Lessons Learned
/10 Tips to Get Published
By: George Beck, Ph.D.
There’s a misconception that it’s easy to become a published author. All you need is a well-written manuscript and overnight you’re collecting an advance and the publisher is editing your book, and producing it, then sending you a royalty check. It’s that easy, right? Nope. Not even close. The road to becoming a published author is cumbersome, bleak, and will test your endurance and resolve. You either have the mettle to push forward after tons of rejection letters, or you don’t. And if you don’t, the road ends there. Literary agents or publishers will not come looking for you. Nobody will.
So, if you want to become a published author, it all begins with a commitment to never giving up. Understand the wonderful masterpiece you’ve spent the past year or two fine-tuning will be turned down regularly. How could that be? You put the time in to polish it and offer these people a real gem. Maybe it’s you they don’t like? But how could that be? They don’t even know you! Nobody does. (That’s part of the problem, and we’ll address ways to solve that shortly.) But for now, let’s focus on the disappointing aspects of the rejection process … I mean the submissions process.
Rejection letters come in different forms. They arrive in your home mailbox with the publisher’s name embossed on the envelope and you’ll believe you’re holding the break you’ve been waiting for. After all, not since trying to get into college have you had a rejection letter or two waiting for you in your mailbox. You open the envelope and sigh. Damn. Letter after letter, you’ll cringe when you retrieve your mail. You may even growl at the postal carrier.
“Beautiful day,” the postal carrier says. “High seventies and getting cooler later in the day.”
“Yeah. Whaddya got for me? More of the same?”
“Huh?”
“Nevermind.”
It gets better … Each time you sit down to write your new book, you’ll have the delightful distraction of firing up your computer and finding that your email inbox is stuffed with no, no, no, and yeah, no. Being an aspiring writer is such a pleasing experience. But at least email rejection letters sting less. Simply realizing somebody only took a moment to write no and click send is comforting rather than knowing they dressed your disappointment eloquently in a fancy envelope, applied postage, and then this joy took days to reach you. After over 800 rejection letters, I learned to see the rejections for what they are: motivation to keep moving ahead.
Keep in mind that most rejection letters will come to your inbox from literary agents and publishers who’ve never read a single sentence of your manuscript. Yeah, there will be a handful of kind souls who want to see a chapter or two of your work. And if you’re lucky you could wait three or four months to find out it wasn’t what they were looking for. Yep, go ahead and flush another prospect down the toilet. Happy submissions, everybody!
But I get it. There are tons of aspiring authors banging on their door every minute of every day, and literary agents are busy peddling the manuscripts they’ve already got, publishers are busy producing books and marketing them, and there are not enough hours in a day to stroke your tender ego with a nice long explanation why they won’t take a chance on you. And while all of this is going on, you need to navigate the minefields and booby-traps set by predators who troll to take your money. Con artists and scammers will try to charge money for publishing your book while trying to sell you the illusion they’re publishing you as a traditional author. Save it. You can find a list of these wonderful folks on Predators and Editors at http://pred-ed.com Aspiring to become a published author is such a blast. Tip # 9 will discuss how to avoid these wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Therefore, try to look at it like this: for every rejection letter, you’re one step closer to being published. Sometimes, you’ll come across a publisher with a sense of humor who’s been in your shoes and truly understands what it’s like to be told no over and over again. Take, for example, the time I sent a short story to a popular publisher who publishes volumes of short stories and wasn’t too keen on my submission. The rejection letter arrived with some reasons why it wasn’t right for them, and then at the end, it said they’re open to future submission and in the meantime, “We’ll go fuck ourselves.” Finally, somebody who gets it.
Of course, we’ve all heard success stories of a writer getting published after their first or second query letter. Take for example my friend Bill Brooks, whose talent was noticed out of the gate. He’s gone on to publish over thirty titles with the big publishing houses and has a model writing career. But even Bill will tell you, luck was involved with landing an agent so early in the process. Bill’s speedy rise to the top is the exception, not the rule.
So, here are the ten tips for improving your chances of getting published:
1. Write short stories and submit them to print and online publishers. Sure, you’ll get some rejections here, too, but the odds are far better at getting a shorter piece published because the publisher is taking a minimal chance on you. Getting short stories published is a skillful way to get noticed. This will transform you from a no-name-nobody to a writer with publishing credits. As popular writer and Gutter Books acquisitions editor Joe Clifford once told me, “It’s all about building a platform.” You must show prospective agents and publishers that you’re serious about being a writer and this is not some flighty result of a dream you had in high school or a discussion you had with a date you tried to impress after a few too many beers. So submit everywhere. As writing professor and award-winning author Damon DiMarco rightly put it, “Any audience is better than no audience.”
2. Meet fellow authors and become friends. There are a lot of good people out there who’ve been in your shoes and can offer tons of guidance and support. Purchase their books and find out what they did to get published. Their success will prove to you that becoming a published author is possible. And when you become a published author, these same people will sometimes offer a blurb or review of your work. You’ll do the same for them. The sharing of blurbs is an ancient rite in the Cabal of the Published. Ignore it at your peril.
3. Keep writing. Sometimes the rejection letters are correct. Writing is like playing a sport. Athletes who exceed all the limitations of practice make it to the pros. You must be willing to practice your craft and storytelling and develop your skills every day. I glance back at some of my first unpublished pieces and cringe. It’s normal. Writing gets better with practice. Put the time in and invest in yourself.
4. Read every day. Chances are you write in a specific fiction genre. You should constantly be reading authors in your genre. Develop a love for your genre and the writing process will become a true joy. We all love working on stuff that interests us. Find yours and own it.
5. If you struggle with grammar, take a writing class at your local college, or writing school. The class will help develop your writing ability and build your confidence. You can only benefit from the process. Another option is to join a writing club and work with each other to improve your skills. Writing clubs often have writers at different skill levels, and helping each other is part of the club’s socialization. Find one that you’ll enjoy being a part of and relish the experience.
6. Pay close attention to query submission rules. It’s better to spend time getting it right than sending fifty queries that all get deleted. Think of it this way: The more that is required for query submission, the fewer people who will go through the process; therefore, your odds are better. Take a moment to make each query personal. Tailor your submission to speak directly to the person you’re querying. Yeah, it’s a pain in the neck when you’re trying to send out as many queries as you can, because your belief in more is better is usually right. I mean, after all, you learned this years ago when you sought a date for the high school prom. You asked dozens of girls, and one of them said yes. Successful query submission is like that but getting personal could increase your odds. Could you imagine if you addressed these prospective prom dates as “dear prom dating professional?” Your chances of landing a date would submarine instantly. Get personal. Address each person you query by their full name and make them feel like you know them. Hire a private detective and gather details about their lives. Join clubs they belong to and show up unexpectedly at their houses. Then enjoy your new genre: Prison fiction.
7. Don’t waste your time submitting to publishers who do not publish the genre of your book. If you write chick-lit, don’t submit to a publisher whose lineup is full of crime fiction authors. These folks are not seeking to reorganize their business model to accommodate you. They’re looking for manuscripts that work best for them. Think of it this way: Would you take your car to your local bicycle shop to get the brakes changed?
8. Save your hard-earned money. Submission software that promises to blast agents and publishers with your query is a waste of money and time. Some of these software programs tag the query with their company name, and anybody receiving them will pick up on this and click no faster than then you blasted your query. If you’re going to interest a literary agent or a publisher, again make it personal, make them feel like you’re submitting to them, and not a software program from out in no-man’s land.
9. Be mindful of your time. You’re a writer, and a writer writes. Therefore, when receiving responses from queries and requests for your manuscript, quickly research the agent or publisher to see what others are saying about them. If you come across web postings about agents or publishers who have been accused of misrepresenting themselves or anything else negative, evaluate it in a minute or two and then move on. Don’t waste your time. Even if there’s one heck of a rebuttal against complaints from aspiring authors, ask yourself if you’re willing to burn your time taking a chance with somebody who’s already pissed off enough people to publicly report their malcontent. I get it. You’re desperately seeking the recognition you deserve. So move ahead and seek the reputable folks who will complete your dream and not stomp all over it.
10. NEVER GIVE UP. You may never make it on the New York Times bestseller list, and that’s a reality you should never settle for. I once saw something that said, “Do today what your future self would be proud of.” In other words, play this game to win. Understand every year there are a handful of breakout writers who make the bestseller lists and are featured front-and-center when you walk into Barnes and Noble, but take comfort in knowing there are many other writers out here getting their work published without the massive fame and fortune, and having a blast while doing so. Much of it is perception. If you believe a successful author is only those spotlighted in Barnes and Noble, then you also believe the only car worthy of the title automobile is a Rolls Royce, yet you probably don’t know anybody who drives one. Good luck. Never give up!
