Category: Publication Tips

Tip #10

Publishing is a business. They want to make money. No-brainer, right?

Yet, I hear lots of people say they can’t get a publisher. Or they write better than so-and-so, but can’t get a representative.

My first advice is to look at your manuscript. Is it grammatically correct? Does it have lots of spelling mistakes? Do all your characters sound the same? Is it descriptive?

It may have a good story, but if it take a lot of time to clean up, it’s a bigger investment than a story that’s already clean and a little bit of a lesser story.

The publisher has to be able to make money on YOUR manuscript and wages are the most expensive part of any business. The longer it takes to get your story ready for market, the more expensive it is to publish, the less money your publisher makes.

Tip 10

Wendy L. Koenig

Tip #6

I wrote recently about writing what you love because you may not get published. It bears repeating, especially when many writers like to write about various things.

It seems to have become the … fad… to write the latest … fad. *cough*

Young adult SF became the rage with the movies Divergent, Maze Runner, and Mockingjay. Lots of writers thought, oh, I have a story like that I’ve always wanted to write. They’re excited. They’re going to sell millions of copies. They finish the book and try to find a publisher, only to find no one is accepting them any longer.

Fantasy romance is hot. Everybody shifts to that. Only to again find no one wants to buy them.

Then another genre gets hot. And another. And another. And suddenly you feel like a dog chasing his own tail!

What most writers fail to realize is, yes, these genre’s were in the demand. But it was before the fad ever hit the public. That excitement was driven by an excellent market campaign. Probably several.

Rarely are we, as writers, lucky enough to be able to predict the next swell of excitement for a book.

My advise: Happiness and success can be fleeting and hard to catch. Be happy with what you’re doing.

Tip 6

 

 

Wendy L. Koenig

Another Round

Getting Frozen Fire ready for another round of submissions. Reprinted it to read aloud to the cats. In fact, Jake is sitting on top of it now, waiting for me to begin. Elwood will come once I begin…as long as it’s outside.

I always read my manuscripts aloud after every draft. If I’ve sent it out a few times and it comes back without a home, I again read it aloud and often end up reworking it. My writers’ group will see the problem pages again. And if I can’t figure out why it’s not being accepted, I bring my submission package to the group too.

I’d love to be the kind of writer who writes the story…once. Then it’s done. Publishers fight over it and my readers beg for more.

I’m not there yet, so until then, I’ll just keep reprinting and rereading. My cats never get tired of hearing the same stories over and over.

Wendy L. Koenig

Easy Come, Easy Go

Well, actually, it’s more like “Difficult to Gain, Easy to Lose”. I’m referring to agents. They can be as difficult to acquire as a three-seated bicycle. Often, unless you know someone who has one, you may be out of luck. Even then, you can lose out.

Nonetheless, it’s important to get an agent that fits, not only your needs, but your personality, too. It’s no good to sign with an agency, only to get stomach aches because you feel you can’t trust them. Likewise, it’s all well and good to have a decent relationship with an agent, but if she/he is trying to do something with YOUR book that you feel isn’t right, you need to reconsider your alliance.

Don’t be afraid to speak to agents. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. And especially, don’t be afraid to look for a different agent, should the need be. This is your career, your future, your image they’re handling. They need to do it right and you need to be comfortable enough with them to say, “No. I don’t want you to do that.”

I recently lost my agent through no fault of either of ours. She took me on when she had extra time, yet became immediately very busy right after and found herself with way too many clients. There had been no contracts signed between us yet. These things happen. The important thing is that I can capitalize on my time with her. But I’m not going to rush into the first contract I can find.

Wendy L. KoenigLeave a comment