Query: Information regarding both Novel Content and Publishing HELP!

[Cudaer]

I am on the last stages of completing my First Novel which is aimed at the Science Fiction/Horror market with plans to complete further novels in this series. Having never attempted to write or publish a novel previously, I lack the experience to know what my next steps should be. I have trawled the internet and various other sources of information trying to find a definitive answer to a number of questions and I am writing this thread, in the hope that someone can offer me guidance in these areas. I understand that you are probably inundated with threads requesting answers to exactly the same questions, but unfortunately my research has only served to confuse me even more.



My first question is probably an obvious one in that there seems to be a difference of opinion regarding the length of the manuscript required. I understand that this may be dependent on the publisher; however, I would like to think that my novel has potential for the silver screen and understand from research that it pays to increase the word count in line with the possible editing that would be required. Research has also told me that the greater the length the more difficult it is to publish due to the revenue it would generate. If you could guide me in the right direction I would be eternally grateful.



My second question is regarding the importance of an agent in these early stages. I have been contacted by several self publishing companies, giving promises of editorial advice and guaranteed book sales, but this has always been at a fee and in some cases the fees have been, what I would consider, to be exorbitant. In addition to this, when examining the authors who publish through these sites, I could not help but notice that these authors had only published one, maybe two books in total. This in itself is not necessarily a bad thing but it would seem that as a new novelist it is very difficult to get published any other way. Any advice in this area would also be welcome.



Lastly and probably the most important, how should I proceed? Having never done this before, I am not sure of the next step to take. Any advice you can offer me to guide me in the process and indeed what that process entails would also be appreciated.

[HareBrain]

Hi Cudaer, welcome to Chrons.

Brief answers: I would definitely advise reading a couple of good books that deal with this subject - a trawl through Amazon should find you the best-rated ones. One of them should be the Writers and Artists Yearbook, if you are in the UK, as this lists all agents and publishers. Also the publishing forum on this site has some discussions on these questions - use the search function.

From memory, it seems that around 100-120 thousand words is about right for a first-timer. You're probably better off trying to get an agent than approaching publishers directly. You should avoid "self-publishers" (ie vanity publishers) like the plague - anyone who asks you to fund them publishing you. However, genuine self-publishing, where you organise it all yourself, has an honorable tradition, though this does mean you would have to market your own work.

Hope this helps, and good luck

[ctg]

I would like to further HB answers. First of all, at the current economic climate, it is better that you make sure that your manuscript is so completely polished that it is almost ready for the publication. When you have absolutely exhausted yourself on that front, you should write an excellent one page synopsis and add it to the company the most magnificient query letter in human history.

Secondly, in regards to the lenght in SF market, new writers should aim their debut novels between hundred and hundred forty thousand words. This is because if you happen to have a longer piece, then its very likely that your publisher will not take it as they do not believe that you're able to finish the rewrite before the deadline.

Additionally, even if you manage to sell your manuscript to an agent, you have to prepare yourself to market your publication in anyways possible and use your possible advance to that rather then getting merry with it.

IF you have more questions in regards the publishing procedures, then I recommend you to take peek in the publishing forum and read throughly the questions to John Jarrold thread.

[iansales]

Yog's Law: money flows to the writer.

In other words, any publishers who asks you for a fee in order to publish your book should be avoided. As should any publisher who asks that you guarantee purchasing x number of copies of the book after it has been published.

Start researching agents - there are plenty online. Find out what they expect in a submission. Do exactly what they say - cover letter, sample chapters, synopsis, etc. Then send it in.

Some useful resources:
Preditors & Editors
Writer Beware Blogs!

[Peter Graham]

Hello, old chap

Having written your novel, you will find that there are no shortage of people ready "to bind with briars your joys and desires" (to plagiarise Blake).

For my two penn'orth:-

1. As ctg says, polish the damn thing so much that you can see your face on every page. There is no excuse for a work that is anything other than 100% as good as it can ever be. Join writers groups or post work here for a free critique. As far as length is concerned, make it as long as the story takes to tell. You are writing a creative work, not doing a painting by numbers.

2. Your next step is to try and find a publisher or an agent. Publishers and agents love to tell the rest of us how they receive hundreds of unsolicited pitches per week and how only about 1% of proposals submitted make if off the "slush pile". For the rest, it's the usual badly worded and often grammatically incorrect pro-forma rejection slip (not that I'm bitter, you understand).

3. Never ever ever ever ever ever pay a penny to anyone in exchange for getting your book published or agented. Reputable publishers or agents take a percentage of the income they negotiate for you. If you don't get paid, they don't get paid. Anything else is, to a greater or a lesser extent, vanity publishing. Avoid vanity publishing like you would a maniac with a chainsaw.

4. Never ever ever ever pay a "reading fee". If you want to pay for a full structural edit, then that is one thing - you are paying for a professional service and good professional services, quite rightly, come at a cost. But never pay an agent just to read your work.

5. Prepare a submissions pack. Unless you are invited to send your whole manuscript to a publisher or agent, expect to send in a synopis (a one to two page summary of the plot), two or three sample chapters and a covering letter giving a bit of blurb about you, your publishing experience (if any) and your writing plans for the future. Your pack is your "shop window", so polish that to the point that it's virtually translucent when held up to the light.

6. Be realistic. However good your novel, unless you were once on Big Brother or are a premiership footballer, a glamour model or in a rock band, your chances of getting published are small. Your chances of hitting the "silver screen" are microscopically small, so never mention it again - it makes you look unrealistic and unprofessional.

7. Don't plan to give up the day job. If you don't have a day job, you might want to get one. Most writers earn beans and spend a lot of time in draughty attic flats, eating corned beef out of the tin and wishing they could cop off with a rich heiress/sugar daddy, or at least someone who can afford to have the central heating on from time to time.

8. Agents are probably useful, but there are a lot of sharks and numpties. Agents will do all the negotiations and can help with the legals to some degree. As a rule of thumb, go for those who in the association of authors agents. They have a minimum code of conduct which, whilst not exactly gold-plated, does at least have the faintest tinge of gold paint to it. Check out the writer's market or the writer's yearbook for up to date lisitngs. Check out web pages and always stick to submission guidelines. A significant number of these people are based in the same square mile of London, and no doubt they yap to one another like boy scouts at camp, so avoid pulling fast ones or upsetting people.

9. When dealing with the profession, never try to be funny unless you really are funny.

10. Never surrender.

Regards,

Peter

[HareBrain]

Originally Posted by Peter Graham

Never ever ever ever pay a "reading fee". If you want to pay for a full structural edit, then that is one thing - you are paying for a professional service and good professional services, quite rightly, come at a cost. But never pay an agent just to read your work.

In general I would agree. However, if you're going to get decent feedback, it might be worth it. I once paid an agent £40 to read a 250,000 word story, and got enough useful feedback to make it very good value for money. The cost per hour just for reading it couldn't have been much above the minimum wage.

[SJAB]

All I can add is hunker down for a long wait, and it might not be your first novel that catches an agent's eye. It was my fourth, well, number 6, really, but the less said of the first two the better.

[Cudaer]

Hi Guys

Thank you for replying to my post and pointing me in the right direction. In my search for the truth I also sent numerous emails to various publishers before I posted this query on the forum and have since received a number of replies which confirm the advice you have given. Assuming that MS word count is accurate my manuscript currently rests at 120k which is well within the figure that has been quoted.

As posted by Peter Graham

“Prepare a submissions pack. Unless you are invited to send your whole manuscript to a publisher or agent, expect to send in a synopsis (a one to two page summary of the plot), two or three sample chapters and a covering letter giving a bit of blurb about you, your publishing experience (if any) and your writing plans for the future. Your pack is your "shop window", so polish that to the point that it's virtually translucent when held up to the light.”

My wife has kindly volunteered to proof read and edit my work, for which I am eternally grateful and will help complete the synopsis. Once the prologue and the first three chapters have been polished, I will offer them for criticism in the hope that the audience will be wowed by my artistic talent. Surprisingly the synopsis has proved to be the hardest part, making sure that it’s not purely a monologue of events, but an interesting read in its own right. I assume that this process will get easier with experience, in the mean time I will strive to do the best job I can.

I have read that building a website to display your material is a good way of getting your work noticed. However my wife raised a good point, what about copyright? Again my lack of experience lets me down and I would appreciate your input.

Thanks again and I look forward to further discussion in the future

[ctg]

Originally Posted by Cudaer

My wife has kindly volunteered to proof read and edit my work, for which I am eternally grateful and will help complete the synopsis.

A few words of advice. Firstly, make sure you kiss her three times for every word she does, as it is not easy work to wave through all of it and make it sensible. Secondly, if she has a question, then I strongly recommend you to not argue, but answer with your best ability.

Once the prologue and the first three chapters have been polished, I will offer them for criticism in the hope that the audience will be wowed by my artistic talent.

We'll be waiting.

Surprisingly the synopsis has proved to be the hardest part, making sure that it’s not purely a monologue of events, but an interesting read in its own right. I assume that this process will get easier with experience, in the mean time I will strive to do the best job I can.

I agree, writing synopsis is the hardest bit but then again, none in writing is easy. So if you have trouble with your synopsis, create it in story form, but make sure that every words counts, as each one of them has to show the true spirit of what is your work. Use only your main character and only show the main events that shape your manuscript, but do not forget to tell the ending.

Good luck, you'll need it.

However my wife raised a good point, what about copyright? Again my lack of experience lets me down and I would appreciate your input.

From the Artist and Writers Year Book.

Anything that you write is your copyright, assuming that it is not copied from the work of someone else, as soon as you have written it on paper or recorded it on the disk of a computer or on tape, or broadcast it, or posted it on the internet. It is not essential for the work to carry the (c) symbol, although its inclusion may act as a warning and help to stop another writer from plagiarising it.

[Cudaer]

Originally Posted by ctg

A few words of advice. Firstly, make sure you kiss her three times for every word she does, as it is not easy work to wave through all of it and make it sensible. Secondly, if she has a question, then I strongly recommend you to not argue, but answer with your best ability.

Sound advice! However she is more amenable to bribery so I promised her an eternity of flowers and chocolate!!



We'll be waiting.

Somehow, I feel like a fox to a hound. Only this hound belongs to the Baskervilles!




I agree, writing synopsis is the hardest bit but then again, none in writing is easy. So if you have trouble with your synopsis, create it in story form, but make sure that every words counts, as each one of them has to show the true spirit of what is your work. Use only your main character and only show the main events that shape your manuscript, but do not forget to tell the ending.

Good luck, you'll need it.

Thank you, I take solace in knowing that I am not alone in my thoughts!

From the Artist and Writers Year Book.

Thats good news, do you think a webpage is a good idea?

[Teresa Edgerton]

It depends on what you put on the website and what you plan to accomplish by it. You won't attract an agent or an editor through a website, and if you submit your novel to a publishing house they are likely to have serious reservations about buying your work if you've already published a significant portion of it yourself online.

However, a very polished, and attractive, and professional looking website that simply tells about you and your writing wouldn't hurt -- and might possibly create some interest you could draw on later.

That said, I think you should wait until you have a book actually in production before you start actually promoting it.