Advice from a failure on getting published.

Since I posted last week that I’ve found love with a small publisher out of California, Glass House Press, I have received a small onslaught of solicitations for advice on how I did it. I find this hilarious, since, for the most part, my efforts to attract an agent or publisher resulted in a ludicrous level of failure. Ludicrous! Moreover, the process was for the most part so unpleasant, I wouldn’t wish it on Satan himself.

But. In case it gives anyone out there any relief (spoiler alert: it won’t), here’s the best response I can give to the question, “How did you do it?” I wrote this to a man I’ve exchanged writing with over the past six months or so. Here ’tis:

Thanks for the kind words, David.

I think you’re a talented writer, and I do believe you’ve got something with your story. Your genre is not one I’ve studied, so I don’t know that my advice on how to approach getting published will be very helpful to you… but in case my experience can save you any angst at all (and I’m very much afraid it will not, David), here’s what I would do in your shoes:

– Finish your story, since all we non-Beyonce’s of the world cannot get by pitching an outline or story idea/must needs have a full ms ready to provide an agent or publisher.

– Study the query letters on queryshark.com, and search both your soul and the internet to come up with the most incisive and gripping pitch you can on this front. It’s tricky, so dig in and play with it… and you’ll also have to develop a synopsis, which you can also nose around the internet for information on. Both of these devices are their own animals, David, and I found their development extremely challenging, so don’t feel bad if the prospect depresses you. I know you can do it! If it is of any use to you at all, I’ve attached the ones I wrote for my first and second manuscripts, because they did prove to be the primary reason I got the attention of my new publisher. I got a ton of interest off these otherwise, too, so I know they were effective… although it still took me almost five years and about 900 pitches (I’m not kidding) until the stars aligned for me.

– When you’re ready to pitch, check out Chuck Sambucino’s New Agency blog on the Writer’s Digest web site for announcements of new agents, agents changing houses or genres, and for protocols to pitch these agents. Otherwise, consult Querytracker. I always cross-checked information for a pitch with the agency’s or publisher’s web site, too, which can give you a feel for the kind of work they do. I found my current publisher on a site called Preditors & Editors.

– Establish a blog on WordPress (it’s free); a Facebook account; and a Twitter account. Feed them as best you can.

– Consider subscribing for a while to Publisher’s Marketplace, an online conglomeration of info reported to and consulted by industry professionals. It’ll give you a feel for who’s acquiring in what genre, how many books you need to have written to get their attention, and how much they’re offering for the work they sign.

– This process is miserable and impossible. I really can’t adequately describe just how miserable and impossible it is, but even though I now have a contract, it makes no sense to me that I do because of all the many times it should have worked out for me and didn’t. When you think you might die of grief going through this, please, please try to remember that all the rejections you’ll get are really not about you, because they really aren’t. And I’m stupid to even say this, because I never believed it when I was going through it, but there you are.

And that’s all the worthless advice I have to offer, worthless because, for the vast, vast majority of the time, it got me absolutely nowhere, and I cannot tell you why it worked when it finally did. It’s a pretty crazy thing we do, David.

Let’s do stay in touch, and thank you again for your time and support. And for your kind words. I sincerely wish you the very best of luck, David.

Hugs,

Errin