Writing Process
Charlotte Rains Dixon  

Getting Your Work Out in the World: The Mechanics

On Wednesday, I discussed the mindset of getting your work out in the world, which, really, is even more important than the mechanics.  Because, if you're head is not screwed on right, all the submitting in the world is not going to matter.  One way or another you'll end up blocking your efforts.

Today its time to talk about the nuts and bolts of submitting your work.  In reality, there's probably more written on this subject than any other when it comes to writing and writing-related topics.  Because everyone wants to know how to get published. Or how to get an agent. So I'm going to let people with more expertise than me delve into the details of this and stick with a general overview in this post.

First, let me emphasize something–the work must be at its best.   This may seem like a no-brainer, but I can't tell you how many times I've had civilians (non-writers) tell me to quit fussing with rewriting and just go ahead and submit something.  Because, don't you know, that's what editors are for.  They will fix all of your errors for you, so why bother to do it yourself?

Wrong. Nuts-bolt-bolts-54260-l

What will happen is that said editor will take one look at the glaring grammatical error on the first page and toss the manuscript over his shoulder.  That's it.  End of story.  End of your publishing hopes.  So get the piece into as good a shape as you possibly can.

Next, prepare to be patient.  Agents and editors in both the book and magazine and newspaper worlds are way more overworked than we can even begin to imagine.  Consider just this one fact: agents need to spend their working hours at the office dealing with their existing clients.  This means that the search for new ones and the reading of submissions must happen during off-hours–evenings and weekends.  So prepare thyself to wait for awhile.  A long while.  I just had an agent respond to a query with a request to read chapters after two months.  I'd long since assumed she wasn't interested.  Not the case at all.

While the process of submitting your book is slightly different than submitting an article, there's enough similarities to offer some broad stroke advice. 

1.  Get clear.  It always starts with clarity, I'm telling you!  Decide what market you're going to submit to, and make a plan.  For instance, if you desire to have your book published by a traditional New York publishing house, you're going to need an agent.   If you're going for the smaller houses, you can submit directly.  But you need to know this upfront and plan accordingly.  Perhaps your plan is to go for an agent first, and if that doesn't work out, hit up editors at smaller houses.  Same holds true for magazines.  There are A list titles and B and C and D list.  Decide how you're going to approach them.  Will you start at the top and go down? Figure out what makes sense to you. Great!  Now you're ready to:

2. Do your research.  You can't just send your book off to any old agent.  Or your article to any old editor. Or your story to any old journal. As mentioned, publishing professionals are overworked.  And if  you are submitting your urban fantasy novel to an agent who specifically says he's only interested in non-fiction, you're going to piss him off.  Or if you send an idea for an article on farming to Vogue Knitting, um, you're not going to get very far.  Result? Angry editor. And that's bad karma.  There are a gazillion sites that offer agent and publisher directories, and a million books, too.  Do a Google search.  Look around on Twitter.  Ask a writing friend for a recommendation or ideas.  Cross check to the agent's or magazine's website and make sure you are clear on what they are looking for, and that your idea matches it.

3. Follow directions.  Most agents and publishers have websites.  And somewhere on that website they'll have submission guidelines.  (If they don't, its a pretty good bet they aren't taking submissions and that you're going to be wasting your time sending something to them.  Besides, my theory is, if they don't want me, I don't want them.)  Read the guidelines and follow them exactly.  Do not send your entire manuscript if they are requesting a query only.  Don't think you are the exception.  Because you're not.  Trust me.  I know your novel is fantastic, but you're still not the exception.  And not following the rules is a very fast way to have your work go unread.

4.  Ask for more.  I've had some heartbreaking rejections from agents lately.  The kind that say, love your work, love you, blah, blah, blah, but I can't represent you for some dumb reason.  When you get a personal letter that says anything positive about your work, write them back.  Thank them for taking time to read it (you should do this no matter what) and then politely inquire if they can think of anybody else to whom you might send this manuscript?  I've had astoundingly good luck with this tactic, with some agents sending me a list of five names.  And, sometimes they'll offer to let  you use their name, too, which is a huge door opener.  (Should this lovely piece of serendipity happen to you, milk it.  Put the referring agent or editor's name in the subject line of the email and lead with it, too.)

5. Celebrate.  Every time you send a passel of stories or articles or queries out, give yourself a pat on the back.  And then go meet a friend for a drink, or take the family out to dinner.  It takes a huge, somewhat tedious effort to make a marketing push.  And now you're going to be in it for the long haul, waiting around to hear.  Life's too short to mope.  So, instead, celebrate.  Then, no matter what happens, at least you'll have fun in the meantime.

What are your favorite tips for submitting?  Any horror–or happy–stories to share?

 

0 thoughts on “Getting Your Work Out in the World: The Mechanics

  1. Trisha

    Very true about editing – and besides, I’m too much of a perfectionist to send an ms off full of typos and other glaring errors :D

  2. Regina

    Really great post. I haven’t started submitting yet but with this information it will make it a lot easier. I like the idea of going out afterward for a drink with the girls. That is a wonderful idea. New follower and fellow crusader.

  3. J.D.

    Charlotte,
    This looks like great advice. All the writers buzzing around the web looking for the keys to publishing’s magic kingdom should be in here. This series of posts you are doing is great.

  4. Raising Marshmallows

    making crusader rounds. Nice to meet you, now following!

    Nikki

  5. Charlotte,
    Your advice is excellent! Thank you so much for sharing all your experience with us.

    I can’t tell you how many times people I’ve heard the same thing about submitting raw work to an editor. I had a writing group for 5 years and in the beginning it was open to all and sometimes up to 25 people showed up to our local library. (I had no idea how to run the thing in the beginning.) One thing became painfully clear the majority didn’t want to hear any criticism what so ever, no matter how gently it was delivered. They believed that an editor would go through their book line by line and “fix it.”

  6. Chantele

    Nice to meet you! I’m just stopping by to say hello from the crusades! :D I’m a follower now! :)

  7. Charlotte Dixon

    Ah, J.D., thank you! How’s your writing going?

    Trisha, this is one time when being a perfectionist is great news. Because you really want your manuscript to be as perfect as possible when you send it out.

    Regina, hi fellow crusader, and good luck to you when you do start submitting. It’s a process, to be sure.

    Hi Nikki and Chantele, nice to meet you, thanks for stopping by. I’ll be hitting your blogs soon.

    Angela, isn’t that sad? I’ve run into the issue of people not wanting criticism, too, because they think that an editor will do all the work. It is very frustrating for those who have worked hard over successive drafts to get a manuscript in shape.

  8. Charlotte Dixon

    Oh hey, Jen, thanks for stopping by my place! I’m happy that you will pass this on to your friend and I hope its helpful. I really enjoyed your blog.

  9. Little Lessons Under the Big Sky

    It is nice to find your blog, and thank you for visiting mine!

    Such great advice here, I see! I am going to pass this along to my friend, who is in the process of sending out queries for her first novel.

    I look forward to reading and learning more. Excellent post!
    Jen Slayden

  10. Dave Connors

    hi charlotte.

    interesting post and a great-looking blog.

    for unpublished authors looking for a platform to get their work out, i have started iliterati.com – i hope you’ll check it out and even more hope you’ll like it :)

  11. Charlotte Dixon

    Hi Dave, Literati looks great, I’ll spend some time there and sign up. Great idea! Thanks for dropping by to let us know about it.

  12. Misha

    Thanks for the great tips!

    I just dropped by to say that I have an award for you on my blog. :-)

  13. Charlotte Dixon

    Hey, thank you Misha! I’m honored.

  14. Jeanne Kraus

    I am really glad to have found your site compliments of the Writing Crusade. I plan to spend some time browsing here and reading your excellent advice. Please pop over and see mine.

  15. Tina DC Hayes

    Very informative post. Number 4 is an eye opener to me, and I wouldn’t have thought to write back to agents (or honestly, I’d have been scared to. They intimidate me a little). That is a terrific idea, to follow up a personal note from them with a thank you and to see if they can suggest who might be interested.

  16. Charlotte Dixon

    Jeanne, thanks! Its great to have you here and I’ve just been by your blog also.

    Tina, I know. Agents are intimidating. But, they are people too. We forget that–and we forget that they are working for us. Instead, they like to convince us it is the other way around! I’ve had very good luck asking them for recommendations, so I encourage you to try it.

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