It seems like there has never been a tougher time in human history to get a book traditionally published. The stratospheric rise of the self-publishing market is just one factor among many that is contributing to traditional publishers being less willing than ever to take a chance on a new, untried author.
While there’s a lot of truth to that argument, it isn’t quite the whole story. I’m a hybrid author. At this (still early) stage in my career, roughly fifty percent of my books are published by traditional publishers, and the other half are self-published via Amazon Kindle. If I was able to beat the slush pile with four different publishing houses and get my books to market, then so can you.
Here are some pointers:
1 – Finish your damn book.
This might sound obvious, but finish at least the first draft of your book before you pitch. Some publishers are a little more lenient on their guidelines (my first publisher only wanted three sample chapters and a complete outline) but many will want to see the entire manuscript before taking things further. Alternatively, they may find your first few chapters intriguing enough to want to see the rest – in which case, you’d do well to have it ready.
2 – Know who you’re pitching to.
My non-fiction books are all written in the true-life paranormal genre. I went to my closest bookstore and headed straight for that section. Running my fingers along the book covers and spines, I picked out the nine or ten most common publishing houses, and made a note of their names (taking photos of the publisher logos made this really easy). When I went home, I Googled those publishing houses, then worked my way through each of their websites, looking for one very specific little nugget of info: did they accept unsolicited submissions?
These are the publishers who can be pitched to without your having to go through an agent first. Getting an agent (and whether you need one) is a whole other conversation, but let’s just say for now that cutting out the middle man really worked well for me. Those are the publishing houses that you want to target your pitch to: the ones who publish books in YOUR field of interest, and will accept your unsolicited submission.
3 – Edit. Be ready to murder your babies.
By which I mean, unless you’re one hell of a prodigy, your words (your precious little darlings) are probably not quite the sacred treasures you think they are. And that’s totally OK. You’re emotionally invested in your work, having just put your heart and soul into it (hopefully) and nobody wants to entertain the fact that their magnum opus may be anything less than awesome.
Either engage the services of a third-party editor (not cheap, but totally worth it) or join an online group for writers. Get some critiques of your work from objective third parties. Once you get that feedback, be sure to LISTEN to it. Yes, it will be painful. Not getting your book in print is even more painful.
4 – Submission “guidelines”: they really aren’t.
They might be called guidelines, but you flaunt them at your peril. If the publisher wants you to submit in 16-point Arial font with double-spacing, be sure to submit your work in exactly that format. If they ask for a five thousand word sample, don’t send in six. More is NOT better. The same applies to four thousand. Less is not better either. A writer that can follow the guidelines to a ‘T’ shows a certain degree of professionalism, which is more likely to make them want to work with you. Who wants to work with someone who can’t be bothered to learn the rules, let alone follow them? Chances are, you’ll be sunk before sailing out of the harbor.
5 – Get ready to wait.
I’ve been fortunate enough to get fairly fast responses (read: within a few weeks to three months) on some of my early books. The waiting is nothing short of bloody interminable. You’ll be tempted to send off a polite follow-up email “just to check on whether my submission got there.” DON’T, unless it has been four to six months without you having heard a word from them (some publishers will tell you on their website how long their average response time is, which usually hovers somewhere between six months and a year).
What should you do to kill the time while you’re waiting? Simple. Start work on your next book. Or fine-tune the one you just pitched. Whatever it is, make sure it ups your word count and builds upon what you’ve already written. Don’t waste that time frantically F5-ing your inbox, waiting for an answer that may never come.
6 – “Thanks, but no thanks.”
Rejection notices are the bread and butter of first-time authors. We collect them like shite collects flies. It’s easy to get downhearted. Remember how many times J.K. Rowling was rejected with “Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s/Philosopher’s Stone” (erase depending on which side of the Atlantic you reside on) or Stephen King was with “Carrie.”
Some publishers will be kind enough to offer you a few tidbits of advice. You’d do well to heed them. My first proposal was a book that covered the way to run a paranormal investigation. The rejection came after a few weeks, and told me in a polite but very firm manner that “my concept was interesting, but those kinds of how-to books just aren’t selling right now.” Don’t waste your time trying to convince them otherwise. Move on to the next publisher. If you’ve tapped them all out, move on to your next book. Above all else, move on.
7 – ‘No’ isn’t always ‘no.’
There is rejection and then there’s Rejection, with that capital ‘R.’ Take that first book of mine. Sure, the publisher said no, but the reason that they gave was one that left me a little bit of an open door: “those kind of how-to books just aren’t selling right now.” So I wrote them back and after thanking them politely for their feedback, asked if they would tell me what WAS selling right now. The acquisition editor emailed me back and told me that the market for true-life ghost stories and encounters was particularly strong, and that if I had any pitches that met those criteria, she would be happy to look at them.
I had twenty years of investigating haunted houses (and plenty of not-so-haunted ones) under my belt, and a lot of true stories. I hurriedly put together three chapters, and an outline for the rest of a proposed book, along with a marketing plan to sell the book.
That’s the book that was accepted and became my first print title to be contracted (the second to be published, but that’s a different story). It’s entirely possible that if you can write well, then the publisher will be willing to work with you on a different project, one that they believe to be more saleable.
To cut a long story short, despite the highly competitive nature of today’s traditional publishing industry, it’s still possible to beat the odds and make it through the slush pile. Work hard, work smart, and don’t give up. Above all else – keep writing!
Good luck,
Richard Estep
