Traditional Publishing and Where to Start

Wednesday Writing Weekly #56 Traditional Publishing and Where to Start

I often hear the question, “how do I get published?” Anyone asking this can be coming from different places in their career as a writer or as someone looking into writing for the first time. The best place to start is with research but I want to provide a small overview (for those considering traditional publishing) about what to be aware of when planning to submit a book for publication.

To get started, consider this: do you submit your manuscript straight to the publisher or have you ever heard of a literary agent? If you don’t know the answer… keep on reading!

Ways to Get Published With Traditional Publishing

There are two main ways to break into traditional publishing with a represented or unrepresented manuscript submission.

• Unrepresented Manuscript Submissions: This is when a writer represents their own work and submits directly to a publisher. This is very common with small presses and indie publishing but when it comes to traditional publishing, most publishers do not accept this unless it is during a specified window of time or contest, they have announced to the public.

• I recommend following publishers you are interested in on social media because they will announce reading periods, first-line pitch contests, and more to get your book or idea in front of their company!

• Represented Manuscript Submissions: Representation with a literary agent. If you are unsure what a literary agent is, read my previous WWW about the publishing world vocabulary first. A literary agent will represent your book and submit it to publishers. This is a more widely accepted way of soliciting your manuscript to a publisher.

Traditional Publishing Steps

If you find yourself unsure about what to do or what steps to take to get published… here is the basic outline!

1. Write a finished manuscript.

2. Prepare a query letter: the letter, author bio, book blurb, similar titles, and full synopsis.

3. A query list; beginning querying literary agents.

4. Select a literary agent to represent your manuscript to various publishers.

5. Negotiate contracts (and in the rare case, auction to multiple bidders.)

6. Start to work with a publisher and one of their in-house editors.

7. The publishing, marketing, and production process begins...

If only it were as easy as this list makes it sound!

Querying and attempting to get published can take a long time. When your book is done, you need to polish it before you show it to an agent. Plan for the querying process to take a year at the least and then once accepted for publishing, the editing, production, and marketing process can take one to two years. This route is the long haul if you are one of the fortunate few to break into it. I always want to stress how difficult this is because I want future authors to understand that patience, getting your part of the work done, and following these steps are essential. Unfortunately, you can’t write a book and have it in your reader's hands ASAP without skipping a few steps (or trying out a different kind of publishing…)

Traditional Versus Indie Publishing

A side note on indie publishing VS traditional publication. Right now, I am focusing on traditional publishing in this article, as well as several upcoming additions to this topic. As you read above, there are many steps to follow in order to get traditionally published. Luckily, there is more than one way to get published so if you want to operate on a different timeline, need more freedom, or want to be in complete control of the creative process and production of your novel… you can do indie or self-publishing!

When you decide what kind of publishing is the best for you, know there are pros and cons to all kinds of publishing. You also have the freedom to try more than one. Maybe spend two years querying and trying to get traditionally published. If that doesn’t work, you can pivot and go to indie or self-publishing and try that instead. Every option has amazing opportunities, so I recommend finding what works the best for you.

Conclusion

This article feels like the beginning of a long conversation. Going forward, I will be going down the checklist I provided above to dive deeper into each step. I'll be sharing tips, tricks, industry do and do don’ts, as well as what you should be on the lookout for.

The first book you write might not be, and probably will not be, the one you break into the industry with and publish. Why? Because every book you write, you learn more, you polish your skills, and you become a better writer. I am not saying to give up, I am instead recommending being aware of where you are in your own timeline and process. If you write a book and cannot get it traditionally published, or you publish on your own and have no sales… that is not the end all be all. That is a process to learn from. The best thing to do is to keep on writing and growing through each project you create.