Getting Published

This is my last real post here. At the end of this week I’ll be responding to the questions you guys have sent in, but beyond that, it’s back to my blog and to normal writing for me. It’s been great fun, great seeing so many people comment and respond, and a good exercise for me too, in thinking about how writing works.

This post is less pragmatic than some previous ones – on editing or queries – and more to do with how writers see themselves. Writing itself sits in that weird grey area between being solely an occupation and solely a hobby.  Plenty of folk do write just because they like to do it, and they never want to get published. Like artist, ‘writer’ is a title that anyone can claim if they want – which is good, don’t get me wrong – and with no official marker. Doctors have medical degrees, vicars are ordained, but writers just have to decide ‘Hey, I’m a writer! Or, at least, I want to be.’

Professionalism in this case is as much a way …

In his penultimate blog post for Writers' & Artists, Simon P. Clark discusses where you should go with your finished masterpiece - and how to finally get past the literary agent's front door.

With your manuscript finished – finished and polished – it’s time to start looking for a literary agent. No, you don’t have to – you could choose to self publish, or submit to a few of the independent publishers who accept unsolicited queries. But for the sake of ease and brevity in this post, I’m only talking to authors who are looking to go down the traditional route.

A quick summary: to get your book in front of an editor at a traditional publisher, you need to have a literary agent. Most publishers nowadays only accept books from agents, who act as a kind of first test of quality. Submitting directly to a publisher is possible at a few companies, but you’re really limiting your pool of potential editors if you limit yourself so much. Agents, in return for taking …

Thanks to all who read and commented on last week’s post about community. It seemed to go down pretty well – perhaps writers aren’t such a solitary bunch after all.

There’s hope for us all yet, eh?

Today’s post is a doozy and I feel like I should start this one especially with a caveat: there’ll never be a hard and fast rule for writers. We come in all shapes and sizes and the thoughts I share here are based on things I’ve seen work, things I’ve seen not work, and from the input of a group of other authors and editors … but it still won’t be right for everyone. Think what I’m saying is swill? That’s fine, as long as you have your own system and as long as you keep on writing.

Writing about writing (for me) tends to fall into one of two camps: the more generalized / inspirational / philosophical pieces (Why do we write? Where does it come from?), and the pickier, more technical stuff (Dialogue tags that aren't 'said' - always bad? What's so wrong with adverbs?).

…

What a strange world writers inhabit.

We can live in a different country to someone who means so much to our work – an editor, an agent, a reader – have so much communication, even enter a contract with them, yet never actually meet them. It can all be rather, well…

 …odd.

But then writing is an especially odd profession. It’s solitary in a way that many jobs could never be. In between the parts that actually involve getting together with other people, there are hours / days / weeks / months / years - of typing away by yourself.

So the trick is not to go mad. Well not to go madder still, anyway.

This means community is important. Not just as a lifeline to the normal world of friends, family, mortgages, bills, grocery shopping, etc. I mean the community of other writers, too. The people who share similar struggles, understand your problems and have links, tips and other friends they can send your way.

This is where our modern lives really come into their own. With the …

This is Cressida Downing’s last blog on Writers’ & Artists’ editorial services.  This week she focuses on the Full Manuscript Review.

What do you need to do?  

Supply the full manuscript of your novel, and a two page synopsis.  

What do you get out of it?

A line by line edit of half your manuscript – provided to you in two documents, one with all the changes tracked, and one a clean copy.  A small summary of why the editor has taken those editorial choices, and suggestions for implementing any minor changes.

Who is looking at your work?

An experienced editor who understands the genre you’re writing in.

What’s unique about this service?

Rather than a straight copy or line edit, this provides you with a unique insight into how an editor would approach your work, giving you valuable information on how to approach your text in the future and identifying common mistakes that you as an author are prone to.

Top tip:

The cost of this …