Hey. Sorry I didn’t post yesterday ( not that anyone is even reading this!) But I”ll explain real quick what a submission pack is. I think I’ll add photos later. For most aspiring authors, there are a few basic ways to get publishe based on my semi-extensive research.
(a) You have a parent who is published and by default are “in” with a publisher. If you have ANY talent, you can get a book published. How successful you are, well that’s a different story!
(b) You know an agent. This person liasons between publishers and can tell you how to find a home for your book.
(c) You send your four hundred page manuscript to an editor, someone mysteriously looks on the massive document, ignores all other pending assignments and decides to read it and then suddenly you are showered with million dollar offers, accolades and dirty invitations from models.
(d) You submit stuff using a tried and true method. With packs, which I shall explain below!
Since most publishers (if not all) do not accept unsolicited material (i.e 400 page document wrapped with twine). So, you use a Literary agent. This is a person who has slept in and frequently warms the beds of publishers. They know where your book will fit, and require a fee for their services (around 15-20%) These agents are EXTREMELY busy, especially those that have clients in the double digits, so you need to woo them with something called a QUERY letter, which sums up your 400 page monster in basically a paragraph. If it grabs their attention, they MIGHT contact you and ask you for more information. This could be :
– a 1-5 page synopsis of your book (more summarizing here)
– the entire manuscript (this means they really love you)
– or a not interested letter (some call this rejection letter)
You need a large envelope, to put your query in and also your SAE (Self Addressed Envelope). This is very important, they dont’ warm the beds of publishers to pay .39 cents to send you a response… especially if they aren’t interested. So its the Large page-sized envelope, a stamped letter with YOUR address on it (or else it goes back to the publisher, duh) and then whatever they ask for goes in the big envelope (e.g query letter).
I’ll put an example of a query letter soon. Now I must go and start revising my list of agents! peace!
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Today was one of thoese days that involved mostly sleep and the land of dreams. Its weird, I think you eat something made for you by your mother before you sleep all day, you won’t dream about anything but where you are from (albeit with guns, homicidal representations of family, and of course obsessive-compulsive dancehall artistes). Anyways, my foray into the world of sleep was done mostly because last night my ankle ‘flared’ up. I was thinking I resprained it somehow, but its almost better today after a little ice and lack of food. I was pretty annoyed, because one of the worst nights of my life was a few weeks ago when I had an ankle sprain, I couldn’t walk and the pain was excruciating, then I went to the hospital, I was there for SEVEN hours, the doc barely saw me and just gave me a splint. Shoddy service. I started to get a little flustered thinking that I would be out of commission for days on end, simply because this would hamper a few of my efforts. Since my foot seems somewhat allright, I think I can start getting my letters together and finalize my submission packs. For those who don’t know what that is, I shall post it tommorrow.
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I though it would be cool to make a blog title that was a continuation of something already being said… kewl eh? Well to all the interested parties checking out this blog, I built it not only to try and track my activities relating to my manuscript that i’m trying to pitch. But at the same time, I hope that I will gain support from other writers and people interested in either being published, or seeing me be published (always love those people!). A brief history about me for those who dont’ know. I’m 24 years old now, still in college (Long story) and so far i’ve almost completed two full manuscripts (industry people say we can’t call them ‘books’ until they are published).
I sent out my first novel (one about my home country Jamaica) to several publishers and I got 24 no’s. My second attempt is a more mainstream Crichton-Koontz-esque novel that I believe is more marketable and therefore ….can be published. Its a new year, always good to start big things! Keep reading. I’ll post videos pics and snippets of the book as often as time permits me.
peace
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