Here are some tips to use those rejection letters:

1. Put Everything in a Large Envelope
All rejection letters should be filed in an envelope. Add to it when more rejection letters come in. This is proof that you are one step closer to being published.

2. Record Submission Guidelines
Any submission information such as, “Not accepting unagented manuscripts” should be recorded. You can pass these on to your agent (when you get one!).
Sometimes book agents and editors cannot receive submissions for a few months because of their publishing cycles. Record this info, then re-submit at a later date.

3. Send Thank You Notes
Use return addresses and names in the rejection letter as an opportunity to send a quick thank you note and get yourself in front of an editor/agent one more time.

4. Use the Criticism to Improve
Use the comments in the rejection letter to modify your query letter or manuscript for future submissions.

5. Gather Publishing Information
File away information such as the number of manuscripts an agent or publisher receives each year and the number that are published.
This will motivate you when you question why you are not getting immediate results.

*** BONUS TIPS: ON THE LIGHTER SIDE ***

6. Share Your News With Loved Ones
Put each rejection letter on the bottom of your bird cage and get your revenge.

7. Feed Your Shredder
Use the rejection letters to feed your new paper shredder. I Find cross cut shredders work best. Good noise. Great fun!

8. Burn Your Rejection Letters
Each full moon burn your rejection letters with friends and good beer. This is great for bonding!

So, the next time your get a rejection letter, take a deep breath, pull your shoulders back and say to yourself, “Every rejection letter takes me one step closer to being published”.
photo credit: jessamyn

It’s a story for all writers that have ever considered self-publishing their book or have been rejected by traditional publishers.

Against all odds Lisa Genova got it done!

Recently divorced and between consulting jobs, Lisa Genova decided to write a novel rather than get another job.

“I felt crazy,” she said of that time. “I was writing at Starbuck’s while my daughter was in school. I’d just think, what am I doing?”

“I was told not to self-publish” by one literary agent, said Genova.

(We all need to be careful about taking advice from “so called” experts.)

She did it anyway, and spent a year selling the book herself before it began to gain wider attention.

She got an agent, and less than a week later, after a two-day auction, Simon and Schuster snapped up “Still Alice” for a six-figure advance.

(Don’t you love a happy ending!)

The novel, which won the 2008 Bronte Prize for excellence in romantic fiction, will be published Jan. 6 with an initial print run of 250,000 copies. Publishing rights have also been sold in 12 other countries.

==> Get inspired by Lisa and read the full story here

So, you’ve finished your book. Where do you go from here. This is the blueprint or steps for success that have worked for many aspiring writers when they are looking to get published and find an agent.

1. Write and Edit First 3 Chapters of Your Work.
Publishers and Literary agents usually request 1-3 chapters of your work. On occasion they may request your entire manuscript. It is important that the first 3 chapters be polished, free from errors and grab the reader’s attention immediately.

Make sure you at least have these chapters professionally edited or thoroughly reviewed by someone you trust.

2. Write an Excellent Query Letter.
Your Query letter must by attention getting with no grammatical errors or typos. Be clear in summarizing your work, but always leave them wanting more.

3. Locate a List of Reputable Agents that Can Handle Your Work.
Get yourself a good list. Try to locate 5-10 agents that will handle your type of work. Don’t worry about multiple submissions.

Good sources of lists are the ones provided at reputable literary agent list (Free Agent List on this page) or http://www.writers-publish.com/recommends/writersmarket.

4. Locate Publishers that Will Accept Unagented Queries.
Don’t forget to target smaller publishers who may be interested in your work. (Forget the big ones they need agents). You can find a list of publishers at http://www.writers-publish.com/recommends/writersmarket.

5. Send your Query Letter.
Send out your query letters. If the agent of publisher allows you to mail it then always choose mail over emails. Always include a self addressed stamped envelope (SASE). Mailing a query letter usually gives you a better response.

6. Wait for Responses.
Your responses from the publishers and agents will usually take 1-2 months. While you wait take writing courses and improve your manuscript.

7. Enter Writing Contests.
Find reputable writing contests that have agents and publishers on the judging committee. Enter the contests to give you further exposure to agents and to practise your craft.

8. Review Your Feedback.
Improve your query letter and manuscript based on feedback. Use any rejection letters from literary book agents and publishing editors to improve your query letter. Make any changes necessary and resend your query letter to 5 more agents and publishers.

If you receive no responses don’t dispair! Timing is everything in the publishing industry so a book rejected 2 months ago might be in demand next week.

9. Take Writing Courses. Improve Your Craft.
Always continue to improve your writing. No writer is perfect. That’s why every celebrated author hates their first book when they look back.

10. Enjoy Your Success. Be Realistic About Your Failure.
Congratulations. Celebrate if you were able to get an agent or publisher.
If you didn’t get accepted. Ask yourself if your book is marketable. You may also want to consider self-publishing.

photo credit: Earl - What I Saw 2.0

I thought it was a great question that should be addressed.

These days most publishers won’t even talk to writers, they will only go through agents. But, there are still many smaller legitimate publishers that welcome and encourage queries from writers. So, what’s the deal?

It comes down to your goals and your personality. For example, Gary Renard, best selling author of the book Disappearance of the Universe, chose to go with a publisher that was really small… only one person. Why? He wanted to retain control of the amount of editorial changes to his book. He knew if he went to a large publisher he would lose control of what got produced. After the book performed well, he later went on to sign with a large publisher who left the book intact.

So, what is your situation? Are you just satisfied to see your name in print? Do you need the marketing clout a large publisher can provide?

For most people I would recommend that they send query letters to both publishers and agents. By the way, you DON’T NEED to have an agent to sign with a publisher. You can always attract one later, just make sure you review your publishing contract.

I spoke to Rad Zdero author of the book “Entopia” who recently was published by a small publisher in Virginia. He was very happy with the service provided by his publisher and is currently seeking an agent so he can focus more on his writing.

Lessons learned? Just go for it and send out query letters to both agents and publishers. It’s the same letter anyway!

photo credit: gin_able

Does your book look good on the inside and outside?

I got an email the other day from a writer who was self-publishing his book.

He asked, “I know that the cover of my book is important, but what about the inside? Can you recommend some software that will help me lay out my book and make it look professional?”

I thought about it for a while…

In the past I used to do it myself. My results were OK but far from professional.

When you looked at my printed output something was off. The font I chose didn’t look quite right, and the amount of room for the margin was too tight.

What I really needed was a simple template based in Microsoft Word that would allow me to easily create the table of contents, headings, and page numbers and would be ready to go directly to a printer or allow me to create an ebook.

http://writers-publish.com/recommends/bookdesignwizard.html

You may want to check out Book Design Wizard. It works for Fiction, Non Fiction and Poetry.

http://writers-publish.com/recommends/bookdesignwizard.html

photo credit: tavopp

These days agents and publishers don’t have the time to critique your query letter or manuscript. They won’t even tell you why you got rejected to allow you to do better next time.

Let me give you the inside scoop of the top 9 reasons a query letter submission gets rejected. Use this list to check your next submission BEFORE it goes out!

TOP 9 REASONS YOUR QUERY LETTER MAY GET REJECTED

1. No Unagented Submissions.
Some publishers don’t accept submissions from the general public — Only from agents. Locate a good literary agent first!

2. No Writing Platform.
A writing platform is your ability to drive sales through your fame or media experience. That means you’ve done TV interviews, radio interviews or written for a newspaper before. If your goal is to be placed with one of the large publishing houses like Random House, Penguin, Harper Collins etc. THEY WILL NOT CONSIDER YOU without an established platform.

3. No Market Information.
You did not identify the size of your market in your query letter. You failed to provide statistics that justify the number of potential readers for your book. Because, of course, publishers and agents are in it for the money.

4. Your Query Letter is Sloppy.
You have typos, misspellings and grammatical mistakes in your letter. Agent’s and publishers expect you to be a professional writer — that means no mistakes. If you have mistakes you will be rejected immediately. Hire an editor or get someone to review your work.

5. Your Book Has No Market.
It doesn’t matter how good your writing is, if no one cares about your topic it won’t sell. A good clue your book is unmarketable is if you can’t find books similar to yours in the bookstore or you don’t have a clue which section your book belongs in.

6. You Are an Unpublished Writer.
Some agents only work with authors who have been published previously.

7. You Didn’t Identify the Correct Agent/Publisher.
Some agents and publishers specialize in certain genres. So, if your book is a romance novel don’t submit it to an agent who specializes in science fiction.

8. The Agent/Publisher is Not Taking Submissions.
The book publishing industry has seasons as well as peaks and valleys. Some agents/publishers are busy with other projects making it impossible to review any new submissions.

9. Your Writing is Not Good.
Your writing does not flow and does not capture the reader’s attention. Contrary to what most people think, if you are the best writer in the world your work will still be rejected if you don’t have the things mentioned above.

photo credit: andreasnilsson1976

I know you need to create a book cover, because everyone knows book covers sell books. So you should do it yourself… Right?

Wait! Don’t try to create your own book cover …

…Unless you have the right tools!

Having a BAD COVER can hurt sales!
Having a GREAT book cover can put lots
of money in your pockets.

I came across some new software, BookCoverPro. It’s an awesome piece software that let’s you create professionally designed book covers even if you are not great with graphics or computers.

http://www.writers-publish.com/recommends/bookcoverpro.html

How is it different than other book cover software out there?

1) It is designed for self publishers.

2) It produces barcodes for your book jacket.

3) It produces output that you can send straight to your online printer like Lulu and BookSurge.

4) It has no complicated functions like Photoshop or Illustrator.

5) It is totally template driven which means it’s simple even for beginners.

6) It is compatible with Mac and PC computers.

What’s NOT so great about it?

1) It is not for everyone. It is designed for self publishers. This means you plan to print a certain number of REAL books not ebooks for sale.

2) There are several cheaper ebook cover creators out there if you only want a cover for your website and you don’t want to produce a printed book.

The folks at BookCoverPro have a neat screen show that shows you exactly how it works. If you do nothing else, take 2 minutes to watch it and you’ll see how great it really is.

Check it out:

http://www.writers-publish.com/recommends/bookcoverpro.html

photo credit: shawn.l

Last week I sat down with three Literary Agents to discuss what they look for from writers. It really opened my eyes. For me, it was a great situation to get inside their heads. If you’ve ever submitted a query letter and have been rejected you probably felt terrible about the whole process.

I want to tell you, “Literary agents WANT you to succeed!”

They were candid and open and each of them provided me with
great advice to help you. Without too much disagreement they
were able to decide on the top 5 things that cause them to
choose one writer’s work over another and also to rank them in
order of importance.

Here’s what they told me are the 5 Keys to Getting Published:

1. Great Query Letter.
It all begins with your query letter. All of the agents said they
would not even consider an author’s submission if they did not
submit an excellent query letter. They agreed that query letters
should be no more than 2 pages and should use a standard format.

2. Terrific Writing.
Nothing moves an agent more like coming across great writing. For
fiction, one agent said, “I love a good page turner that can keep
me awake at night”. They all agreed your writing should have a
strong, assured narrative voice and good character development. A
great plot is an absolute must. If you are writing non-fiction it
should be clear and well organized. Great writers make the dullest
subjects come alive.

3. Strong Media Connections.
This is very important for non-fiction writers but also becoming
equally important for fiction writers. All the agents wanted
authors who regularly did speaking engagements or wrote in a
syndicated newspaper column. They were looking for solid media
credentials because they felt the marketing of the book is key
to its success.

4. Understanding the Genre.
All of the agents were dumbfounded that first time writers don’t
read deeply in their genre to understand what sells and what
doesn’t. They recommend you should read at least 20-50 books
from your competition.

5. Willing to be Collaborative.
Some agents love to provide editorial input before your work goes
to a publisher. You have to be willing and open to accept
criticism and feedback to make changes that will make your
work marketable.

photo credit: Dain Sandoval

Have you been searching for an agent for a while now? Have you sent out more query letters than you can count? Having an agent will give you access to industry contacts and inside knowledge that you don’t possess. They’ll keep you current with editors’ tastes and needs and negotiate advances and publishing contracts to your advantage. So, they can help you a lot. Let me give you some unconventional tips that show how to publish your book by helping you track down that elusive agent.

1. Find Literary Agents Through Other Writers

Published authors are very much like you. They are every day ordinary people, but at times can be reclusive when they are working on a project. If you write to your favorite author, most of the time they will respond back to you personally! This gives you an opportunity to build a relationship and possibly a referral to a well connected agent.

2. Get Discovered By Winning A Writing Contest

Here is a gem of a tip. A lot of writing contests actually use literary agents as judges. This will give you exposure and could lead to you being offered a deal after the contest. Warning: choose your writing contests wisely. Review the list of judges so you know who will review your work.

3. Find Them On The Internet

Although book publishing agents don’t advertise for new writers, they usually have a web presence. It’s just a matter of sorting the good from the scams (sorry I meant to say bad!). Look around the web for lists of legitimate agents. I’ve provided a link below to a list that you may want to take a look at.

4. Talk To Book Publishers

Book publishers, of course have good relationships with agents. But here’s the trick, if you get an opportunity to communicate with a publisher (even a small one) they may be able to refer you to agents they use. Then it’s just a matter of networking within the group to land with one that represents works like yours.

Finally, The tips I’ve provided are unconventional and require you to do more work than hit the send button on your e-mail program. But, I believe this road less traveled should give you some access to agents with less competition. One of the best things you can do for yourself is to write, write and write some more and just keep sending your work out to literary agents and publishers. If you have the talent, sooner or later you will strike gold.

photo credit: ImageMD