Mari Walker’s Blog
A New Author’s LifeKey Number Ten: Do Your Research
Now that you’ve finished your submission package. Make sure that you have researched the agents that you want to submit to. Know what types of books they represent. Most importantly, a number of agents may have closed their lists and may not accept new clients at the time you begin submitting. You don’t want to waste postage submitting to someone who is not interested in what you’ve written, or is not taking on new clients. There are a number of excellent books that list agents, the type projects they accept and whether or not they are taking on new clients. The book I used was Jeff Herman’s Guide, to Book Publishers, Editors, and Agents.
You also want to research the market. You need to know what books are being acquired by the agent that you have chosen to query, as well as how well books like yours are selling in the market. Armed with this knowledge, you can better position yourself to sell your project and yourself to the agent. Who would turn down a book that not only stacks up to a book that has already sold a million copies, but is even better than those that are selling? That’s why it’s a good thing to know your book so well you can tell the agent how and why your book could do better. Just remember: show confidence in your project, not arrogance!
Key Number Nine: Don’t Give Up!
If your goal is to be a published author with a major publishing house, you have to prepare yourself for the disappointment, ego-deflating and inevitable rejections that all true authors must face. As I wrote earlier in this series, don’t give up if you are rejected.
Remind yourself that a rejection doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t write. It is just one person’s opinion! Have confidence and pride in your work. Believe in yourself and in your talent. If you don’t believe in yourself, how can you expect others to? Rework your project and send it out to the next agent on your list. And keep repeating this process for as long as it takes! Until you finally receive that letter that says:
Congratulations! Agent A would love to offer you a contract and take you on as our client!
There is no greater feeling than knowing that you have just put yourself in reach of your goal: Seeing a book on the shelves at a bookstore with your name on it!
I hope my experiences have helped you. Take care and Good Luck!
Key Number Eight: Put Together An Eye Catching Submission Package
Now that you have polished your manuscript and made it as error-free as you possibly can, you are ready to begin the submission process. Considering the fact that almost every acquistions editor at the major houses require authors to have an agent submit their work to them, you want your package to be the best it can be, as this will be the prospective agent’s first impression of you.
You can increase your chances of getting taken on as a client if you keep your package tight. Less is more, in my opinion and my motto is make them ask for more! How do you do that? Learn to describe you book in one paragraph using adjectives that paint a picture of your story that makes your manuscript sound fresh and exciting. End your paragraph with something that makes the reader wonder, “What happens next?!”
The Submission Package requirements can vary from publisher to publisher, agent to agent, and editor to editor. So please do your research and follow the submission guidelines for the person/company you plan to submit to. (This is very important, but more on that later)
In general, a submission package should include the following elements:
A one or two page letter -the query letter-that describes yourself and your qualifications for writing the book. Make sure you state whether your work is fiction or non-fiction.
a brief description of your story– the synopsis. I recommend no more than a paragraph or two. Compare your book to the competition and tell them how your book is different. What would make a reader pick up your book and not the another writer’s whose work is similar to yours. Maybe you could compare your book to one of the writer’s that the agent already represents. This will let the agent know that you have done your research on their agency and what type of works they represent, as well as letting them know that you are aware of the competition that is out there. This is your marketing analysis.
You might want to include a one or two page sample of your writing, but NEVER send your entire manuscript unless the agent requests it! This is very important. If you send your manuscript without waiting for an agent to formally request it, your manuscript will more than likely end up in the trash or in the “slush pile” and you really don’t want that.
End your submission by thanking the agent for his/her time. Make sure you proof your letter for errors and grammar. Believe it or not, the agent will often decide if you are can write well by how you construct your query letter. Make it dynamic, but review my tips on writing a dynamic query letter in one of the earlier posts. Don’t forget to include your contact information and a SASE (Self Addressed Stamped Envelope)
Key Number Six: Kill The Arrogant Attitude Key Number Seven: Learn To Take Professional Advice
Once you finish your manuscript, it’s easy for pride to become arrogance if we’re not careful. What is arrogance? Webster’s defines it this way: an attitude of superiority manifested in an overbearing manner or in presumptuous claims or assumptions. My take on it? Thinking that you know more about the publishing business than professionals who do this job for a living and presuming that you have a right to tell them how to do their job! Think about it. How would you feel if you were responsible to hire someone for a position that you had held for years and an inexperienced college student walks in for an interview. You begin to explain to her about how the job works and what the job requirements are and before you are finished she begins telling you what you will be missing if you don’t hire them and that they are the next CEO of the company waiting to happen. She further tells you it would be the biggest mistake of your life if you don’t hire her immediately before she slips through your fingers. You would think this person was pretty arrogant, right? Yet many new writers do this very thing when presenting themselves (yes, you are presenting yourself along with your work, in case you didn’t know) and their project to a prospective agent or editor. Do you begin to see how this book professional feels when you begin to tell them how this exciting new manuscript of yours is the most exciting thing to come across thier desk in years and what a mistake they would be making to pass it by?
It’s okay to take pride in your work, in fact it’s desirable when refining your project and putting that final polish on it before you submit to an agent or editor. But once your project is the best you can make it and you send it out, you should now open your mind to recieve constructive criticism and advice from professionals who have been working in the publishing business for many more years than you have.
It isn’t true that these professionals are out to make you feel bad, or to cause you to give up looking for an agent/editor, or to make you feel that you are not good enough to make it in the business. In fact, just the opposite is true. Agents and acquisitions editors are ALWAYS looking for new talent! They are searching for that fresh, new voice that will make them sit up and take notice. That new writer who is so good, it makes them want to read more. So why shouldn’t you be that one who fulfills this role?
Remember, don’t fall in love with what you have written so much that you refuse to take suggestions from those who know. Chances are, if an agent or editor takes time away from their very busy schedule to ask you if you are willing to rewrite a portion of your story, and takes it a step further and points out the weaknesses in your story, they are considering taking you on as a client. If you stubbornly hold on to the notion that what you have written is perfect and doesn’t need anything and that it is fine the way it is–that professional doesn’t know a good thing when they see it. This is where pride can become arrogance. This attitude might just cost you the very thing you’re after. The publishing contract.
Those who work at the business of buying and selling books have most likely studied the market, they know what is selling, they know what is hot and they have an idea of how a new writer stacks up against the competition. And yes, this is a VERY competitive business. They know what it takes to make it in the business, and listening might help you land the agent/editor you’re after,
Key Number Five: Rejection: Make It Work For You!
Rejection. That word conjures up a lot of negative energy for most of us. You’ve waited weeks, maybe even months to hear back from the person you sent your query letter. You have placed your hopes, dreams, and ambitions for becoming a writer inside that envelope. Your expectations are high. You’ve written the best manuscript you could, you’ve edited and re-edited and you’re ready to send it out as soon as you get the word that it has been requested. And then it comes. The SASE (self addressed stamped envelope) with your writing on the front. This is it. The moment of truth has arrived. Do they want to read my manuscript? Am I one step closer to my dream, or am I back to square one, having to start the process over again? You tear open the envelope in anticipation and read the words, “Sorry, your manuscript is not for us, at this time.” Or words to that effect. Dissappointment rises. You feel like a failure. You’re writing is not as good as you thought. In fact it stinks because they didn’t like it. I might as well give up! WAIT ONE MINUTE!
Rejection is not the end of the road for you! In fact it can be a new beginning. Remember, that letter came from ONE PERSON and it is ONE PERSON’S OPINION! Now is not the time to throw in the towel. There are hundreds of editors and agents out there, get busy and send out another query. If you’re lucky, the person who wrote the rejection will add a line or two telling you why they didn’t like your submission. In my case, the agent told me, my narrative was cold, and didn’t make him feel like reading any further, and that he didn’t care for writing that included religous themes. I was crushed for a moment. I threw the letter up on a shelf and refused to read it, or my manuscript for a couple of months. But then I got over it and remembered that a writer has to have patience and perserverance above all else. (Developing a thick skin will help also) I had to remember that rejection isn’t personal, it is business. It was right then and there that I decided to make that rejection letter work for me. I took it down from the shelf and read it again. The writer said my narrative was cold. If he was right, I could fix that. I got out my manuscript and began reading. I decided he was right, it did read a bit cold and emotionless. So I set about revising it and spicing it up a bit with dialogue and action. I began another REWRITE.
Next I looked at his other reason for rejecting my manuscript. He didn’t like works that included religion. Well that was an integral part of my story, so I knew I wasn’t going to change that. But what I did decide to do was more research on which agents WOULD like a book that featured religous backdrops in a book. I looked at books that were similar to mine and began making a list of who the agents were who represented the writers of these kinds of books. I did some research on each one and picked the one I felt most closely reflected my ideas and goals. Then, I revised my query and sent it out to that person. What happened? She asked for a synopsis and the first three chapters of my manuscript! Eventually she asked for the entire manuscript and ultimately decided to take me on as a client.
I made the one rejection letter work for me and as a result got picked up by and agent and she was able to get me picked up by one of the big ten NY publishers! I can’t promise you that your story will end like mine did, but I can tell you that you will GREATLY increase your chances of getting accepted instead of rejected time and time again if you make your rejections work for you as I did. Don’t take rejection personally. Learn from it, revise your submission and send it out again. And the most important thing: NEVER GIVE UP!
