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Hi everyone,

I've been PLANNING to participate more on this board for a long time, and haven't made it over here yet. (Guilt!!) I have about ten years' experience publishing my writing, and I can probably answer a bunch of questions you may have in those areas. I'll start out by sharing some basic info some of you might find useful.

If you check out my website (link below) you can read pieces of my books and find a bibliography of stuff I've published in the past ten years. Publishing your writing, I'm happy to say, is somewhat easier than landing a #1 hit song. However... that elusive "#1 NYTimes Bestseller" is still just about as hard to land as a #1 on Billboard... and you have to get just about as lucky.

I've been asked many times how to go about getting your work published. There is a basic process... and that's a bit easier than producing a radio-quality song demo, I can tell you that!

Basically, you need two things:
1) A manuscript (MS for short) that's ready to go
2) Somewhere to send it!

One of the first things I teach new writers to remember is based on the Serenity Prayer: Do all you can about the elements you CAN control, and don't stress about the rest.

What you can control, when it comes to publishing your writing, is: WHAT MS you send out, WHEN you send it, WHERE you send it, and HOW you prepare your MS to go out the door.

What you can't control is: WHAT the editor will think about your MS, WHEN they will get back to you, or WHEN you will actually succeed in publishing something.

With that in mind, it's best to set writing goals that sound like this: "I will send out one MS a month," or "I will submit 50 poems by the end of the year." It's not so helpful to say, "I will be published by January 2008!" --because you actually can't control that date, so it can easily lead to frustration, anxiety and unhappiness. Mostly because you've allowed outside, uncontrollable forces to be in charge of achieving your goals. Savvy?

All right. There are some universal steps to good MS preparation. Some publishers or magazines will vary from this standard (more on that in a minute), and writers and authors will go the rounds on whether or not you still have to use Courier. That's its own article by itself. But the basic idea is:
1) Use wide margins (1 - 1.5") and white paper
2) Use Courier 12 pt. font
3) Double-space
4) Contact info (name, address, email, phone number) at the top left
5) Word count at the top right
6) Space down about halfway on the first page, type your title, double-space and type your byline (name you'll be publishing under)
7) Following pages include a GOOD header across the page with: page number, name, article/story title keyword, and phone number
8) Do not staple your MS. The large clips are OK but not necessary.
9) ALWAYS include a SASE (Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope). Some go the rounds on this one too, because you can be notified by email now, but I still include them. It's professional to do so.
10) Include a single-page, single-spaced cover letter. This is a professional but brief business letter in standard business letter format. Include information that tells the editor: WHO you are, WHAT you want, and WHY they should care. Cover letters are a whole article by themselves too.

Second: Where do you send it? Thankfully this is easier to figure out than tip sheets, too. Go find a copy of one of these: Writers' Market (nonfiction books and other magazine articles), Novel & Short Story Writers' Market, or Poets' Market, for the current year. We're in October, so I recommend waiting a few months to buy the 2008 editions, unless your tail's on fire to get going. They recommend you buy a new one each year--and they do get outdated fast--but I go for about every other year, depending on how much I'm submitting. Your local library should have these books in their reference section as well, and you can photocopy pages you need. They will usually have older editions that you can check out and take home. The books are easy to use and interesting to browse through.

What they do is provide listings of publishers who are looking for what you write, from poems to stories to unique articles on starfish. You'll want to read the listings closely to make sure what you submit matches the types of things they publish.

OK--I have to get a move on to my own local Seattle writers' group tonight, but I'll send this much out and see where your questions are. Fire away!

Linda

linda
welcome to this forum and thanks for the info...i have been doing some research on self-publishing...do you have any recommendations on this approach? i have mainly looked into a place out of Canada called Trafford. im not an expert so it is hard to tell if things are a good deal or not. thanks and i hope this is finding you well.

nick

Hi Nick!

Self-publishing is a different ball game, but you can get lots of good deals on the actual printing prices and such. There is also POD (Print On Demand) technology, where the company you go with will just print books as they're ordered. That's a good option if you don't have storage space. Xlibris.com had a pretty good deal on POD publishing last I checked.

Marketing is a HUGE DEAL just as it is in the music industry--whether or not you self-publish or go with a traditional publisher--but it's absolutely essential if you're doing it yourself. You need to make sure you have a marketing budget as well as a printing budget before you make the investment.

There are risks to self-publishing as in any entrepreneur adventure. Some are: poor editing (hire someone!), bad typesetting, and hiring a crummy printer (where your books fall apart). There's also the risk that your book won't sell, and you'll be stuck with the costs. Do your market research and other homework to get a good feel for who might be interested in your book. The basic rule of thumb is that nonfiction outsells fiction in the self-pub arena by a landslide. If you have a solid platform--such as motivational speaking with the accompanying book(s) and lots of bookings--you can turn a profit with it and do better for yourself than with a traditional publisher, because your profit margin per book is higher.

I haven't heard of Trafford and don't know anything about them good or bad. I would like to warn you and others about another thing out there typically known as "vanity presses," which are publishers that charge YOU to print your book. With self-publishing, you pay the actual printer of the book, book designer, etc. Vanity presses take your money--most often much more than it would cost you to do it yourself--and give you boxes of books back and wish you luck. Worse still, they don't have good reputations in the industry, and so when you want to further your career later on, your "published" book doesn't really count on your resume.

The thing to watch out for most is which way the money's going. An agent or literary agency or publisher should NEVER charge you money (aside from small fees for copying your MS, something like that). If they have to charge the client coming in--it's a good bet that there isn't enough money coming back from book deals to run their business. Agents charge a fee taken out of your contract deal--about 15% and sometimes a little higher. They get paid when YOU get paid.

So... whatever you do... watch out for anyone asking for your money up front. There are as many scam artists out there preying on would-be authors as there are scams for songwriters. And I could write for hours about contracts... but that's more like a "201" or "301" class. Grin.

Did I come close to answering your question?

Linda

Hey Linda,

I'm all over the place tonight, and just happened to see this thread. As I'm sure you've heard me say on more than one occasion, the lyric end of the writing spectrum is all new to me....historically, I've written prose (humorous essays, etc.).

Anyhoo, I do have a couple of questions for you:

1) First, what seems to be the general feeling about unsolicited manuscripts? I know some publications make specific comments about them one way or the other, but if it doesn't clearly state a preference, is it worth it? I don't mind wasting a copy and and a couple of stamps, I just wouldn't want to invest any hopes per se...

2) Regarding the "letter/query" page to the editor. I have read that it's helpful to include a brief description of what you plan to write....this way, if they like the tone/idea/timing, etc, you can proceed with the article, and if not, you haven't wasted any time. My problem is that I tend to just write an article in the general 750-1000 word ballpark, and send it out as is. Do the publishers pooh-pooh this approach, as it makes it harder to edit a completed piece? I would think either they'd like it or not, and if they did, it would just be a little tweaking....

3) I have read mixed opinions about sending pieces out to multiple venues. While of course the idea of ONE publication considering a piece of mine is wild -- the remote chance of TWO simultaneously wanting one seems darn well near impossible. While that is likely NEVER to happen, is there etiquette involved in telling Party A that Party B already has it? Or is multiple submissions frowned upon. I would sort of be of the persuasion first come first serve...b/c if you sit around waiting for responses one article at a time, you'll go nowhere fast.

So thanks for offering such sound advice, Linda. I look foward to hearing back from you...

Cheers,
Beth

Hi Beth--I just found your post!! Missed it earlier, I'm sorry.
I'll answer your questions soon! I'm out of time on the boards tonight. Later!
Linda

See what happens when you start sending me all over creation!!

Take your time,

Cheers,
Beth

3) I have read mixed opinions about sending pieces out to multiple venues. While of course the idea of ONE publication considering a piece of mine is wild -- the remote chance of TWO simultaneously wanting one seems darn well near impossible. While that is likely NEVER to happen, is there etiquette involved in telling Party A that Party B already has it? Or is multiple submissions frowned upon. I would sort of be of the persuasion first come first serve...b/c if you sit around waiting for responses one article at a time, you'll go nowhere fast.

So thanks for offering such sound advice, Linda. I look foward to hearing back from you...

Cheers,
Beth
_________________________
"Fill what's empty, empty what's full, and scratch where it itches"


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#555889 - Yesterday at 11:15 PM Re: Finding Publishers 101 [Re: Beth G. Williams]
Linda Adams Linda Adams
Top 100 Poster


Registered: 12/06/06
Posts: 2486
Loc: Seattle, WA, USA Hi Beth--I just found your post!! Missed it earlier, I'm sorry.
I'll answer your questions soon! I'm out of time on the boards tonight. Later!
Linda
**********************************************************************************************************************************

Linda, thanks so very much for all this information...I'd been hoping you'd do that...

and Beth...Your last question...was mine too.... I was published last year ( A short story)....and am I allowed to send it...elsewhere.... Nothing in what I received in writing..said I couldn't....

would you explain One time rights?...(think that was the wording).... does that mean just what it sounds like?

best ....
Kaley...

Oh Kaley,

That's very exciting, I'd love to hear more about your story, where you were published, etc. I had a piece aLMOST in Rosie's magazine, had cut it down to the right size (it killed me, as you can imagine, to go from 1000 to 750 words, when you labor over every one!)...and all was going well...and then Rosie's magzine went belly up! All new people, and that was that!

Anyway, glad to know I'm in such good company with my questions!

Thanks, and later ladies,
Beth

Aaargh, Beth, that is VERY frustrating when that happens! It's happened to me too. A *lot* of these smaller presses fold up on a regular basis... sometimes even established ones.

I'm going to do this backwards... due to limited time and the fact I should be cooking dinner and that Kaley's question has a quick answer. Hang on, Beth!

Kaley--yes, ONE-TIME RIGHTS are exactly what it says. You're free to shop it around and/or re-publish it elsewhere. You need to mention in your cover letter or email that it has been previously published--some don't take things that have already seen print.

I was able to reprint one short story of mine. Just check with the place(s) you're sending it to. Sometimes they will consider a reprint when the previous mag had a very small circulation (under 5000 or so).

OK Beth yours are slightly more complex or I feel more long-winded about them... take your pick... I'll do my best to be back after dinner!!

Linda

Hey Linda,

Thanks for your condolences...it was frustrating, but I figure it's part of "the process". And THEIR loss -- ha ha!

PLEASE don't knock yourself out getting back to me with these answers....I just happened to see this thread yesterday, and they're questions I have long-wondered about....but I am in no hurry. Take your time, eat your dinner, do it piecemeal, whatever's easiest for you. The fact that you're responding to this at all is very generous.

Talk to you soon, SOMEWHERE around here!!
Beth

All righty, I'm back! ~whew~

Question #1:
"First, what seems to be the general feeling about unsolicited manuscripts? I know some publications make specific comments about them one way or the other, but if it doesn't clearly state a preference, is it worth it? I don't mind wasting a copy and and a couple of stamps, I just wouldn't want to invest any hopes per se..."

Okay: Rule of thumb here is if the publisher SAYS "We do NOT accept unsolicited MS," then yeah, that's going to waste your stamps to send them something unsolicited!
That's like being a Kirby salesman knocking on a door marked "No Soliciting." (Do they even have those anymore? Oh well...)

If they DON'T state a preference, they're fair game.
If they don't state a preference, and they don't really accept them, they will let you know when they reject your MS. But they shouldn't be offended by your submitting to them.
As far as "investing hope," well, we all do that whether we like to admit to it or not!

If you're awfully worried about it at any particular time, just query first. (If they say "query first," BTW, then you must. Don't send them a complete MS until they ask you for it.) Once they ask you for more... why then, now you are REQUESTED material and you may go ahead and write that on the outside of your envelope, with an ATTN: to the editor who signed the letter.

Under no circumstances should you ever sneakily write "REQUESTED" on the outside of an envelope that does NOT contain requested material.... this is called "burning bridges."
Bad idea!

OK... on to Question #2 in another reply... I want to keep them straight, and keep my replies saved in case I get called away from the computer.

Linda

Oh-- and PS-- thank you for your patience, and I'm glad to answer. Glad you don't mind piecemeal, either!
They're good questions, and I'm sure you're not the only one who'd like the answers.

Onward!
Question #2:
"Regarding the "letter/query" page to the editor. I have read that it's helpful to include a brief description of what you plan to write....this way, if they like the tone/idea/timing, etc, you can proceed with the article, and if not, you haven't wasted any time. My problem is that I tend to just write an article in the general 750-1000 word ballpark, and send it out as is. Do the publishers pooh-pooh this approach, as it makes it harder to edit a completed piece? I would think either they'd like it or not, and if they did, it would just be a little tweaking...."

A:
Here you're asking more about nonfiction article writing, which I have less experience with than the fiction market. But from what I understand, those short articles you're talking about can MOST LIKELY just be sent out as-is.

It would probably be sad to spend, say, 40 hours researching and writing an article on pumpkin carving for a big-name magazine that you haven't even queried yet. They may have someone else doing their annual carving deal already, or want a different angle than you took, or whatever. That's the kind of thing you really, really want to query about before diving into the work that will be involved.... you want it pre-sold to make sure it will be worth your efforts. I just wouldn't send out a 5,000 word article (or more) with no idea whether the target magazine even needs anything on the topic. But you're talking about something different.

It's my understanding that most commercial magazines REALLY need short filler pieces to take up that blank white space staring them in the face. This makes your SHORT, 100 to 1000 word pieces very appealing and much easier to sell. I've also heard a thousand times over that "HUMOR SELLS!" so if you can write funny, short and to the point you should have a good shot at getting it out there. And you're right--they will either like it, and have a spot for it, or they won't. Easy.

Another small point--you can mail up to 5 pages plus SASE for one first-class stamp in a #10 (long) envelope. This works out to a cover letter and 4 MS pages (1000 words, give or take), so you're not spending a lot of postage mailing them out.

Then it's just a matter of matching up what you're already writing to a viable victim... uh, I mean... candidate... for publishing your work. You know, don't bother sending your inspirational Christian piece to Atheist Weekly. Grin.

Linda

PS: I also understand that, if you have any skill in photography and a decent camera, sometimes sending photos with your articles can be helpful. I don't know much about that, though. Someone on the Photography board might know more. Just a thought!

Beth asked: "3) I have read mixed opinions about sending pieces out to multiple venues. While of course the idea of ONE publication considering a piece of mine is wild -- the remote chance of TWO simultaneously wanting one seems darn well near impossible. While that is likely NEVER to happen, is there etiquette involved in telling Party A that Party B already has it? Or is multiple submissions frowned upon. I would sort of be of the persuasion first come first serve...b/c if you sit around waiting for responses one article at a time, you'll go nowhere fast."

Hooooooo boy. Now this one, we could take over into its own topic. And if it generates lots of responses, we might have to! For now.... here's my take.

Partly this depends on how much of a hurry you're in. When I submit poetry, I usually do it one batch at a time, because frankly there is NO money in poetry, period, whatsoever, unless you're William Carlos Williams or something (and even then, it's better if you're already dead). When I send out short fiction, I more or less do the same thing, because I'm not in much of a rush, and I tend to have a priority order on the mags I send to (from highest money/prestige to "oh well, just complimentary copies").

However--when I submit book-length queries and/or MS out, that's a real bear to wait and wait and wait indefinitely on, and face it, publishers are painstakingly slow. It just isn't practical. And there is that "nowhere fast" dilemma, no matter how you look at it. Just like in music publishing (it seems), the whole process seems to be terribly slow in updating from the Stone Age. While the rest of the business world has moved on to email and faxes and web-based everything, here we are MAILING things and waiting and waiting and waiting.... sometimes months... for replies to our work.

And so I tend to subscribe to the first-come first-served idea as well as that good old "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." (Ack! a cliche!)

Then it all boils down to etiquette, and that whole matter of possibly maybe burning a bridge with a sensitive or persnickety editor who doesn't like that you sent it out multiple places when their guidelines clearly state that they don't like it.

Best case, you wind up in a bidding war over your book MS. Wouldn't that be nice!

The thing you MUST do, when you send out simultaneous submissions of your articles [note: I'll do a little vocab lesson here in a second), is KEEP TRACK OF THEM!!

You must, must, MUST learn to use Excel or Word or some program to TRACK everything that you do. This way, when one of your articles DOES get accepted, you can *immediately* write to the others you sent it to, and withdraw your submission. That's where editors are most likely to get testy with you... when you fail to keep them informed your article is no longer available. With luck, you'll be able to do this with a good email or telephone contact and take care of it quickly and professionally.

I think I'll post a new thread on how to keep track of your submissions. Meanwhile, here's the vocab lesson.

A MULTIPLE submission is when you send MORE THAN ONE article to the same publisher in the same package.

A SIMULTANEOUS submission is when you send the SAME article to MANY publishers in the same timeframe.

Easily confused, but not the same thing. Most editors really don't want multiple submissions, unless they are very very short (in the case of poetry--they will tell you to send 2 to 4 poems or no more than 10 pages, or whatever). However--if you get a nice, personalized rejection letter, go ahead and send that editor something else fairly soon, so they remember your name. More on that in another topic too.

Linda

Thank you Linda...for Answering..and Thank you Beth for asking the questions.....I'm going to go back over all this and print it off.... Thanks....!!!!!....

and..I understand your pain..on the belly up...but think it was very neat that you were THAT close. Beth.(and tis confirmation in itself ya know?)..and I know Linda and others know that painful...feeling.....but..wow....You were close!!!!!!...

Mine was very much beginner's luck....The New Children's CD that Wy and I are in the recording process of...took root in my former home's back yard fence row. The animals all have families...and imagined lives...etc..... well long story short.....I started putting their stories down on paper and had a nice group of JPF folks and a mentor off the board review and edit them,...I submitted to a monthly publication...here in Pa....and they wanted to publish the series.... And just like you're saying...my timing was terrible. They'd been around for 5 or 6 years..with all the same staff......and some time right after accepting my submittals.., they did an overhaul of staff.....and along with other changes, decided to keep their focus on more true nature stories and not "animals that have a LIFE LOL ,such as they had in the stories.. Anyhoo, The first was published..... and I had written 2 or 3 other ones...at the time.... and would like to see if the others could be published too... The one that caught their interest to begin with.... and was to be printed first in the series ...wasn't......but another one was....

It's A small publication in PA...Beth, The Pennsylvania Reader...but it went out to over 19,000 homes... and...as a result of them publishing it...and putting a few ads in., Wy and I sold several of our First Cd, Andy & Friends....
so..was a good experience all the way around....

When the new CD is released...I'm thinking maybe I'll put the
stories up too?.....

enough of a ramble...
will be back in the morning.....to read all you guys' suggestions......and information.

whooops, it is morning.......
g'night...
Kaley

Piano Melodies and Demos
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=8404
Children's Music
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=6469
Wyman and Kaley's Andy & Friends CD
http://cdbaby.com/cd/kwwg

Wow Linda,

You are certainly a marvel. Thank you so much for your very comprehensive answers. So now, here's the rub...I want to start working on my prose again! While waiting at the doctor's office yesterday, I cast aside WebMD and went for Family Circle....I saw a couple of articles and thought, man, I could write a better one. NOW with you offering this information, I feel like the fire is in my gut again.

As a point of reference, SOMEWHERE on this thread are a couple of my humor pieces. I didn't realize this thread was intended more for short pieces, so they didn't get much response, but I'll try to find them, bump them up, and see what you think.

THANKS SO MUCH!!
Beth

And Kaley,

Wow, what a great story! Everything really does happen for a reason....when intent and desire and opportunity collide like that, it is no coincidence . I look forward to hearing the CD's...


Ciao for now,
Beth