httpwwwshunnnetformatnovelhtml
Agent or No Agent
Francis Scott editor 2013 Novel amp Short Story Writerrsquos Market (Cincinnati Writerrsquos Digest Books 2012) Used to find agents publishers literary magazines and is basically the bible for any writer who is serious about their craft
ldquoMember Databaserdquo Association of Authorsrsquo Representatives accessed February 19 2014 httpaaronline orgFind
Query Letters
ldquoAnatomy of a Query Letterrdquo Huffington Post modified January 9 2014 accessed February 14 2014 http wwwhuffingtonpostcom20130109query-letter-_n_2434095html
ldquoQueriesmdashAn Inside Scoop (Lisa Shearinrsquos Query)rdquo Pub Rants modified August 9 2006 accessed May 6 2014 httppubrantsblogspotcom200608queriesan-inside-scoop-lisa-shearinshtml
ldquoSuccessful Query Letters for Literary Agentsrdquo Media Bistro modified December 23 2012 accessed Febru ary 19 2014 httpwwwmediabistrocomgalleycatsuccessful-query-letters-for-literary-agents_ b62590
ldquoWriting a Pitch-Perfect Query Letterrdquo Romance Writers on the Journey modified August 4 2008 accessed April 7 2014 httpromancewritersonthejourneywordpresscom20080824writing-a-pitch-perfect-query-let ter
Self-Publishing
ldquoAbout Pubslushrdquo Pubslush modified 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpubslushcomabout
ldquoHow to Self-Publish a Bookrdquo Wikihow httpwwwwikihowcomSelf-Publish-a-Book
Hellman Eric 2013 ldquoThe Author as Entrepreneurrdquo Publishers Weekly 260 no 21 22-23 Academic Search Complete EBSCOhost (accessed February 19 2014) httpwwwpublishersweeklycompwby-topic industry-newspublisher-newsarticle57403-the-author-as-entrepreneurhtml
ldquoKickstarterrdquo Kickstarter modified 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpswwwkickstartercom
ldquoPubslush Can the Kickstarter for Books Find its Nicherdquo The Next Web modified November 23 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpthenextwebcommedia20131125pubslush-can-kickstarter- books-find-nichewwkRw
Publishers
ldquoThe Big Fiverdquo publishers in New York City
Penguin Random House accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpenguinrandomhousecom Simon and Schuster accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwsimonandschustercomMacmillan accessed February 19 2014 httpusmacmillancom Harper Collins accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwharpercollinscom Hachette Book Group accessed February 19 2014 wwwhachettebookgroupcom
Indie PublishersSome well known independent publishers that are ldquoeasierrdquo to get into and also have some well known au-thors Explanations with them their genres and their history
Publishing Genius accessed February 19 2014 httppublishinggeniuscomAkashic Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwakashicbookscomPersea Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwperseabookscomnew-and-forthcomingNew Directions accessed February 19 2014 httpndbookscomAnvil Press Publishing accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwanvilpresscom
Royalties and Payment
ldquo11 Frequently Asked Questions About Book Royalties Advances and Moneyrdquo Writer Unboxed modified November 28 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwriterunboxedcom2011112811-fre quently-asked-questions-about-book-royalties-advances-and-making-money
ldquoPublishing Contracts 101rdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified October 6 2009 accessed February 19 2014 http wwwwritersdigestcomwriting-articlesby-writing-goalget-published-sell-my-workpublish ing-contracts-101
ldquoSample of Contractrdquo Index Books accessed April 24 2014 httpwwwindexbooksnetpublishingcontracthtm
Authors Who Have Succeeded
ldquoAgentedrdquo Erin Morgenstern modified May 27 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httperinmorgenstern com201005agented
ldquoAmanda Hocking Self-Publishing Successrdquo Become a 6 Figure Woman modified March 1 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwbecomea6figurewomancomamanda-hocking-self-publishing
ldquoFAQrdquo Author Beth Reekles Tumblr accessed February 19 2014 httpauthorbethreeklestumblrcomfaq
Self-Publishing
Self-Publishing 9
The Author as Entrepreneur
Self-publishing might be one of the most difficult ways to get your book out there if you are trying to ldquomake it bigrdquo as an author but it has been done With all the news ways authors can get money to self-publish and print their books there are also a lot of options authors can work with
There are many ways authors can get their audience to invest in their book and get it to print Kickstarter has become more and more popular and so a branch-off of Kickstarter was made just for books called Pubslush Pubslush allows authors to post a convincing plea to have readers donate money to help produce their book People who donate get awards depending on how much they give The great thing is is that anyone can do it Your success depends on how well you can sell it
Brian Schwarz and shadesBrian Schwarz is an author who posted his book on Pubslush with a $2000 goal
An author chooses a goal to reach in a certain amount of time Brian wants $2000 and already has $1735 donated He has 43 days left to reach $2000
Brian has 60 supporters An author can get more supporters by interacting with them on the website or mainly by how attractive the page is The way he attracted his supporters is through the description of his book below You can apply the rules of a query letter to the same introduction to supporters on Pubslush
ldquo Human civilization has reached its pinnacle after a genius Dr Grypphon Caldwell creates the revolutionary O-Chip
a technology that turns the human mind into a wireless device Just by thinking people are able to turn electronics on and off access the internet change the temperature of a
room and communicate in any language without actually speaking out loud Syntax Corporation has become
a household name But one day something goes terribly wrong It begins when a husband continues to commu-nicate with his wife through one such device weeks after his death Within a few short days a group of completely random strangers are brought together to try to uncover the dark mysteries surrounding the O-Chip before time
runs out rdquo
Supporters also have a choice of getting a copy of the book -- an e-book copy soft cover or hard cover depending on how much they donate
Self-Publishing 10
Self-Publishing Flow Chart
Finish the manuscript Proof read it and have a polished final
draft
Hire an editor for your manuscript They can range from $500-$3000 depending on their
credentials
E-books usually use stock images for the cover and are cheaper to
publish on websites like Amazon
Hire a designer for the book cover They can cost a lot up to $1000 But itrsquos a good idea to make your book look great
E-book Physical Copy
Self-publishing has a lot of elements to it that the publisher usually does for you Although this flow chart doesnrsquot represent the end-all of what an author must do to self publish it is what an author must do to go above-and-beyond for their book to be successful A website to hire editors and artists to help with your book is Elance
Begin Here
Companies that help the author to self-publish and distribute their book are Createspace and Lulu However this can be expensive
Place a copyright in the book (something as easy as ldquo2014 John Smith all rights reserved)
and buy an ISBN number
Print on Demand Through a Printer
Find a printer to print the phys-ical copies and distribute them Market your book in any way
possible
Market your book with your friends and in any way possible to have them buy it through the
print website
DistributeMarket
$$$Not really
Self-publishing is less guarenteed to get the money you might get if you had your book published by a
major publishing company
Money
Publishers
Publishers 11
The Big Five ldquoThe Big Fiverdquo in New York City are the major publishers of the book world Although extremely difficult to get published with once yoursquore in you are guarenteed credibility and a paying audience There are many sub-distributors of the Big Five for different genres and works Some fiction books that each publishing house has published
Penguin Random HouseSimon amp Schuster MacmillanThe White Princess Philippa Gregory
Twisted Emma Chase
Under the Dome Part 1 Stephen King
The Here and Now Ann Brashares
Paris Edward Rutherford
Thunderstruck amp Other Stories
Elizabeth McCracken
Eleanor amp Park Rainbow Rowell
Illusion Sherrilyn Kenyon
Speak Laurie Halse
Anderson
HarpercollinsA Bloodsmoore
RomanceJoyce Carol Oates
A Burnable BookBruce Holsinger
31 Bond StreetHelen Horan
The GoldfinchDonna Tartt
NYPD RedJames Patterson Marshall Karp
Seven Wild SistersCharles de Lint
Hachette
ldquoIndierdquo PublishersIndependent publishers are ldquoeasierrdquo to get published with but less credible and have a smaller and morespecific audience These are some of the most prominant indie publishers out there
Publishing GeniusAkashic Books Persea Books Anvil Publishing New DirectionsPublishing Genius
was founded in 2006 and is a small press that focuses
on publishing books that ldquocreate sympathy and therefore a better
worldrdquo
A Brooklyn based publisher that
focuses on publishing urban
literary fiction and ldquopolitical nonfiction by authors who are either ignored by the mainstreamrdquo
Founded in 1975 Persearsquos goal is to
ldquopublish works that endure by meeting high standards of literary merit and
relevancerdquo
Anvil is a progressive book publisher based
in the Philippines They publish all genres from textbooks to
mysteries
An indie publisher with a long history New Directions was
founded in 1936 The founder claims
it is ldquoas a place where experimen-
talists could test their inventions by
publicationrdquo
Contracts and Payment 12
Contracts and Payment
1 GRANTING RIGHTS
The author hereby grants and assigns to the Publisher the exclusive rights to publish in the English language in book form in all countries of the world a Work now en-titled ltltTitle of bookgtgt (hereinafter called the Work) which title may be changed only by mutual consent in writing
2 REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES
The Author represents that he is the sole proprietor of the Work and that the Work to the best of his knowl-edge does not contain any libelous matter and does not violate the civil rights of any person or persons does not infringe any existing copyright and has not here-tofore been published in book form The Author shall hold harmless and indemnify the publisher from any recovery finally sustained by reason of any violations of copyright or other property of personal right provided however that the Publisher shall with all reasonable promptness notify the Author of any claim or suit which may involve the warranties of the Author hereunder and the Author agrees fully to cooperate in the de-fense thereof The warranties contained in this article do not extend to drawings illustrations insofar as not furnished by the Author or to any other material not furnished by the Author
3 DELIVERY
The Author agrees to deliver to the publisher a complete typewritten script as well as a complete electronic text of the Work in a format to be determined by the Publisher (hereinafter called the Script) If the Script shall not have been delivered within three (3) months after the date this agreement is signed the Publisher may at its option terminate this agreement by notice in writing posted
Making MoneyThe logistics of getting payment for your work is a bit complicated Itrsquos unlikely you will be able to support yourself off of the money you make from your first book alone if your work is published
ContractsA contract is what an agent will give the writer to sign that lays out the agreements between the writer and agent for the production of the book To the left is what a contract might look like Confusing language and legal terms hidden everywhere They are not something to be looked at lightly and however credible the agent an author always wants to make sure that every sentence and section is to their satisfac-tion Without looking it over an agent could claim anythingmdashincluding being the author of the writerrsquos book Remember contracts are meant to be changed and be a compromise between both parties
PaymentWriters can make money in three ways flat fees royalties and advance against royalties A flat fee gives the author money up front and that is all they will get Royalties is an amount of money the author gets for each book sold Advance against royalties is a mix of the two and the most common with money up front and royalties guarenteed depending on how many books are sold How much you get is all dependent on what is in your contract
RightsAnother very important thing included in the contract This explains who owns the book if the publisher distributes it as well as the agent who is getting it to the pub-lisher
Authors Who Succeeded
Authors who Succeeded 13
Jack Heath
Australian author Jack Heath published his novel The Lab with Pan Macmillan when he was 17 years old He had no agent and was lucky enough to have his book accepted on his first try However they asked him to rewrite it twice ldquoA writer only knows the story they want to tell whereas a publisher knows what story the readers want to buy Unless telling the story is more important to you than having anyone to tell it to Irsquod recommend making every change they ask forrdquo
No literary agent middot Published by Pan Macmillan
Amanda HockingSelf-published middot Later published by Macmillan
Amanda Hocking self-published her first book when she was 26 and sold 100000 copies within a year by using sources such as book bloggers Bedford St Martinrsquos Press a traditional publisher a part of Macmillan paid over $2 million for her book after bidding alongside Simon amp Schuster Random House and HarperCollins before they dropped out She has gone on to publish books for her Watersong series the first being pictured on the left She was later represented by liter-ary agent Steven Axelrod
Erin MorgensternAgented middot Published by Random House
Erin Morgenstern began her book by participating in NaNoWriMo and sent out many query letters to get an agent to represent her book She had to revise her book multiple times to get an agent to represent her and finally she was offered representation by agent Richard Pine Her book The Night Circus was published by Random House when she was 29 and ended up on as 2 on the New York Times Best Seller list She writes about updates and her experiences in the pub-lishing world on her blog
Authors who Succeeded 14
Beth Reekles Posted on Wattpad middot Found and published by Random House
Beth Reekles posted her novels on Wattpadd and gained about 60 thousand followers on the website before a Random House agent tracked her down She was published at 17 years old and ended up on TIMErsquos Most Influential Teens of 2013 list Her goal was to ldquowrite a novel she would want to readrdquo when she began writing it at 15
Amelia Atwater-RhodesLiterary Agent middot Published by Random House
Her high school teacher who also happened to be a literary agent overheard she was writing a book and wanted to read it He got her published with Random House when she was 15 years old Since then she has written and published 16 novels and has been called the successor to Anne Rice
These writers were able to do it and they were not that far off from where you are right now The fact that you are looking at this guide gives you a better chance than most Just remember
Itrsquos possibleBut itrsquos not easy It takes dedication
Some good books to take a look at to further help your cause
The Writerrsquos Market by Robert Lee Brewer Full of literary agents literary journals and publishers this is the bible for the writer serious about getting published
The Writerrsquos Little Helper Everything You Need to Know to Write Better and Get Published by James V Smith Jr A simple and very interesting book that has plenty of charts ideas and guidelines for a writer on
their way to editing and publishing a novel
The Pocket Muse by Monica Wood An artistic little book with pictures and prompts to help a writer get started when they are stuck with the dreaded writerrsquos block
On Writing by Stephen King Stephen Kingrsquos memoir on how he became so successful and his writing process A very interesting read that is hard to put down even for non-writers
Bibliography by Section
Introduction
ldquoBest Sellers Initially Rejectedrdquo Literary Rejections accessed March 7 2014 httpwwwliteraryrejectionscombest-sellers-initially-rejected
Encouragement and Fun Resources
ldquoAbsolute Write Forumsrdquo Absolute Write last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwabsolutewritecomforums
ldquoBe (Slightly) Afraid of Posting Your Work Onlinerdquo Writerrsquos Digest last modified April 25 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomeditor-blogsguide-to-literary-agentsbe-slightly- afraid-of-posting-your-work-online
ldquoThe Book Blogger Directoryrdquo Book Blogger Directory last modified August 28 2011 accessed February 19 2014 httpbookbloggerdirectorywordpresscom
ldquoJuke Pop Serialsrdquo Juke Pop Serials accessed February 21 2014 httpswwwjukepopserialscom
ldquoNaNoWriMordquo National Novel Writing Month last modified February 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpnanowrimoorg
ldquoPublisherrsquos Pinterestrdquo Pinterest accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpinterestcompublishingtrend
ldquoWattpadrdquo Wattpad accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwattpadcomabout
ldquoThe Writing Cafe Tagsrdquo The Writerrsquos Cafe on Tumblr last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpthewritingcafetumblrcomtags
The Manuscript
ldquoWhat Are the Guidelines for Formatting a Manuscriptrdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified March 16 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomonline-editorwhat-are-the-guidelines-for-format ing-a-manuscript
ldquoProper Manuscript Format Novel Formatrdquo William Shunn modified 2014 accessed February 21 2014 httpwwwshunnnetformatnovelhtml
Agent or No Agent
Francis Scott editor 2013 Novel amp Short Story Writerrsquos Market (Cincinnati Writerrsquos Digest Books 2012) Used to find agents publishers literary magazines and is basically the bible for any writer who is serious about their craft
ldquoMember Databaserdquo Association of Authorsrsquo Representatives accessed February 19 2014 httpaaronline orgFind
Query Letters
ldquoAnatomy of a Query Letterrdquo Huffington Post modified January 9 2014 accessed February 14 2014 http wwwhuffingtonpostcom20130109query-letter-_n_2434095html
ldquoQueriesmdashAn Inside Scoop (Lisa Shearinrsquos Query)rdquo Pub Rants modified August 9 2006 accessed May 6 2014 httppubrantsblogspotcom200608queriesan-inside-scoop-lisa-shearinshtml
ldquoSuccessful Query Letters for Literary Agentsrdquo Media Bistro modified December 23 2012 accessed Febru ary 19 2014 httpwwwmediabistrocomgalleycatsuccessful-query-letters-for-literary-agents_ b62590
ldquoWriting a Pitch-Perfect Query Letterrdquo Romance Writers on the Journey modified August 4 2008 accessed April 7 2014 httpromancewritersonthejourneywordpresscom20080824writing-a-pitch-perfect-query-let ter
Self-Publishing
ldquoAbout Pubslushrdquo Pubslush modified 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpubslushcomabout
ldquoHow to Self-Publish a Bookrdquo Wikihow httpwwwwikihowcomSelf-Publish-a-Book
Hellman Eric 2013 ldquoThe Author as Entrepreneurrdquo Publishers Weekly 260 no 21 22-23 Academic Search Complete EBSCOhost (accessed February 19 2014) httpwwwpublishersweeklycompwby-topic industry-newspublisher-newsarticle57403-the-author-as-entrepreneurhtml
ldquoKickstarterrdquo Kickstarter modified 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpswwwkickstartercom
ldquoPubslush Can the Kickstarter for Books Find its Nicherdquo The Next Web modified November 23 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpthenextwebcommedia20131125pubslush-can-kickstarter- books-find-nichewwkRw
Publishers
ldquoThe Big Fiverdquo publishers in New York City
Penguin Random House accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpenguinrandomhousecom Simon and Schuster accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwsimonandschustercomMacmillan accessed February 19 2014 httpusmacmillancom Harper Collins accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwharpercollinscom Hachette Book Group accessed February 19 2014 wwwhachettebookgroupcom
Indie PublishersSome well known independent publishers that are ldquoeasierrdquo to get into and also have some well known au-thors Explanations with them their genres and their history
Publishing Genius accessed February 19 2014 httppublishinggeniuscomAkashic Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwakashicbookscomPersea Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwperseabookscomnew-and-forthcomingNew Directions accessed February 19 2014 httpndbookscomAnvil Press Publishing accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwanvilpresscom
Royalties and Payment
ldquo11 Frequently Asked Questions About Book Royalties Advances and Moneyrdquo Writer Unboxed modified November 28 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwriterunboxedcom2011112811-fre quently-asked-questions-about-book-royalties-advances-and-making-money
ldquoPublishing Contracts 101rdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified October 6 2009 accessed February 19 2014 http wwwwritersdigestcomwriting-articlesby-writing-goalget-published-sell-my-workpublish ing-contracts-101
ldquoSample of Contractrdquo Index Books accessed April 24 2014 httpwwwindexbooksnetpublishingcontracthtm
Authors Who Have Succeeded
ldquoAgentedrdquo Erin Morgenstern modified May 27 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httperinmorgenstern com201005agented
ldquoAmanda Hocking Self-Publishing Successrdquo Become a 6 Figure Woman modified March 1 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwbecomea6figurewomancomamanda-hocking-self-publishing
ldquoFAQrdquo Author Beth Reekles Tumblr accessed February 19 2014 httpauthorbethreeklestumblrcomfaq
Self-Publishing 10
Self-Publishing Flow Chart
Finish the manuscript Proof read it and have a polished final
draft
Hire an editor for your manuscript They can range from $500-$3000 depending on their
credentials
E-books usually use stock images for the cover and are cheaper to
publish on websites like Amazon
Hire a designer for the book cover They can cost a lot up to $1000 But itrsquos a good idea to make your book look great
E-book Physical Copy
Self-publishing has a lot of elements to it that the publisher usually does for you Although this flow chart doesnrsquot represent the end-all of what an author must do to self publish it is what an author must do to go above-and-beyond for their book to be successful A website to hire editors and artists to help with your book is Elance
Begin Here
Companies that help the author to self-publish and distribute their book are Createspace and Lulu However this can be expensive
Place a copyright in the book (something as easy as ldquo2014 John Smith all rights reserved)
and buy an ISBN number
Print on Demand Through a Printer
Find a printer to print the phys-ical copies and distribute them Market your book in any way
possible
Market your book with your friends and in any way possible to have them buy it through the
print website
DistributeMarket
$$$Not really
Self-publishing is less guarenteed to get the money you might get if you had your book published by a
major publishing company
Money
Publishers
Publishers 11
The Big Five ldquoThe Big Fiverdquo in New York City are the major publishers of the book world Although extremely difficult to get published with once yoursquore in you are guarenteed credibility and a paying audience There are many sub-distributors of the Big Five for different genres and works Some fiction books that each publishing house has published
Penguin Random HouseSimon amp Schuster MacmillanThe White Princess Philippa Gregory
Twisted Emma Chase
Under the Dome Part 1 Stephen King
The Here and Now Ann Brashares
Paris Edward Rutherford
Thunderstruck amp Other Stories
Elizabeth McCracken
Eleanor amp Park Rainbow Rowell
Illusion Sherrilyn Kenyon
Speak Laurie Halse
Anderson
HarpercollinsA Bloodsmoore
RomanceJoyce Carol Oates
A Burnable BookBruce Holsinger
31 Bond StreetHelen Horan
The GoldfinchDonna Tartt
NYPD RedJames Patterson Marshall Karp
Seven Wild SistersCharles de Lint
Hachette
ldquoIndierdquo PublishersIndependent publishers are ldquoeasierrdquo to get published with but less credible and have a smaller and morespecific audience These are some of the most prominant indie publishers out there
Publishing GeniusAkashic Books Persea Books Anvil Publishing New DirectionsPublishing Genius
was founded in 2006 and is a small press that focuses
on publishing books that ldquocreate sympathy and therefore a better
worldrdquo
A Brooklyn based publisher that
focuses on publishing urban
literary fiction and ldquopolitical nonfiction by authors who are either ignored by the mainstreamrdquo
Founded in 1975 Persearsquos goal is to
ldquopublish works that endure by meeting high standards of literary merit and
relevancerdquo
Anvil is a progressive book publisher based
in the Philippines They publish all genres from textbooks to
mysteries
An indie publisher with a long history New Directions was
founded in 1936 The founder claims
it is ldquoas a place where experimen-
talists could test their inventions by
publicationrdquo
Contracts and Payment 12
Contracts and Payment
1 GRANTING RIGHTS
The author hereby grants and assigns to the Publisher the exclusive rights to publish in the English language in book form in all countries of the world a Work now en-titled ltltTitle of bookgtgt (hereinafter called the Work) which title may be changed only by mutual consent in writing
2 REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES
The Author represents that he is the sole proprietor of the Work and that the Work to the best of his knowl-edge does not contain any libelous matter and does not violate the civil rights of any person or persons does not infringe any existing copyright and has not here-tofore been published in book form The Author shall hold harmless and indemnify the publisher from any recovery finally sustained by reason of any violations of copyright or other property of personal right provided however that the Publisher shall with all reasonable promptness notify the Author of any claim or suit which may involve the warranties of the Author hereunder and the Author agrees fully to cooperate in the de-fense thereof The warranties contained in this article do not extend to drawings illustrations insofar as not furnished by the Author or to any other material not furnished by the Author
3 DELIVERY
The Author agrees to deliver to the publisher a complete typewritten script as well as a complete electronic text of the Work in a format to be determined by the Publisher (hereinafter called the Script) If the Script shall not have been delivered within three (3) months after the date this agreement is signed the Publisher may at its option terminate this agreement by notice in writing posted
Making MoneyThe logistics of getting payment for your work is a bit complicated Itrsquos unlikely you will be able to support yourself off of the money you make from your first book alone if your work is published
ContractsA contract is what an agent will give the writer to sign that lays out the agreements between the writer and agent for the production of the book To the left is what a contract might look like Confusing language and legal terms hidden everywhere They are not something to be looked at lightly and however credible the agent an author always wants to make sure that every sentence and section is to their satisfac-tion Without looking it over an agent could claim anythingmdashincluding being the author of the writerrsquos book Remember contracts are meant to be changed and be a compromise between both parties
PaymentWriters can make money in three ways flat fees royalties and advance against royalties A flat fee gives the author money up front and that is all they will get Royalties is an amount of money the author gets for each book sold Advance against royalties is a mix of the two and the most common with money up front and royalties guarenteed depending on how many books are sold How much you get is all dependent on what is in your contract
RightsAnother very important thing included in the contract This explains who owns the book if the publisher distributes it as well as the agent who is getting it to the pub-lisher
Authors Who Succeeded
Authors who Succeeded 13
Jack Heath
Australian author Jack Heath published his novel The Lab with Pan Macmillan when he was 17 years old He had no agent and was lucky enough to have his book accepted on his first try However they asked him to rewrite it twice ldquoA writer only knows the story they want to tell whereas a publisher knows what story the readers want to buy Unless telling the story is more important to you than having anyone to tell it to Irsquod recommend making every change they ask forrdquo
No literary agent middot Published by Pan Macmillan
Amanda HockingSelf-published middot Later published by Macmillan
Amanda Hocking self-published her first book when she was 26 and sold 100000 copies within a year by using sources such as book bloggers Bedford St Martinrsquos Press a traditional publisher a part of Macmillan paid over $2 million for her book after bidding alongside Simon amp Schuster Random House and HarperCollins before they dropped out She has gone on to publish books for her Watersong series the first being pictured on the left She was later represented by liter-ary agent Steven Axelrod
Erin MorgensternAgented middot Published by Random House
Erin Morgenstern began her book by participating in NaNoWriMo and sent out many query letters to get an agent to represent her book She had to revise her book multiple times to get an agent to represent her and finally she was offered representation by agent Richard Pine Her book The Night Circus was published by Random House when she was 29 and ended up on as 2 on the New York Times Best Seller list She writes about updates and her experiences in the pub-lishing world on her blog
Authors who Succeeded 14
Beth Reekles Posted on Wattpad middot Found and published by Random House
Beth Reekles posted her novels on Wattpadd and gained about 60 thousand followers on the website before a Random House agent tracked her down She was published at 17 years old and ended up on TIMErsquos Most Influential Teens of 2013 list Her goal was to ldquowrite a novel she would want to readrdquo when she began writing it at 15
Amelia Atwater-RhodesLiterary Agent middot Published by Random House
Her high school teacher who also happened to be a literary agent overheard she was writing a book and wanted to read it He got her published with Random House when she was 15 years old Since then she has written and published 16 novels and has been called the successor to Anne Rice
These writers were able to do it and they were not that far off from where you are right now The fact that you are looking at this guide gives you a better chance than most Just remember
Itrsquos possibleBut itrsquos not easy It takes dedication
Some good books to take a look at to further help your cause
The Writerrsquos Market by Robert Lee Brewer Full of literary agents literary journals and publishers this is the bible for the writer serious about getting published
The Writerrsquos Little Helper Everything You Need to Know to Write Better and Get Published by James V Smith Jr A simple and very interesting book that has plenty of charts ideas and guidelines for a writer on
their way to editing and publishing a novel
The Pocket Muse by Monica Wood An artistic little book with pictures and prompts to help a writer get started when they are stuck with the dreaded writerrsquos block
On Writing by Stephen King Stephen Kingrsquos memoir on how he became so successful and his writing process A very interesting read that is hard to put down even for non-writers
Bibliography by Section
Introduction
ldquoBest Sellers Initially Rejectedrdquo Literary Rejections accessed March 7 2014 httpwwwliteraryrejectionscombest-sellers-initially-rejected
Encouragement and Fun Resources
ldquoAbsolute Write Forumsrdquo Absolute Write last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwabsolutewritecomforums
ldquoBe (Slightly) Afraid of Posting Your Work Onlinerdquo Writerrsquos Digest last modified April 25 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomeditor-blogsguide-to-literary-agentsbe-slightly- afraid-of-posting-your-work-online
ldquoThe Book Blogger Directoryrdquo Book Blogger Directory last modified August 28 2011 accessed February 19 2014 httpbookbloggerdirectorywordpresscom
ldquoJuke Pop Serialsrdquo Juke Pop Serials accessed February 21 2014 httpswwwjukepopserialscom
ldquoNaNoWriMordquo National Novel Writing Month last modified February 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpnanowrimoorg
ldquoPublisherrsquos Pinterestrdquo Pinterest accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpinterestcompublishingtrend
ldquoWattpadrdquo Wattpad accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwattpadcomabout
ldquoThe Writing Cafe Tagsrdquo The Writerrsquos Cafe on Tumblr last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpthewritingcafetumblrcomtags
The Manuscript
ldquoWhat Are the Guidelines for Formatting a Manuscriptrdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified March 16 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomonline-editorwhat-are-the-guidelines-for-format ing-a-manuscript
ldquoProper Manuscript Format Novel Formatrdquo William Shunn modified 2014 accessed February 21 2014 httpwwwshunnnetformatnovelhtml
Agent or No Agent
Francis Scott editor 2013 Novel amp Short Story Writerrsquos Market (Cincinnati Writerrsquos Digest Books 2012) Used to find agents publishers literary magazines and is basically the bible for any writer who is serious about their craft
ldquoMember Databaserdquo Association of Authorsrsquo Representatives accessed February 19 2014 httpaaronline orgFind
Query Letters
ldquoAnatomy of a Query Letterrdquo Huffington Post modified January 9 2014 accessed February 14 2014 http wwwhuffingtonpostcom20130109query-letter-_n_2434095html
ldquoQueriesmdashAn Inside Scoop (Lisa Shearinrsquos Query)rdquo Pub Rants modified August 9 2006 accessed May 6 2014 httppubrantsblogspotcom200608queriesan-inside-scoop-lisa-shearinshtml
ldquoSuccessful Query Letters for Literary Agentsrdquo Media Bistro modified December 23 2012 accessed Febru ary 19 2014 httpwwwmediabistrocomgalleycatsuccessful-query-letters-for-literary-agents_ b62590
ldquoWriting a Pitch-Perfect Query Letterrdquo Romance Writers on the Journey modified August 4 2008 accessed April 7 2014 httpromancewritersonthejourneywordpresscom20080824writing-a-pitch-perfect-query-let ter
Self-Publishing
ldquoAbout Pubslushrdquo Pubslush modified 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpubslushcomabout
ldquoHow to Self-Publish a Bookrdquo Wikihow httpwwwwikihowcomSelf-Publish-a-Book
Hellman Eric 2013 ldquoThe Author as Entrepreneurrdquo Publishers Weekly 260 no 21 22-23 Academic Search Complete EBSCOhost (accessed February 19 2014) httpwwwpublishersweeklycompwby-topic industry-newspublisher-newsarticle57403-the-author-as-entrepreneurhtml
ldquoKickstarterrdquo Kickstarter modified 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpswwwkickstartercom
ldquoPubslush Can the Kickstarter for Books Find its Nicherdquo The Next Web modified November 23 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpthenextwebcommedia20131125pubslush-can-kickstarter- books-find-nichewwkRw
Publishers
ldquoThe Big Fiverdquo publishers in New York City
Penguin Random House accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpenguinrandomhousecom Simon and Schuster accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwsimonandschustercomMacmillan accessed February 19 2014 httpusmacmillancom Harper Collins accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwharpercollinscom Hachette Book Group accessed February 19 2014 wwwhachettebookgroupcom
Indie PublishersSome well known independent publishers that are ldquoeasierrdquo to get into and also have some well known au-thors Explanations with them their genres and their history
Publishing Genius accessed February 19 2014 httppublishinggeniuscomAkashic Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwakashicbookscomPersea Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwperseabookscomnew-and-forthcomingNew Directions accessed February 19 2014 httpndbookscomAnvil Press Publishing accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwanvilpresscom
Royalties and Payment
ldquo11 Frequently Asked Questions About Book Royalties Advances and Moneyrdquo Writer Unboxed modified November 28 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwriterunboxedcom2011112811-fre quently-asked-questions-about-book-royalties-advances-and-making-money
ldquoPublishing Contracts 101rdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified October 6 2009 accessed February 19 2014 http wwwwritersdigestcomwriting-articlesby-writing-goalget-published-sell-my-workpublish ing-contracts-101
ldquoSample of Contractrdquo Index Books accessed April 24 2014 httpwwwindexbooksnetpublishingcontracthtm
Authors Who Have Succeeded
ldquoAgentedrdquo Erin Morgenstern modified May 27 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httperinmorgenstern com201005agented
ldquoAmanda Hocking Self-Publishing Successrdquo Become a 6 Figure Woman modified March 1 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwbecomea6figurewomancomamanda-hocking-self-publishing
ldquoFAQrdquo Author Beth Reekles Tumblr accessed February 19 2014 httpauthorbethreeklestumblrcomfaq
Publishers
Publishers 11
The Big Five ldquoThe Big Fiverdquo in New York City are the major publishers of the book world Although extremely difficult to get published with once yoursquore in you are guarenteed credibility and a paying audience There are many sub-distributors of the Big Five for different genres and works Some fiction books that each publishing house has published
Penguin Random HouseSimon amp Schuster MacmillanThe White Princess Philippa Gregory
Twisted Emma Chase
Under the Dome Part 1 Stephen King
The Here and Now Ann Brashares
Paris Edward Rutherford
Thunderstruck amp Other Stories
Elizabeth McCracken
Eleanor amp Park Rainbow Rowell
Illusion Sherrilyn Kenyon
Speak Laurie Halse
Anderson
HarpercollinsA Bloodsmoore
RomanceJoyce Carol Oates
A Burnable BookBruce Holsinger
31 Bond StreetHelen Horan
The GoldfinchDonna Tartt
NYPD RedJames Patterson Marshall Karp
Seven Wild SistersCharles de Lint
Hachette
ldquoIndierdquo PublishersIndependent publishers are ldquoeasierrdquo to get published with but less credible and have a smaller and morespecific audience These are some of the most prominant indie publishers out there
Publishing GeniusAkashic Books Persea Books Anvil Publishing New DirectionsPublishing Genius
was founded in 2006 and is a small press that focuses
on publishing books that ldquocreate sympathy and therefore a better
worldrdquo
A Brooklyn based publisher that
focuses on publishing urban
literary fiction and ldquopolitical nonfiction by authors who are either ignored by the mainstreamrdquo
Founded in 1975 Persearsquos goal is to
ldquopublish works that endure by meeting high standards of literary merit and
relevancerdquo
Anvil is a progressive book publisher based
in the Philippines They publish all genres from textbooks to
mysteries
An indie publisher with a long history New Directions was
founded in 1936 The founder claims
it is ldquoas a place where experimen-
talists could test their inventions by
publicationrdquo
Contracts and Payment 12
Contracts and Payment
1 GRANTING RIGHTS
The author hereby grants and assigns to the Publisher the exclusive rights to publish in the English language in book form in all countries of the world a Work now en-titled ltltTitle of bookgtgt (hereinafter called the Work) which title may be changed only by mutual consent in writing
2 REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES
The Author represents that he is the sole proprietor of the Work and that the Work to the best of his knowl-edge does not contain any libelous matter and does not violate the civil rights of any person or persons does not infringe any existing copyright and has not here-tofore been published in book form The Author shall hold harmless and indemnify the publisher from any recovery finally sustained by reason of any violations of copyright or other property of personal right provided however that the Publisher shall with all reasonable promptness notify the Author of any claim or suit which may involve the warranties of the Author hereunder and the Author agrees fully to cooperate in the de-fense thereof The warranties contained in this article do not extend to drawings illustrations insofar as not furnished by the Author or to any other material not furnished by the Author
3 DELIVERY
The Author agrees to deliver to the publisher a complete typewritten script as well as a complete electronic text of the Work in a format to be determined by the Publisher (hereinafter called the Script) If the Script shall not have been delivered within three (3) months after the date this agreement is signed the Publisher may at its option terminate this agreement by notice in writing posted
Making MoneyThe logistics of getting payment for your work is a bit complicated Itrsquos unlikely you will be able to support yourself off of the money you make from your first book alone if your work is published
ContractsA contract is what an agent will give the writer to sign that lays out the agreements between the writer and agent for the production of the book To the left is what a contract might look like Confusing language and legal terms hidden everywhere They are not something to be looked at lightly and however credible the agent an author always wants to make sure that every sentence and section is to their satisfac-tion Without looking it over an agent could claim anythingmdashincluding being the author of the writerrsquos book Remember contracts are meant to be changed and be a compromise between both parties
PaymentWriters can make money in three ways flat fees royalties and advance against royalties A flat fee gives the author money up front and that is all they will get Royalties is an amount of money the author gets for each book sold Advance against royalties is a mix of the two and the most common with money up front and royalties guarenteed depending on how many books are sold How much you get is all dependent on what is in your contract
RightsAnother very important thing included in the contract This explains who owns the book if the publisher distributes it as well as the agent who is getting it to the pub-lisher
Authors Who Succeeded
Authors who Succeeded 13
Jack Heath
Australian author Jack Heath published his novel The Lab with Pan Macmillan when he was 17 years old He had no agent and was lucky enough to have his book accepted on his first try However they asked him to rewrite it twice ldquoA writer only knows the story they want to tell whereas a publisher knows what story the readers want to buy Unless telling the story is more important to you than having anyone to tell it to Irsquod recommend making every change they ask forrdquo
No literary agent middot Published by Pan Macmillan
Amanda HockingSelf-published middot Later published by Macmillan
Amanda Hocking self-published her first book when she was 26 and sold 100000 copies within a year by using sources such as book bloggers Bedford St Martinrsquos Press a traditional publisher a part of Macmillan paid over $2 million for her book after bidding alongside Simon amp Schuster Random House and HarperCollins before they dropped out She has gone on to publish books for her Watersong series the first being pictured on the left She was later represented by liter-ary agent Steven Axelrod
Erin MorgensternAgented middot Published by Random House
Erin Morgenstern began her book by participating in NaNoWriMo and sent out many query letters to get an agent to represent her book She had to revise her book multiple times to get an agent to represent her and finally she was offered representation by agent Richard Pine Her book The Night Circus was published by Random House when she was 29 and ended up on as 2 on the New York Times Best Seller list She writes about updates and her experiences in the pub-lishing world on her blog
Authors who Succeeded 14
Beth Reekles Posted on Wattpad middot Found and published by Random House
Beth Reekles posted her novels on Wattpadd and gained about 60 thousand followers on the website before a Random House agent tracked her down She was published at 17 years old and ended up on TIMErsquos Most Influential Teens of 2013 list Her goal was to ldquowrite a novel she would want to readrdquo when she began writing it at 15
Amelia Atwater-RhodesLiterary Agent middot Published by Random House
Her high school teacher who also happened to be a literary agent overheard she was writing a book and wanted to read it He got her published with Random House when she was 15 years old Since then she has written and published 16 novels and has been called the successor to Anne Rice
These writers were able to do it and they were not that far off from where you are right now The fact that you are looking at this guide gives you a better chance than most Just remember
Itrsquos possibleBut itrsquos not easy It takes dedication
Some good books to take a look at to further help your cause
The Writerrsquos Market by Robert Lee Brewer Full of literary agents literary journals and publishers this is the bible for the writer serious about getting published
The Writerrsquos Little Helper Everything You Need to Know to Write Better and Get Published by James V Smith Jr A simple and very interesting book that has plenty of charts ideas and guidelines for a writer on
their way to editing and publishing a novel
The Pocket Muse by Monica Wood An artistic little book with pictures and prompts to help a writer get started when they are stuck with the dreaded writerrsquos block
On Writing by Stephen King Stephen Kingrsquos memoir on how he became so successful and his writing process A very interesting read that is hard to put down even for non-writers
Bibliography by Section
Introduction
ldquoBest Sellers Initially Rejectedrdquo Literary Rejections accessed March 7 2014 httpwwwliteraryrejectionscombest-sellers-initially-rejected
Encouragement and Fun Resources
ldquoAbsolute Write Forumsrdquo Absolute Write last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwabsolutewritecomforums
ldquoBe (Slightly) Afraid of Posting Your Work Onlinerdquo Writerrsquos Digest last modified April 25 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomeditor-blogsguide-to-literary-agentsbe-slightly- afraid-of-posting-your-work-online
ldquoThe Book Blogger Directoryrdquo Book Blogger Directory last modified August 28 2011 accessed February 19 2014 httpbookbloggerdirectorywordpresscom
ldquoJuke Pop Serialsrdquo Juke Pop Serials accessed February 21 2014 httpswwwjukepopserialscom
ldquoNaNoWriMordquo National Novel Writing Month last modified February 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpnanowrimoorg
ldquoPublisherrsquos Pinterestrdquo Pinterest accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpinterestcompublishingtrend
ldquoWattpadrdquo Wattpad accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwattpadcomabout
ldquoThe Writing Cafe Tagsrdquo The Writerrsquos Cafe on Tumblr last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpthewritingcafetumblrcomtags
The Manuscript
ldquoWhat Are the Guidelines for Formatting a Manuscriptrdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified March 16 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomonline-editorwhat-are-the-guidelines-for-format ing-a-manuscript
ldquoProper Manuscript Format Novel Formatrdquo William Shunn modified 2014 accessed February 21 2014 httpwwwshunnnetformatnovelhtml
Agent or No Agent
Francis Scott editor 2013 Novel amp Short Story Writerrsquos Market (Cincinnati Writerrsquos Digest Books 2012) Used to find agents publishers literary magazines and is basically the bible for any writer who is serious about their craft
ldquoMember Databaserdquo Association of Authorsrsquo Representatives accessed February 19 2014 httpaaronline orgFind
Query Letters
ldquoAnatomy of a Query Letterrdquo Huffington Post modified January 9 2014 accessed February 14 2014 http wwwhuffingtonpostcom20130109query-letter-_n_2434095html
ldquoQueriesmdashAn Inside Scoop (Lisa Shearinrsquos Query)rdquo Pub Rants modified August 9 2006 accessed May 6 2014 httppubrantsblogspotcom200608queriesan-inside-scoop-lisa-shearinshtml
ldquoSuccessful Query Letters for Literary Agentsrdquo Media Bistro modified December 23 2012 accessed Febru ary 19 2014 httpwwwmediabistrocomgalleycatsuccessful-query-letters-for-literary-agents_ b62590
ldquoWriting a Pitch-Perfect Query Letterrdquo Romance Writers on the Journey modified August 4 2008 accessed April 7 2014 httpromancewritersonthejourneywordpresscom20080824writing-a-pitch-perfect-query-let ter
Self-Publishing
ldquoAbout Pubslushrdquo Pubslush modified 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpubslushcomabout
ldquoHow to Self-Publish a Bookrdquo Wikihow httpwwwwikihowcomSelf-Publish-a-Book
Hellman Eric 2013 ldquoThe Author as Entrepreneurrdquo Publishers Weekly 260 no 21 22-23 Academic Search Complete EBSCOhost (accessed February 19 2014) httpwwwpublishersweeklycompwby-topic industry-newspublisher-newsarticle57403-the-author-as-entrepreneurhtml
ldquoKickstarterrdquo Kickstarter modified 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpswwwkickstartercom
ldquoPubslush Can the Kickstarter for Books Find its Nicherdquo The Next Web modified November 23 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpthenextwebcommedia20131125pubslush-can-kickstarter- books-find-nichewwkRw
Publishers
ldquoThe Big Fiverdquo publishers in New York City
Penguin Random House accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpenguinrandomhousecom Simon and Schuster accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwsimonandschustercomMacmillan accessed February 19 2014 httpusmacmillancom Harper Collins accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwharpercollinscom Hachette Book Group accessed February 19 2014 wwwhachettebookgroupcom
Indie PublishersSome well known independent publishers that are ldquoeasierrdquo to get into and also have some well known au-thors Explanations with them their genres and their history
Publishing Genius accessed February 19 2014 httppublishinggeniuscomAkashic Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwakashicbookscomPersea Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwperseabookscomnew-and-forthcomingNew Directions accessed February 19 2014 httpndbookscomAnvil Press Publishing accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwanvilpresscom
Royalties and Payment
ldquo11 Frequently Asked Questions About Book Royalties Advances and Moneyrdquo Writer Unboxed modified November 28 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwriterunboxedcom2011112811-fre quently-asked-questions-about-book-royalties-advances-and-making-money
ldquoPublishing Contracts 101rdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified October 6 2009 accessed February 19 2014 http wwwwritersdigestcomwriting-articlesby-writing-goalget-published-sell-my-workpublish ing-contracts-101
ldquoSample of Contractrdquo Index Books accessed April 24 2014 httpwwwindexbooksnetpublishingcontracthtm
Authors Who Have Succeeded
ldquoAgentedrdquo Erin Morgenstern modified May 27 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httperinmorgenstern com201005agented
ldquoAmanda Hocking Self-Publishing Successrdquo Become a 6 Figure Woman modified March 1 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwbecomea6figurewomancomamanda-hocking-self-publishing
ldquoFAQrdquo Author Beth Reekles Tumblr accessed February 19 2014 httpauthorbethreeklestumblrcomfaq
Contracts and Payment 12
Contracts and Payment
1 GRANTING RIGHTS
The author hereby grants and assigns to the Publisher the exclusive rights to publish in the English language in book form in all countries of the world a Work now en-titled ltltTitle of bookgtgt (hereinafter called the Work) which title may be changed only by mutual consent in writing
2 REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES
The Author represents that he is the sole proprietor of the Work and that the Work to the best of his knowl-edge does not contain any libelous matter and does not violate the civil rights of any person or persons does not infringe any existing copyright and has not here-tofore been published in book form The Author shall hold harmless and indemnify the publisher from any recovery finally sustained by reason of any violations of copyright or other property of personal right provided however that the Publisher shall with all reasonable promptness notify the Author of any claim or suit which may involve the warranties of the Author hereunder and the Author agrees fully to cooperate in the de-fense thereof The warranties contained in this article do not extend to drawings illustrations insofar as not furnished by the Author or to any other material not furnished by the Author
3 DELIVERY
The Author agrees to deliver to the publisher a complete typewritten script as well as a complete electronic text of the Work in a format to be determined by the Publisher (hereinafter called the Script) If the Script shall not have been delivered within three (3) months after the date this agreement is signed the Publisher may at its option terminate this agreement by notice in writing posted
Making MoneyThe logistics of getting payment for your work is a bit complicated Itrsquos unlikely you will be able to support yourself off of the money you make from your first book alone if your work is published
ContractsA contract is what an agent will give the writer to sign that lays out the agreements between the writer and agent for the production of the book To the left is what a contract might look like Confusing language and legal terms hidden everywhere They are not something to be looked at lightly and however credible the agent an author always wants to make sure that every sentence and section is to their satisfac-tion Without looking it over an agent could claim anythingmdashincluding being the author of the writerrsquos book Remember contracts are meant to be changed and be a compromise between both parties
PaymentWriters can make money in three ways flat fees royalties and advance against royalties A flat fee gives the author money up front and that is all they will get Royalties is an amount of money the author gets for each book sold Advance against royalties is a mix of the two and the most common with money up front and royalties guarenteed depending on how many books are sold How much you get is all dependent on what is in your contract
RightsAnother very important thing included in the contract This explains who owns the book if the publisher distributes it as well as the agent who is getting it to the pub-lisher
Authors Who Succeeded
Authors who Succeeded 13
Jack Heath
Australian author Jack Heath published his novel The Lab with Pan Macmillan when he was 17 years old He had no agent and was lucky enough to have his book accepted on his first try However they asked him to rewrite it twice ldquoA writer only knows the story they want to tell whereas a publisher knows what story the readers want to buy Unless telling the story is more important to you than having anyone to tell it to Irsquod recommend making every change they ask forrdquo
No literary agent middot Published by Pan Macmillan
Amanda HockingSelf-published middot Later published by Macmillan
Amanda Hocking self-published her first book when she was 26 and sold 100000 copies within a year by using sources such as book bloggers Bedford St Martinrsquos Press a traditional publisher a part of Macmillan paid over $2 million for her book after bidding alongside Simon amp Schuster Random House and HarperCollins before they dropped out She has gone on to publish books for her Watersong series the first being pictured on the left She was later represented by liter-ary agent Steven Axelrod
Erin MorgensternAgented middot Published by Random House
Erin Morgenstern began her book by participating in NaNoWriMo and sent out many query letters to get an agent to represent her book She had to revise her book multiple times to get an agent to represent her and finally she was offered representation by agent Richard Pine Her book The Night Circus was published by Random House when she was 29 and ended up on as 2 on the New York Times Best Seller list She writes about updates and her experiences in the pub-lishing world on her blog
Authors who Succeeded 14
Beth Reekles Posted on Wattpad middot Found and published by Random House
Beth Reekles posted her novels on Wattpadd and gained about 60 thousand followers on the website before a Random House agent tracked her down She was published at 17 years old and ended up on TIMErsquos Most Influential Teens of 2013 list Her goal was to ldquowrite a novel she would want to readrdquo when she began writing it at 15
Amelia Atwater-RhodesLiterary Agent middot Published by Random House
Her high school teacher who also happened to be a literary agent overheard she was writing a book and wanted to read it He got her published with Random House when she was 15 years old Since then she has written and published 16 novels and has been called the successor to Anne Rice
These writers were able to do it and they were not that far off from where you are right now The fact that you are looking at this guide gives you a better chance than most Just remember
Itrsquos possibleBut itrsquos not easy It takes dedication
Some good books to take a look at to further help your cause
The Writerrsquos Market by Robert Lee Brewer Full of literary agents literary journals and publishers this is the bible for the writer serious about getting published
The Writerrsquos Little Helper Everything You Need to Know to Write Better and Get Published by James V Smith Jr A simple and very interesting book that has plenty of charts ideas and guidelines for a writer on
their way to editing and publishing a novel
The Pocket Muse by Monica Wood An artistic little book with pictures and prompts to help a writer get started when they are stuck with the dreaded writerrsquos block
On Writing by Stephen King Stephen Kingrsquos memoir on how he became so successful and his writing process A very interesting read that is hard to put down even for non-writers
Bibliography by Section
Introduction
ldquoBest Sellers Initially Rejectedrdquo Literary Rejections accessed March 7 2014 httpwwwliteraryrejectionscombest-sellers-initially-rejected
Encouragement and Fun Resources
ldquoAbsolute Write Forumsrdquo Absolute Write last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwabsolutewritecomforums
ldquoBe (Slightly) Afraid of Posting Your Work Onlinerdquo Writerrsquos Digest last modified April 25 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomeditor-blogsguide-to-literary-agentsbe-slightly- afraid-of-posting-your-work-online
ldquoThe Book Blogger Directoryrdquo Book Blogger Directory last modified August 28 2011 accessed February 19 2014 httpbookbloggerdirectorywordpresscom
ldquoJuke Pop Serialsrdquo Juke Pop Serials accessed February 21 2014 httpswwwjukepopserialscom
ldquoNaNoWriMordquo National Novel Writing Month last modified February 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpnanowrimoorg
ldquoPublisherrsquos Pinterestrdquo Pinterest accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpinterestcompublishingtrend
ldquoWattpadrdquo Wattpad accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwattpadcomabout
ldquoThe Writing Cafe Tagsrdquo The Writerrsquos Cafe on Tumblr last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpthewritingcafetumblrcomtags
The Manuscript
ldquoWhat Are the Guidelines for Formatting a Manuscriptrdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified March 16 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomonline-editorwhat-are-the-guidelines-for-format ing-a-manuscript
ldquoProper Manuscript Format Novel Formatrdquo William Shunn modified 2014 accessed February 21 2014 httpwwwshunnnetformatnovelhtml
Agent or No Agent
Francis Scott editor 2013 Novel amp Short Story Writerrsquos Market (Cincinnati Writerrsquos Digest Books 2012) Used to find agents publishers literary magazines and is basically the bible for any writer who is serious about their craft
ldquoMember Databaserdquo Association of Authorsrsquo Representatives accessed February 19 2014 httpaaronline orgFind
Query Letters
ldquoAnatomy of a Query Letterrdquo Huffington Post modified January 9 2014 accessed February 14 2014 http wwwhuffingtonpostcom20130109query-letter-_n_2434095html
ldquoQueriesmdashAn Inside Scoop (Lisa Shearinrsquos Query)rdquo Pub Rants modified August 9 2006 accessed May 6 2014 httppubrantsblogspotcom200608queriesan-inside-scoop-lisa-shearinshtml
ldquoSuccessful Query Letters for Literary Agentsrdquo Media Bistro modified December 23 2012 accessed Febru ary 19 2014 httpwwwmediabistrocomgalleycatsuccessful-query-letters-for-literary-agents_ b62590
ldquoWriting a Pitch-Perfect Query Letterrdquo Romance Writers on the Journey modified August 4 2008 accessed April 7 2014 httpromancewritersonthejourneywordpresscom20080824writing-a-pitch-perfect-query-let ter
Self-Publishing
ldquoAbout Pubslushrdquo Pubslush modified 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpubslushcomabout
ldquoHow to Self-Publish a Bookrdquo Wikihow httpwwwwikihowcomSelf-Publish-a-Book
Hellman Eric 2013 ldquoThe Author as Entrepreneurrdquo Publishers Weekly 260 no 21 22-23 Academic Search Complete EBSCOhost (accessed February 19 2014) httpwwwpublishersweeklycompwby-topic industry-newspublisher-newsarticle57403-the-author-as-entrepreneurhtml
ldquoKickstarterrdquo Kickstarter modified 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpswwwkickstartercom
ldquoPubslush Can the Kickstarter for Books Find its Nicherdquo The Next Web modified November 23 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpthenextwebcommedia20131125pubslush-can-kickstarter- books-find-nichewwkRw
Publishers
ldquoThe Big Fiverdquo publishers in New York City
Penguin Random House accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpenguinrandomhousecom Simon and Schuster accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwsimonandschustercomMacmillan accessed February 19 2014 httpusmacmillancom Harper Collins accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwharpercollinscom Hachette Book Group accessed February 19 2014 wwwhachettebookgroupcom
Indie PublishersSome well known independent publishers that are ldquoeasierrdquo to get into and also have some well known au-thors Explanations with them their genres and their history
Publishing Genius accessed February 19 2014 httppublishinggeniuscomAkashic Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwakashicbookscomPersea Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwperseabookscomnew-and-forthcomingNew Directions accessed February 19 2014 httpndbookscomAnvil Press Publishing accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwanvilpresscom
Royalties and Payment
ldquo11 Frequently Asked Questions About Book Royalties Advances and Moneyrdquo Writer Unboxed modified November 28 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwriterunboxedcom2011112811-fre quently-asked-questions-about-book-royalties-advances-and-making-money
ldquoPublishing Contracts 101rdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified October 6 2009 accessed February 19 2014 http wwwwritersdigestcomwriting-articlesby-writing-goalget-published-sell-my-workpublish ing-contracts-101
ldquoSample of Contractrdquo Index Books accessed April 24 2014 httpwwwindexbooksnetpublishingcontracthtm
Authors Who Have Succeeded
ldquoAgentedrdquo Erin Morgenstern modified May 27 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httperinmorgenstern com201005agented
ldquoAmanda Hocking Self-Publishing Successrdquo Become a 6 Figure Woman modified March 1 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwbecomea6figurewomancomamanda-hocking-self-publishing
ldquoFAQrdquo Author Beth Reekles Tumblr accessed February 19 2014 httpauthorbethreeklestumblrcomfaq
Authors Who Succeeded
Authors who Succeeded 13
Jack Heath
Australian author Jack Heath published his novel The Lab with Pan Macmillan when he was 17 years old He had no agent and was lucky enough to have his book accepted on his first try However they asked him to rewrite it twice ldquoA writer only knows the story they want to tell whereas a publisher knows what story the readers want to buy Unless telling the story is more important to you than having anyone to tell it to Irsquod recommend making every change they ask forrdquo
No literary agent middot Published by Pan Macmillan
Amanda HockingSelf-published middot Later published by Macmillan
Amanda Hocking self-published her first book when she was 26 and sold 100000 copies within a year by using sources such as book bloggers Bedford St Martinrsquos Press a traditional publisher a part of Macmillan paid over $2 million for her book after bidding alongside Simon amp Schuster Random House and HarperCollins before they dropped out She has gone on to publish books for her Watersong series the first being pictured on the left She was later represented by liter-ary agent Steven Axelrod
Erin MorgensternAgented middot Published by Random House
Erin Morgenstern began her book by participating in NaNoWriMo and sent out many query letters to get an agent to represent her book She had to revise her book multiple times to get an agent to represent her and finally she was offered representation by agent Richard Pine Her book The Night Circus was published by Random House when she was 29 and ended up on as 2 on the New York Times Best Seller list She writes about updates and her experiences in the pub-lishing world on her blog
Authors who Succeeded 14
Beth Reekles Posted on Wattpad middot Found and published by Random House
Beth Reekles posted her novels on Wattpadd and gained about 60 thousand followers on the website before a Random House agent tracked her down She was published at 17 years old and ended up on TIMErsquos Most Influential Teens of 2013 list Her goal was to ldquowrite a novel she would want to readrdquo when she began writing it at 15
Amelia Atwater-RhodesLiterary Agent middot Published by Random House
Her high school teacher who also happened to be a literary agent overheard she was writing a book and wanted to read it He got her published with Random House when she was 15 years old Since then she has written and published 16 novels and has been called the successor to Anne Rice
These writers were able to do it and they were not that far off from where you are right now The fact that you are looking at this guide gives you a better chance than most Just remember
Itrsquos possibleBut itrsquos not easy It takes dedication
Some good books to take a look at to further help your cause
The Writerrsquos Market by Robert Lee Brewer Full of literary agents literary journals and publishers this is the bible for the writer serious about getting published
The Writerrsquos Little Helper Everything You Need to Know to Write Better and Get Published by James V Smith Jr A simple and very interesting book that has plenty of charts ideas and guidelines for a writer on
their way to editing and publishing a novel
The Pocket Muse by Monica Wood An artistic little book with pictures and prompts to help a writer get started when they are stuck with the dreaded writerrsquos block
On Writing by Stephen King Stephen Kingrsquos memoir on how he became so successful and his writing process A very interesting read that is hard to put down even for non-writers
Bibliography by Section
Introduction
ldquoBest Sellers Initially Rejectedrdquo Literary Rejections accessed March 7 2014 httpwwwliteraryrejectionscombest-sellers-initially-rejected
Encouragement and Fun Resources
ldquoAbsolute Write Forumsrdquo Absolute Write last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwabsolutewritecomforums
ldquoBe (Slightly) Afraid of Posting Your Work Onlinerdquo Writerrsquos Digest last modified April 25 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomeditor-blogsguide-to-literary-agentsbe-slightly- afraid-of-posting-your-work-online
ldquoThe Book Blogger Directoryrdquo Book Blogger Directory last modified August 28 2011 accessed February 19 2014 httpbookbloggerdirectorywordpresscom
ldquoJuke Pop Serialsrdquo Juke Pop Serials accessed February 21 2014 httpswwwjukepopserialscom
ldquoNaNoWriMordquo National Novel Writing Month last modified February 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpnanowrimoorg
ldquoPublisherrsquos Pinterestrdquo Pinterest accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpinterestcompublishingtrend
ldquoWattpadrdquo Wattpad accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwattpadcomabout
ldquoThe Writing Cafe Tagsrdquo The Writerrsquos Cafe on Tumblr last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpthewritingcafetumblrcomtags
The Manuscript
ldquoWhat Are the Guidelines for Formatting a Manuscriptrdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified March 16 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomonline-editorwhat-are-the-guidelines-for-format ing-a-manuscript
ldquoProper Manuscript Format Novel Formatrdquo William Shunn modified 2014 accessed February 21 2014 httpwwwshunnnetformatnovelhtml
Agent or No Agent
Francis Scott editor 2013 Novel amp Short Story Writerrsquos Market (Cincinnati Writerrsquos Digest Books 2012) Used to find agents publishers literary magazines and is basically the bible for any writer who is serious about their craft
ldquoMember Databaserdquo Association of Authorsrsquo Representatives accessed February 19 2014 httpaaronline orgFind
Query Letters
ldquoAnatomy of a Query Letterrdquo Huffington Post modified January 9 2014 accessed February 14 2014 http wwwhuffingtonpostcom20130109query-letter-_n_2434095html
ldquoQueriesmdashAn Inside Scoop (Lisa Shearinrsquos Query)rdquo Pub Rants modified August 9 2006 accessed May 6 2014 httppubrantsblogspotcom200608queriesan-inside-scoop-lisa-shearinshtml
ldquoSuccessful Query Letters for Literary Agentsrdquo Media Bistro modified December 23 2012 accessed Febru ary 19 2014 httpwwwmediabistrocomgalleycatsuccessful-query-letters-for-literary-agents_ b62590
ldquoWriting a Pitch-Perfect Query Letterrdquo Romance Writers on the Journey modified August 4 2008 accessed April 7 2014 httpromancewritersonthejourneywordpresscom20080824writing-a-pitch-perfect-query-let ter
Self-Publishing
ldquoAbout Pubslushrdquo Pubslush modified 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpubslushcomabout
ldquoHow to Self-Publish a Bookrdquo Wikihow httpwwwwikihowcomSelf-Publish-a-Book
Hellman Eric 2013 ldquoThe Author as Entrepreneurrdquo Publishers Weekly 260 no 21 22-23 Academic Search Complete EBSCOhost (accessed February 19 2014) httpwwwpublishersweeklycompwby-topic industry-newspublisher-newsarticle57403-the-author-as-entrepreneurhtml
ldquoKickstarterrdquo Kickstarter modified 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpswwwkickstartercom
ldquoPubslush Can the Kickstarter for Books Find its Nicherdquo The Next Web modified November 23 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpthenextwebcommedia20131125pubslush-can-kickstarter- books-find-nichewwkRw
Publishers
ldquoThe Big Fiverdquo publishers in New York City
Penguin Random House accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpenguinrandomhousecom Simon and Schuster accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwsimonandschustercomMacmillan accessed February 19 2014 httpusmacmillancom Harper Collins accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwharpercollinscom Hachette Book Group accessed February 19 2014 wwwhachettebookgroupcom
Indie PublishersSome well known independent publishers that are ldquoeasierrdquo to get into and also have some well known au-thors Explanations with them their genres and their history
Publishing Genius accessed February 19 2014 httppublishinggeniuscomAkashic Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwakashicbookscomPersea Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwperseabookscomnew-and-forthcomingNew Directions accessed February 19 2014 httpndbookscomAnvil Press Publishing accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwanvilpresscom
Royalties and Payment
ldquo11 Frequently Asked Questions About Book Royalties Advances and Moneyrdquo Writer Unboxed modified November 28 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwriterunboxedcom2011112811-fre quently-asked-questions-about-book-royalties-advances-and-making-money
ldquoPublishing Contracts 101rdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified October 6 2009 accessed February 19 2014 http wwwwritersdigestcomwriting-articlesby-writing-goalget-published-sell-my-workpublish ing-contracts-101
ldquoSample of Contractrdquo Index Books accessed April 24 2014 httpwwwindexbooksnetpublishingcontracthtm
Authors Who Have Succeeded
ldquoAgentedrdquo Erin Morgenstern modified May 27 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httperinmorgenstern com201005agented
ldquoAmanda Hocking Self-Publishing Successrdquo Become a 6 Figure Woman modified March 1 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwbecomea6figurewomancomamanda-hocking-self-publishing
ldquoFAQrdquo Author Beth Reekles Tumblr accessed February 19 2014 httpauthorbethreeklestumblrcomfaq
Authors who Succeeded 14
Beth Reekles Posted on Wattpad middot Found and published by Random House
Beth Reekles posted her novels on Wattpadd and gained about 60 thousand followers on the website before a Random House agent tracked her down She was published at 17 years old and ended up on TIMErsquos Most Influential Teens of 2013 list Her goal was to ldquowrite a novel she would want to readrdquo when she began writing it at 15
Amelia Atwater-RhodesLiterary Agent middot Published by Random House
Her high school teacher who also happened to be a literary agent overheard she was writing a book and wanted to read it He got her published with Random House when she was 15 years old Since then she has written and published 16 novels and has been called the successor to Anne Rice
These writers were able to do it and they were not that far off from where you are right now The fact that you are looking at this guide gives you a better chance than most Just remember
Itrsquos possibleBut itrsquos not easy It takes dedication
Some good books to take a look at to further help your cause
The Writerrsquos Market by Robert Lee Brewer Full of literary agents literary journals and publishers this is the bible for the writer serious about getting published
The Writerrsquos Little Helper Everything You Need to Know to Write Better and Get Published by James V Smith Jr A simple and very interesting book that has plenty of charts ideas and guidelines for a writer on
their way to editing and publishing a novel
The Pocket Muse by Monica Wood An artistic little book with pictures and prompts to help a writer get started when they are stuck with the dreaded writerrsquos block
On Writing by Stephen King Stephen Kingrsquos memoir on how he became so successful and his writing process A very interesting read that is hard to put down even for non-writers
Bibliography by Section
Introduction
ldquoBest Sellers Initially Rejectedrdquo Literary Rejections accessed March 7 2014 httpwwwliteraryrejectionscombest-sellers-initially-rejected
Encouragement and Fun Resources
ldquoAbsolute Write Forumsrdquo Absolute Write last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwabsolutewritecomforums
ldquoBe (Slightly) Afraid of Posting Your Work Onlinerdquo Writerrsquos Digest last modified April 25 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomeditor-blogsguide-to-literary-agentsbe-slightly- afraid-of-posting-your-work-online
ldquoThe Book Blogger Directoryrdquo Book Blogger Directory last modified August 28 2011 accessed February 19 2014 httpbookbloggerdirectorywordpresscom
ldquoJuke Pop Serialsrdquo Juke Pop Serials accessed February 21 2014 httpswwwjukepopserialscom
ldquoNaNoWriMordquo National Novel Writing Month last modified February 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpnanowrimoorg
ldquoPublisherrsquos Pinterestrdquo Pinterest accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpinterestcompublishingtrend
ldquoWattpadrdquo Wattpad accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwattpadcomabout
ldquoThe Writing Cafe Tagsrdquo The Writerrsquos Cafe on Tumblr last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpthewritingcafetumblrcomtags
The Manuscript
ldquoWhat Are the Guidelines for Formatting a Manuscriptrdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified March 16 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomonline-editorwhat-are-the-guidelines-for-format ing-a-manuscript
ldquoProper Manuscript Format Novel Formatrdquo William Shunn modified 2014 accessed February 21 2014 httpwwwshunnnetformatnovelhtml
Agent or No Agent
Francis Scott editor 2013 Novel amp Short Story Writerrsquos Market (Cincinnati Writerrsquos Digest Books 2012) Used to find agents publishers literary magazines and is basically the bible for any writer who is serious about their craft
ldquoMember Databaserdquo Association of Authorsrsquo Representatives accessed February 19 2014 httpaaronline orgFind
Query Letters
ldquoAnatomy of a Query Letterrdquo Huffington Post modified January 9 2014 accessed February 14 2014 http wwwhuffingtonpostcom20130109query-letter-_n_2434095html
ldquoQueriesmdashAn Inside Scoop (Lisa Shearinrsquos Query)rdquo Pub Rants modified August 9 2006 accessed May 6 2014 httppubrantsblogspotcom200608queriesan-inside-scoop-lisa-shearinshtml
ldquoSuccessful Query Letters for Literary Agentsrdquo Media Bistro modified December 23 2012 accessed Febru ary 19 2014 httpwwwmediabistrocomgalleycatsuccessful-query-letters-for-literary-agents_ b62590
ldquoWriting a Pitch-Perfect Query Letterrdquo Romance Writers on the Journey modified August 4 2008 accessed April 7 2014 httpromancewritersonthejourneywordpresscom20080824writing-a-pitch-perfect-query-let ter
Self-Publishing
ldquoAbout Pubslushrdquo Pubslush modified 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpubslushcomabout
ldquoHow to Self-Publish a Bookrdquo Wikihow httpwwwwikihowcomSelf-Publish-a-Book
Hellman Eric 2013 ldquoThe Author as Entrepreneurrdquo Publishers Weekly 260 no 21 22-23 Academic Search Complete EBSCOhost (accessed February 19 2014) httpwwwpublishersweeklycompwby-topic industry-newspublisher-newsarticle57403-the-author-as-entrepreneurhtml
ldquoKickstarterrdquo Kickstarter modified 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpswwwkickstartercom
ldquoPubslush Can the Kickstarter for Books Find its Nicherdquo The Next Web modified November 23 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpthenextwebcommedia20131125pubslush-can-kickstarter- books-find-nichewwkRw
Publishers
ldquoThe Big Fiverdquo publishers in New York City
Penguin Random House accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpenguinrandomhousecom Simon and Schuster accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwsimonandschustercomMacmillan accessed February 19 2014 httpusmacmillancom Harper Collins accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwharpercollinscom Hachette Book Group accessed February 19 2014 wwwhachettebookgroupcom
Indie PublishersSome well known independent publishers that are ldquoeasierrdquo to get into and also have some well known au-thors Explanations with them their genres and their history
Publishing Genius accessed February 19 2014 httppublishinggeniuscomAkashic Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwakashicbookscomPersea Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwperseabookscomnew-and-forthcomingNew Directions accessed February 19 2014 httpndbookscomAnvil Press Publishing accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwanvilpresscom
Royalties and Payment
ldquo11 Frequently Asked Questions About Book Royalties Advances and Moneyrdquo Writer Unboxed modified November 28 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwriterunboxedcom2011112811-fre quently-asked-questions-about-book-royalties-advances-and-making-money
ldquoPublishing Contracts 101rdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified October 6 2009 accessed February 19 2014 http wwwwritersdigestcomwriting-articlesby-writing-goalget-published-sell-my-workpublish ing-contracts-101
ldquoSample of Contractrdquo Index Books accessed April 24 2014 httpwwwindexbooksnetpublishingcontracthtm
Authors Who Have Succeeded
ldquoAgentedrdquo Erin Morgenstern modified May 27 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httperinmorgenstern com201005agented
ldquoAmanda Hocking Self-Publishing Successrdquo Become a 6 Figure Woman modified March 1 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwbecomea6figurewomancomamanda-hocking-self-publishing
ldquoFAQrdquo Author Beth Reekles Tumblr accessed February 19 2014 httpauthorbethreeklestumblrcomfaq
Bibliography by Section
Introduction
ldquoBest Sellers Initially Rejectedrdquo Literary Rejections accessed March 7 2014 httpwwwliteraryrejectionscombest-sellers-initially-rejected
Encouragement and Fun Resources
ldquoAbsolute Write Forumsrdquo Absolute Write last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwabsolutewritecomforums
ldquoBe (Slightly) Afraid of Posting Your Work Onlinerdquo Writerrsquos Digest last modified April 25 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomeditor-blogsguide-to-literary-agentsbe-slightly- afraid-of-posting-your-work-online
ldquoThe Book Blogger Directoryrdquo Book Blogger Directory last modified August 28 2011 accessed February 19 2014 httpbookbloggerdirectorywordpresscom
ldquoJuke Pop Serialsrdquo Juke Pop Serials accessed February 21 2014 httpswwwjukepopserialscom
ldquoNaNoWriMordquo National Novel Writing Month last modified February 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpnanowrimoorg
ldquoPublisherrsquos Pinterestrdquo Pinterest accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpinterestcompublishingtrend
ldquoWattpadrdquo Wattpad accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwattpadcomabout
ldquoThe Writing Cafe Tagsrdquo The Writerrsquos Cafe on Tumblr last modified February 19 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpthewritingcafetumblrcomtags
The Manuscript
ldquoWhat Are the Guidelines for Formatting a Manuscriptrdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified March 16 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwwritersdigestcomonline-editorwhat-are-the-guidelines-for-format ing-a-manuscript
ldquoProper Manuscript Format Novel Formatrdquo William Shunn modified 2014 accessed February 21 2014 httpwwwshunnnetformatnovelhtml
Agent or No Agent
Francis Scott editor 2013 Novel amp Short Story Writerrsquos Market (Cincinnati Writerrsquos Digest Books 2012) Used to find agents publishers literary magazines and is basically the bible for any writer who is serious about their craft
ldquoMember Databaserdquo Association of Authorsrsquo Representatives accessed February 19 2014 httpaaronline orgFind
Query Letters
ldquoAnatomy of a Query Letterrdquo Huffington Post modified January 9 2014 accessed February 14 2014 http wwwhuffingtonpostcom20130109query-letter-_n_2434095html
ldquoQueriesmdashAn Inside Scoop (Lisa Shearinrsquos Query)rdquo Pub Rants modified August 9 2006 accessed May 6 2014 httppubrantsblogspotcom200608queriesan-inside-scoop-lisa-shearinshtml
ldquoSuccessful Query Letters for Literary Agentsrdquo Media Bistro modified December 23 2012 accessed Febru ary 19 2014 httpwwwmediabistrocomgalleycatsuccessful-query-letters-for-literary-agents_ b62590
ldquoWriting a Pitch-Perfect Query Letterrdquo Romance Writers on the Journey modified August 4 2008 accessed April 7 2014 httpromancewritersonthejourneywordpresscom20080824writing-a-pitch-perfect-query-let ter
Self-Publishing
ldquoAbout Pubslushrdquo Pubslush modified 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpubslushcomabout
ldquoHow to Self-Publish a Bookrdquo Wikihow httpwwwwikihowcomSelf-Publish-a-Book
Hellman Eric 2013 ldquoThe Author as Entrepreneurrdquo Publishers Weekly 260 no 21 22-23 Academic Search Complete EBSCOhost (accessed February 19 2014) httpwwwpublishersweeklycompwby-topic industry-newspublisher-newsarticle57403-the-author-as-entrepreneurhtml
ldquoKickstarterrdquo Kickstarter modified 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpswwwkickstartercom
ldquoPubslush Can the Kickstarter for Books Find its Nicherdquo The Next Web modified November 23 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpthenextwebcommedia20131125pubslush-can-kickstarter- books-find-nichewwkRw
Publishers
ldquoThe Big Fiverdquo publishers in New York City
Penguin Random House accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpenguinrandomhousecom Simon and Schuster accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwsimonandschustercomMacmillan accessed February 19 2014 httpusmacmillancom Harper Collins accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwharpercollinscom Hachette Book Group accessed February 19 2014 wwwhachettebookgroupcom
Indie PublishersSome well known independent publishers that are ldquoeasierrdquo to get into and also have some well known au-thors Explanations with them their genres and their history
Publishing Genius accessed February 19 2014 httppublishinggeniuscomAkashic Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwakashicbookscomPersea Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwperseabookscomnew-and-forthcomingNew Directions accessed February 19 2014 httpndbookscomAnvil Press Publishing accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwanvilpresscom
Royalties and Payment
ldquo11 Frequently Asked Questions About Book Royalties Advances and Moneyrdquo Writer Unboxed modified November 28 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwriterunboxedcom2011112811-fre quently-asked-questions-about-book-royalties-advances-and-making-money
ldquoPublishing Contracts 101rdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified October 6 2009 accessed February 19 2014 http wwwwritersdigestcomwriting-articlesby-writing-goalget-published-sell-my-workpublish ing-contracts-101
ldquoSample of Contractrdquo Index Books accessed April 24 2014 httpwwwindexbooksnetpublishingcontracthtm
Authors Who Have Succeeded
ldquoAgentedrdquo Erin Morgenstern modified May 27 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httperinmorgenstern com201005agented
ldquoAmanda Hocking Self-Publishing Successrdquo Become a 6 Figure Woman modified March 1 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwbecomea6figurewomancomamanda-hocking-self-publishing
ldquoFAQrdquo Author Beth Reekles Tumblr accessed February 19 2014 httpauthorbethreeklestumblrcomfaq
ldquoMember Databaserdquo Association of Authorsrsquo Representatives accessed February 19 2014 httpaaronline orgFind
Query Letters
ldquoAnatomy of a Query Letterrdquo Huffington Post modified January 9 2014 accessed February 14 2014 http wwwhuffingtonpostcom20130109query-letter-_n_2434095html
ldquoQueriesmdashAn Inside Scoop (Lisa Shearinrsquos Query)rdquo Pub Rants modified August 9 2006 accessed May 6 2014 httppubrantsblogspotcom200608queriesan-inside-scoop-lisa-shearinshtml
ldquoSuccessful Query Letters for Literary Agentsrdquo Media Bistro modified December 23 2012 accessed Febru ary 19 2014 httpwwwmediabistrocomgalleycatsuccessful-query-letters-for-literary-agents_ b62590
ldquoWriting a Pitch-Perfect Query Letterrdquo Romance Writers on the Journey modified August 4 2008 accessed April 7 2014 httpromancewritersonthejourneywordpresscom20080824writing-a-pitch-perfect-query-let ter
Self-Publishing
ldquoAbout Pubslushrdquo Pubslush modified 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpubslushcomabout
ldquoHow to Self-Publish a Bookrdquo Wikihow httpwwwwikihowcomSelf-Publish-a-Book
Hellman Eric 2013 ldquoThe Author as Entrepreneurrdquo Publishers Weekly 260 no 21 22-23 Academic Search Complete EBSCOhost (accessed February 19 2014) httpwwwpublishersweeklycompwby-topic industry-newspublisher-newsarticle57403-the-author-as-entrepreneurhtml
ldquoKickstarterrdquo Kickstarter modified 2014 accessed February 19 2014 httpswwwkickstartercom
ldquoPubslush Can the Kickstarter for Books Find its Nicherdquo The Next Web modified November 23 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpthenextwebcommedia20131125pubslush-can-kickstarter- books-find-nichewwkRw
Publishers
ldquoThe Big Fiverdquo publishers in New York City
Penguin Random House accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwpenguinrandomhousecom Simon and Schuster accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwsimonandschustercomMacmillan accessed February 19 2014 httpusmacmillancom Harper Collins accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwharpercollinscom Hachette Book Group accessed February 19 2014 wwwhachettebookgroupcom
Indie PublishersSome well known independent publishers that are ldquoeasierrdquo to get into and also have some well known au-thors Explanations with them their genres and their history
Publishing Genius accessed February 19 2014 httppublishinggeniuscomAkashic Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwakashicbookscomPersea Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwperseabookscomnew-and-forthcomingNew Directions accessed February 19 2014 httpndbookscomAnvil Press Publishing accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwanvilpresscom
Royalties and Payment
ldquo11 Frequently Asked Questions About Book Royalties Advances and Moneyrdquo Writer Unboxed modified November 28 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwriterunboxedcom2011112811-fre quently-asked-questions-about-book-royalties-advances-and-making-money
ldquoPublishing Contracts 101rdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified October 6 2009 accessed February 19 2014 http wwwwritersdigestcomwriting-articlesby-writing-goalget-published-sell-my-workpublish ing-contracts-101
ldquoSample of Contractrdquo Index Books accessed April 24 2014 httpwwwindexbooksnetpublishingcontracthtm
Authors Who Have Succeeded
ldquoAgentedrdquo Erin Morgenstern modified May 27 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httperinmorgenstern com201005agented
ldquoAmanda Hocking Self-Publishing Successrdquo Become a 6 Figure Woman modified March 1 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwbecomea6figurewomancomamanda-hocking-self-publishing
ldquoFAQrdquo Author Beth Reekles Tumblr accessed February 19 2014 httpauthorbethreeklestumblrcomfaq
Indie PublishersSome well known independent publishers that are ldquoeasierrdquo to get into and also have some well known au-thors Explanations with them their genres and their history
Publishing Genius accessed February 19 2014 httppublishinggeniuscomAkashic Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwakashicbookscomPersea Books accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwperseabookscomnew-and-forthcomingNew Directions accessed February 19 2014 httpndbookscomAnvil Press Publishing accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwanvilpresscom
Royalties and Payment
ldquo11 Frequently Asked Questions About Book Royalties Advances and Moneyrdquo Writer Unboxed modified November 28 2012 accessed February 19 2014 httpwriterunboxedcom2011112811-fre quently-asked-questions-about-book-royalties-advances-and-making-money
ldquoPublishing Contracts 101rdquo Writerrsquos Digest modified October 6 2009 accessed February 19 2014 http wwwwritersdigestcomwriting-articlesby-writing-goalget-published-sell-my-workpublish ing-contracts-101
ldquoSample of Contractrdquo Index Books accessed April 24 2014 httpwwwindexbooksnetpublishingcontracthtm
Authors Who Have Succeeded
ldquoAgentedrdquo Erin Morgenstern modified May 27 2010 accessed February 19 2014 httperinmorgenstern com201005agented
ldquoAmanda Hocking Self-Publishing Successrdquo Become a 6 Figure Woman modified March 1 2013 accessed February 19 2014 httpwwwbecomea6figurewomancomamanda-hocking-self-publishing
ldquoFAQrdquo Author Beth Reekles Tumblr accessed February 19 2014 httpauthorbethreeklestumblrcomfaq
