Tag: getting published

How to handle discouragement, rejection, and bad reviews

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Image by Binu Kumar

Image by Binu Kumar

You write something brilliant at three in the morning, but by the next afternoon you want to burn it. You query a dozen agents and no one asks for pages. Your agent has submitted to 50 publishers and no one is interested. Your novel is getting awful reviews left and right.

At every stage of your writing career, no matter how successful you are, you are going to get discouraged. There will always be better writers, who got published earlier, made more money, and got better reviews. So take a second and wallow in your self-pity. Go ahead and get a Kleenex. I’ll wait.

You all done? Ready for my next piece of advice? Here it is.

Suck it up and keep writing.

J.K. Rowling was rejected by 12 publishing houses before getting published. Now? If you don’t know who she is, you must be from Mars.

John Grisham was rejected by 28 publishers before being picked up by a relative unknown for a measly 5,000-copy first printing. Now he has over 250 million books in print, in 29 languages. Nine of his novels have been made into major motion pictures.

Agatha Christie waited four years for her first book to be published. She went on to become one of the best-selling authors of all time; And Then There Were None alone has sold more than 100 million copies.

A Wrinkle in Time, Peter Rabbit, The Wizard of Oz, and even The Diary of Anne Frank were all rejected multiple times before some publisher took a chance on them and they became unforgettable classics. The list goes on. Don’t believe me? Google it!

Or try searching for a favorite book on Amazon and reading the one-star reviews. No matter how awesome the book is, somebody hated it. Here are things people said about The Book Thief, one of my absolute favorites:

“This book is all hype.”

“From its overwrought beginning to its sloppily tragic ending, this book trots out just about every hackneyed trick imaginable.”

“Most books have a least some redeeming value but the only one I can find for this book is the credit I will get at the used book store.”

See? It doesn’t matter what one person thinks, or what a dozen people think, or even what 90% of the people think. We all know that “most popular” rarely equals “best.” Now, we could take the other extreme and say it only matters that you think your work is good, but that kind of relativism is a sissy way to look at things.

But you wouldn’t be reading this post if you didn’t already care about being a better writer. So today, I’m not going to lecture you about studying more. I’m not going to preach that you need to work harder.

I’m just going to slap you upside the head and tell you to believe in yourself.

Don’t let failure be your excuse for giving up. Everybody fails. The only difference between people who succeed and people who keep failing is that the successful people don’t give up, no matter what anybody says.

So the next time you’re feeling discouraged, rejected, beaten down, remember: you’re in good company.

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How to get a short story published

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Want some juicy publishing credits to beef up your query letter when find-an-agent time comes around? How about getting some short stories published? Here’s how.

Writing Competitions

Check with your school, college, or local library first to see if it offers any writing competitions. You can look up other competitions online, though these usually have entry fees. Writer’s Digest is a trusted source, and lists several competitions here.

 Literary Magazines

Literary magazines offer another great outlet. Some even pay for stories. Here’s how to approach them:

  1. Format your story.

Format the same way you would your novel manuscript, except round the word count to the nearest 10 (instead of 500) and start the story two spaces down from the byline (instead of on the next page). NOTE: The magazine’s submission guidelines trump all.

  1. Find magazines that publish your story’s genre and length.

Duotrope’s Digest is the best tool for the search I’ve found so far. You can search by literary, science fiction, romance, horror, etc., as well as length. A “short story” can be up to fifty pages (about 12,500 words), while 1,000 words or less will probably be considered “flash fiction.”

  1. Research, research, research.

Visit the website of each magazine you find; study their submission guidelines carefully and read samples of stories they’ve published to see if yours fits the tone and subject matter. Find out if they pay for stories, how long their response time is, and which editor you should address submissions to.

  1. Write a cover letter.

Like a query letter but 100 times easier. You don’t have to write a hook. Just start by saying you would like to submit your story, Title, to their magazine. Concisely list any other publishing credits. If you don’t have any, just include a brief sentence about yourself, like “I’m a [student/working writer] living in [town and state/province you live in].” If submitting by snail mail, let them know you can send an electronic copy, and in what format you can send it (.doc is most common). Format like your query letter.

  1. Submit!

Most magazines forbid simultaneous submissions (submitting the same story to two or more publications at once), but I read an article that pointed out it isn’t likely two magazines will show interest in your story at the same time. Still, break the rule at your own risk.

Most mags also have limits on how many stories you can submit in a given time period (e.g. no more than two in one year) so keep track of which stories you send to which publications, and when you can expect to hear back. TIP: Have multiple stories ready (even out on submission) in case they ask to see more of your work.

  1. Know your rights.

Typically, by submitting to a publication, you are giving (or selling, if they pay) first serial rights. This means they can publish your story for the first time, but will need to get permission from you to publish a second time. But rights may vary per magazine, so here’s more about rights.

WARNING: A story posted on a public blog (like here) is considered “previously published.” Which means you can’t submit it. But if all you posted was a 500-word flash fiction, and for submission you expand it to a 5,000-word short story, you’re okay.

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Thanks to PianoLover for prompting this post. While, aside from a few competitions, I haven’t submitted any short stories for publication, I’ve read enough on the subject, and compiled all I thought would be useful.

3 reasons to self-publish

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We all want to see our names in print, to hold bound pages in our hands, filled with words we wrote. Some want it so badly, they forego the lengthy, discouraging process of traditional publishing to publish their own work through vanity publishing or print on demand. Sometimes it works. More often it doesn’t.

If you’re struggling over which road to take, check out these reasons to self-publish.

Good Reasons to Self-Publish

  1. You only want something to sell to family and friends.

If you just want a few copies to sell to parents, grandparents, and neighbors, and you don’t care about getting your story out to the world, a print-on-demand service like Lulu.com could be great. They only print a copy if someone has ordered it, which means you don’t have to pay thousands of dollars up front for a box of books that will collect dust in your garage. And you’ll get a real, bound and printed book with your name on it.

  1. You are already famous

If you are a politician, actor, musician, or blogger/twitterer/vlogger with hundreds of thousands of followers, self-publishing could be a great idea. You already have your marketing channels in place, you’ll have total creative control of the publishing process, and you’ll make more money per copy than you would through a traditional publisher (depending on the prices you set).

  1. You know a lot about marketing and are willing to spend as much time marketing as writing.

Amanda Hocking sold enough self-published ebooks to become a millionaire in less than a year. But her success is something of a fluke. Thousands of writers have tried the same and failed.

You have to work to get your name out there. Christopher Paolini, for instance, promoted his self-published Eragon by touring the country for an entire year, speaking at schools and libraries in full costume, before it was picked up by Knopf.

But perhaps the biggest clue is this: both Hocking and Paolini ended up signing traditional book deals. Self-marketing, even when successful, is exhausting, even if you aren’t traveling around the country, and have opted to focus on online marketing. There’s as much (if not more) competition for attention on the web as in real life. You have to hit all the major social networks, make an impression, build an audience, and keep producing good content—all in addition to writing that sequel.

I’m in marketing, for crying out loud, and I wouldn’t want to market my own novel. Every day, I see the work it takes, and the number of highly intelligent, highly talented people required to make it work. It is a full-time job. Know that if you take this route, you will absolutely be sacrificing writing time. And even with all that, it still takes luck.

Self-publishing isn’t out of the question. In fact, the increasing popularity of ebooks means that self-publishing is a more viable option than ever. But look at the points above and consider carefully before you decide to abandon traditional publishing. You’ve been rejected. So what? Everyone gets rejected. Get back on the horse in the swivel chair. Successful people are just the ones who didn’t quit.

More Resources:

 A closer look at indie publishing with Tracey Marchini on Nathan Bransford’s blog.

Agent Rachel Gardner explains why self-publishing won’t hurt your chances for traditional publishing (anymore).

If you decide to talk the plunge into indie publishing after all, better start learning about marketing.

Do I Need a Literary Agent and How Do I Find One?

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Image by Marco Arment

Image by Marco Arment

Do I need a literary agent?

Short answer: yes. If you want to be published traditionally, you absolutely need an agent. (I’ll post about self-publishing vs. traditional publishing later on.)

Why do I need a literary agent?

  1. Few publishers (maybe none) will read anything unless it comes to them from a literary agent.
  2. Agents have in-depth knowledge of the publishing industry and will know which editors/publishers are most likely to be interested in your work.
  3. Your agent may give you feedback to help you to polish up your work before it gets submitted to said publisher.
  4. Your agent really believes in your work and will fight to get it out there.
  5. Your agent will negotiate your publishing contract – and because they work off of commission (they don’t make money until you do), you know they’ll negotiate it to your greatest advantage.

How do I find a literary agent?

The traditional (and still legitimate) way to find an agent is to look them up in the latest edition of Writer’s Market. But now we have the Internet; it’s much easier to look them up on AgentQuery. Start by searching by the genre you write, and make a list of the agents who are accepting submissions. Find out everything you can about each agent before you query. Visit their website (follow submission guidelines!), read their blog, and read any interviews they’ve done.

A great way to pinpoint agents who might like your book is to look up the agents who represent authors with work similar to yours. I don’t know of any standard place to find this information, but you can try the acknowledgements page of the book, the author’s website, searching by author on AgentQuery, or simply Googling it (comb through the results carefully, though; see below).

How do I avoid getting scammed?

DO NOT simply search “literary agents” on Google. I love Google, but there are droves of scam lit agents out there, and AgentQuery is a safer bet. To really protect yourself, here are a few more steps to follow.

  1. AAR– The agent’s AgentQuery profile will specify if they are an Association of Author’s Representatives member or not. Members of the AAR adhere to strict ethical guidelines. (Though there are legitimate agents who aren’t in the AAR, so don’t throw out an agent just because they aren’t a member).
  2. Predators & Editors – Look up every agent on this site before you query. It’ll tell you if they are legit or a scammer, have made recent sales, and if they come highly recommended. The website isn’t very professional, but writers have depended on it for years.
  3. Run Away from Fees – No legitimate literary agency charges writers up front. Period. If you see a reading fee, run. If you see administrative fees, run. A legitimate agency takes a commission from your publishing profits, and will not bill you until you make money.

More resources:

Learn how to query in these other posts: writing your hook, sample hooks, and what else goes in a query.

Learn more about agents, including what to ask an agent interested in representing you at AAR’s website.

Read about “spaghetti agents” and how to avoid them on former agent Nathan Bransford’s blog.

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How to Format Your Manuscript

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Times New Roman. 12 pt font. Double spaced. You’ve got all that covered. But what else do you have to do to get your manuscript in shape for submission? Here’s some handy info I stole from a used copy of Writer’s Market (any edition of which I highly recommend; mine’s a 2004).

Cover page

In the upper left-hand corner, list your real name, street address, phone number, and email address (remember to use a professional-looking email addy based on your name) – this is the only part that should be single-spaced.

 In the upper right-hand corner, put the word count rounded to the nearest 500.

 One-third of the way down the page, center the book title in all caps. Double space, “by,” double-space again and type your name (or pseudonym).

Chapters

Start each chapter on a new page, one-third of the way down the page. Write the number of the chapter, a colon, and the chapter title (if applicable) in all caps, centered. Double space and begin the chapter.

Header

Create a header with your last name, page number, and shortened version of book title (unless it’s already short), all separated by dashes, and all caps. (For directions on this, type “insert header” into the search in MS Word Help.) 

Spaces

Double space everything. Indent the first line of every paragraph. Do NOT include an extra line between each paragraph, and do NOT include an extra space between sentences. Align text to the left; do NOT justify. Your margins are fine at whatever Word automatically sets them (usually between 1 and 1.5 inches).

Favor Chicago over AP Style

Generally, fiction favors Chicago style and journalism favors AP style. So use em dashes—like this—instead of en dashes – like this. And don’t forget your serial commas when listing three, four, or more of anything. When in doubt, consult Strunk & White.

No fancy fonts!

I know I already mentioned Times New Roman. Apparently Courier is okay, too. But seriously – don’t even use a fancy font for the titles. Your story should stand out because of the writing, not the type. Besides, if you send an e-query, the agent’s computer might not recognize said fancy font, and it’ll just pick the next-closest thing, which may look grotesque.

No fancy paper!

Standard 8.5×11 white printer paper. No colors, designs or sparkles!

File type

“.doc” seems to be the universally accepted file type. If you have a current version of MS Word, it may automatically save as a .docx, but if the agent you are querying has an older version of Word (like mine), they won’t be able to open it – so make sure you change it to .doc.

Questions? Need clarification? Shoot me a comment!