How to Get Published

by John Bowers

In a previous article I talked about writer’s block, and how to keep writing something, anything, just to stay sharp, even if it has nothing to do with your project. There is something else you can do at times like that, and it may even help dissolve the block and get you going again.

First Draft

Almost every writer who gives advice to other writers agrees that a first draft is never the final product, that the work, once finished, must be edited before being submitted to a publisher or agent. Good novels are never written, they are rewritten.

But for some, once that first draft is finished, the job of editing may seem overwhelming. You’ve just poured weeks or months, perhaps even years, into your project, and you’re all wrung out. Then you start reading from page one, you start finding mistakes, and it gets depressing.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

From time to time, no matter how prolific you are, you are going to sit down at that keyboard and stare at a blank page and you simply don’t know what to do. Writer’s block. This may be a good time to do a little ‘editing as you go’.

As a general practice, every day when I sit down to write, the first thing I do is to review what I wrote the day before. I set bookmarks every day when I start, and I can return to those bookmarks the next day to see what I created. As I read through, I invariably find typos, missing words, poor punctuation, you name it. In the heat of writing my mind will think one thing and my fingers will type something else (for example, in this very sentence my fingers typed “thing one thing” instead of “think one thing”) and those are much easier to fix on a daily basis than waiting until the book is finished. And when the first draft is finished, the rewrite will go much faster.

Use the Block

Writer’s block is frustrating, no question about it, but you can use that block to your advantage. In addition to editing what you wrote yesterday, writer’s block can sometimes be beneficial if you take the opportunity to go back and read the entire work from the beginning, or from some other significant starting point. In some cases I’ve found that I’m so far into a story that I forgot something that happened earlier, maybe a minor character I wanted to use, or something someone said that needs to be tied into the plot down the road…or deleted entirely. Taking the time to read before you finish will refresh the story in your mind and help you identify loose ends.

Taking advantage of writer’s block to do a read-through can not only help you identify problems, it sometimes gets you going again. By reading the story from page one you can often get a better feel for where the story is going, and new ideas may come to you. You may finish reading what went before and immediately start typing that next page. It happens.

Even if you don’t have writer’s block, a read-through before you finish is a good idea. You may find a major conflict in your story that will stop a reader cold, or you may need to insert a plot device to shore up something later in the novel. Such things are much easier to fix before you finish than later, when you’ve sweated out your last drop of blood and simply don’t have the energy to change a single word.

Give It Time

While we’re on the subject of rewrites, one thing is very important-once you write that last page and close the file for the last time, and the first draft is done, set it aside. Do not look at it for at least a month. I’m serious. Mark it on your calendar and then go do something else. Start another book. Take a vacation. Learn to speak Mandarin. Anything.

The reason for this is that you are too close to your story, and if you try to start the edit the day after you finish, you simply won’t be objective. Often I’ve looked at a story right after I finished it and thought it was pretty good, and other times I’ve been convinced it was really bad. But several weeks later, after the emotion has faded and my mind is clear, I can see it for what it is, good or bad.

Giving it time will help you identify problems-bad dialogue, inconsistent characters, logic problems in plotting, etc. While you’re writing it all makes sense, but when you stand back it’s easier to see the forest and not just the trees. No matter how good you are, no matter how famous, you will always make mistakes as you write, and if you don’t find them, your readers will.

Finally

Writing is hard work. It’s taxing. But it’s also fun. Writing a book is much like reading a book-you live the story as you write it. You become immersed in the plot and the characters. The only difference is that, as a writer, you are doing the creating, not the observing. When it’s all done and ready to submit, there is no greater sense of satisfaction. You’ve written a novel, told a story, and hopefully it will bring pleasure to others.

Have fun with it. If it isn’t fun, it isn’t worth it.

by Jeff Rivera

Many writers have been struggling for years to find an agent and they’ve tried everything. They’re starting to think that they’ll never get one, or that there’s some kind of universal conspiracy against them and they’re wondering why.

If you still haven’t landed an agent or know someone who hasn’t, listen up. I’m about to tell you exactly why and what you can do about it, to change things today.

As someone who deals with hundreds of agents every year, who’s constantly on the phone with top editors and publishers and authors from James Patterson to Nicholas Sparks to Janet Evanovich to David Baldacci, I hear first-hand what successful people in the industry have done to separate them from the pack and why they’re successful and others are not. (more…)

by Jerry Simmons

The Future of Print Books

Forget the doomsday scenario; printed books are not going away. Their relevance in the market is going to diminish over time, but there will always be printed books.

The biggest publishers are struggling with the notion that within the next few years, the major chains may well disappear. As sales continue to decline, the two largest bookstore chains in America are barely hanging on and all indications seem to be that both are on the verge of insolvency. (more…)

by Al Kalar

One of my jobs in this madhouse, is “gatekeeper”. I review new submissions to see if they get rejected up front or considered for publication. I hate saying “no”, but if I don’t, we’d be flooded with less than top notch material.

Lousy material takes too much time to whip into shape and often can’t be saved. Although we edit everything we publish, we’re not in the business of editing poor quality stuff to help a writer get published. There are people who do that and some are very good at it (and some are not). But, even though our editors are great, our job is publishing.

Back in May, I gave you 11 Ways to Get Rejected. Well, what about the flipside? You know, the goal of the submission process - acceptance.

Obviously, the most important thing is to not do any of those 11 deadly things.

We’re strictly an eBook publisher, so we do everything digitally. To get a novel accepted at AKW Books, you should do the following: (more…)

by Jerry Simmons

The fact that someone completes a manuscript does not make them a writer with something worthy of publication. There is much more to publishing than throwing content together and having copies printed. In fact, anyone who thinks they can simply write, print and become successful does not understand the marketplace. Writers who are serious about their craft need an editor and a publisher if they hope to have a chance at success.

Publishers are not printers and the large print-on-demand companies are printers, not publishers. They have utilized a technology and turned it into a multi-million dollar business, good for them. However too many serious writers get caught up in the idea these big printing companies are interested in what you are writing. Excuse me but they are not! They are interested in selling you services that merely add to their bottom line. (more…)

by Michelle Gagnon

Yesterday, Joe discussed knowing where you’re headed before getting started. I received an email from a college friend this week who’s writing his first novel, and he asked me a few questions about my process. I thought I’d share some of what I said in reply. Of course, there is no one “right way” to write a book; everyone has to find his or her own path. But after hammering out four books, I’ve learned what works for me.

1) At what point do you seek formal feedback, rather than just cranking it out?

I don’t show my work to anyone until I’ve completed two drafts. And then I send it to my “Beta readers,” 5-7 people whose opinion I trust. What I’ve discovered, however, is that they’ll all like different aspects of the story, and they’ll all criticize different aspects. I always take that feedback with a grain of salt. If more than one person is saying the same thing, I know it’s time to go back and figure out where I went wrong. (more…)

by Michelle Gagnon

Recently a friend asked for writing advice on behalf of her husband, who started writing a book a few years ago but hasn’t made much progress.

“Let me guess,” I asked. “He’s right around the fifty page mark.” She double-checked with him, and he’d stopped at sixty pages even.

I’m willing to bet that most of the people who never finish writing a book stall out right around that point, somewhere between 40-60 pages. And here’s my theory as to why.

After months or years of talking about writing a book (because at least as far as my experience at cocktail parties dictates, almost everyone believes they have a book in them), they’ve finally sat down and hammered some of those words on to the page! Initially, that’s excitement enough.

Because the outset is always thrilling. And things usually go swimmingly for ten to twenty pages. Then, something gets in the way–maybe they can’t figure out what to tackle next in terms of the storyline, or their day to day life intrudes. So they leave for a bit, and come back to it. Or they manage to overcome whatever hurdle they encountered, plot-wise or life-wise, and forge ahead. Another twenty pages in, they’re feeling a genuine sense of accomplishment. They’re doing what so many people talk about but never achieve–and they’ve already written around fifty pages! The rest should be a breeze, right?

So what do they do at this point? (more…)

by Diane O’Connell

If you’re like many writers, getting that first draft down can give you a rush of excitement. The words flow freely, the ideas come at lightning speed, the book seems to be coming together just as you had in your head.  But then you read it back and — oh, boy, does it need fixing! The thought of cleaning up the “mess” you created is about as appealing as cleaning out a garage stuffed with a quarter century of accumulated stuff — and just as overwhelming.

Many first-time authors begin the revising process by going through their manuscript line by line and painstakingly “editing”: correcting syntax, adding some things, taking out other things, cleaning up punctuation and spelling. Often, this process can seem like torture. And there’s a good reason why. (more…)

by Al Kalar

There’s a lot of information for aspiring writers. Some has to do with the truly important stuff. Some is aimed at the details behind the important stuff. And some is, frankly, misinformation (”BS”).

Given today’s publishing market and the economics of the industry, breaking into print, as a “successful” new author, is very difficult. In fact, the odds are against you. I’m sorry, but it’s true. But by following this rule, you can improve the odds substantially.

You may have heard this before, but it bears repeating; because it’s THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE: (more…)

by Barbara McNichol

Setting out to find the right editor for your manuscript puts you on the road to feeling confident you’ve got a good match. You want to feel comfortable that your editor understands what you’ve set out to accomplish so you can “polish” it together.

Look for a reputable editor who understands the type of book you have written. For example, if your book is business or self-help, choose an editor with experience in these genres. Ensure that the editor you chose has worked with both traditional and self-published books over a number of years. That person’s website should reveal that information and project a professional image. After all, you want your writing to reflect a professionalism that comes from expert editing. (more…)