Literature

How to Attempt to Get a Novel Published

Hell, I haven't published a novel. But I've tried harder, and got further, than most. I remember trawling huge numbers of sites trying to find some master plan, some unstoppable secret weapon to help me get my first novel published. What I can tell you is that the guides that are out there are largely contradictory and often misleading. And whilst the business of writing and publishing novels is a difficult, time-consuming, and ruthless one, there are a few golden rules that you can try to stay within if you're really serious about becoming the next Stephen King, Philip Pullman or (god help us) Dan Brown.

Write a brilliant and/or commercial novel

To get published, a novel needs to either be brilliant or commercial. Ideally, it needs to be both. The Honda corporation has long asserted that a good product will sell itself, and this is probably true, but conversely R.L. Stine's kids horror books weren't exactly darlings of the critical media but probably made the guy enormous mountains of cash. You might imagine that for you to get your novel published, you'll need to send in a hefty manuscript which when read by an experienced and kindly publisher's employee, will suddenly set their world on fire and then bang, you're published. As we'll realise, this is a bit disconnected from the truth. That said, you do of course need to write something that makes a very good impression on the readers at the sinister corporate HQ of your chosen manuscript recipient. But remember that a novel, upon publication, is a commercial entity like anything else when the reader first sets eyes on your manuscript among countless others, there's one line they'll be particularly fixated on. The bottom line. Publishers are out to make a profit – the more huge, the better. Remember this and you have a chance.

Make your manuscript appropriately

You won't be able to visit the publishers personally and describe to them in great detail how you're epic Tolkien-esque fantasy is supposed to work. Your manuscript, a copy of part of or the entirety of your work that you send to them, must speak for you. Of course this means that your story must be clear and easily understandable – but it means other things as well. Think about what your manuscript actually consists of – seventy handwritten, painstakingly copied pages? I think not. Print your manuscript in a sensible font and size and on good quality paper, and print in perhaps tens of times. Buy plastic binding coils from a decent stationer and use these to make a smart binding for your text – you don't want pages to be flying around everywhere when it arrives, getting mixed up with period romances. Make sure the pages are numbered and that your name and the novel's title appears at least on the cover page, if not at the top of each page. Make chapters, paragraphs and sections out clearly.

Also, think carefully about how much of your novel to send off. The first chapter or a full third? Even the whole thing? Sometimes it's best to keep your cards close to your chest and send a small portion that ends on a cliffhanger. Alternatively, if you send the whole thing and they like the start, they might digest the rest and you're in there. Of course, if you're ending is poor, keep it back long enough to improve it, before they tear you apart.

Decide where to send your manuscript

This is a big decision, and you should devote a lot of thought to it – where are you going to send your manuscript? Most people would send it straight off to a publisher – I'd strongly discourage this. Publishers of any repute are huge, bustling, horrific places that don't take kindly to unsolicited submissions – like yours. Instead, I'd send your manuscript to a literary agent. These are much smaller bodies which act as an intermediary between writers and the huge publishing houses. There are various advantages to sending your text off to one:

1. They receive fewer manuscripts than a publisher, and can give yours more time
2. If you're lucky, they're more likely to respond to you personally
3. There are lots more to choose from
4. If they accept you, they do the legwork in attempting to entice a publisher

If you search around on the net, you'll soon find lots and lots of websites for these literary agents. They act as the gatekeepers for the publishing business – always scouting for the next big thing. Because of this, they often accept, or even encourage, unsolicited manuscripts. It's just a case of deciding which of them to send your text off to. Except – you shouldn't choose just one. Generally, the waiting time for a response is at least a month and so you should use a shotgun method – using the many copies of your manuscript or excerpt, send them off to multiple literary agents either all at the same time or on a staggered basis. The more you send, the better your chances of publication.

How to send your manuscript

This seems obvious – just put it in the post, yes? Not quite. Firstly, you're going to need a covering letter for each of the manuscript copies you send out. This should be a formally-addressed piece, brief but descriptive, giving the barest details about your plot and what you're trying to achieve. Don't grovel, and don't sound desperate. Try to give off a carefree attitude, as if you've got a thousand other agents to send this to. Because of course, you have.

Take account of how much the postage is going to cost you – if you're sending a 200,000 word novel in its entirety on A4 to twelve agents, the cost is going to stack up. Budget carefully if you're hoping that literary fame will drag you out of poverty. The other thing is, it's normal practice to send a stamped and addressed envelope with your manuscript so that the agent can freely send your text back to you. You don't expect them to pay, do you? Obviously, this envelope needs to be big enough.

Deal with waiting

If you get any response at all within a month count yourself lucky. This process takes time. Don't get impatient, and definitely don't badger the agent. They've no obligation to send you anything, but don't worry, they almost certainly will.

Types of responses

There are a few basic types of responses, one of which you can expect from each of the agents you send to.

1. Outright rejection
2. A letter written by the agent with their comments
3. Nothing

As you can tell, numbers 1 and 3 are pretty bad so you're hoping for 2. 1 is pretty damn likely and 3 is pretty damn unlikely. If 1 happens, you may well receive a little pre-printed card that simply and politely thanks you for your submission but informs you of your rejection. If a few months go by (say, three or four) you'll know that 3 has probably happened. If 2 happens, you can have a little celebration. You'll feel really proud, I can tell you. Basically the agent will address a letter to you personally and will send it to you in with your returned manuscript. It's possible that this letter is in itself, a rejection. If it is, however, you'll probably have received some constructive criticism from a professional, in which case, don't feel too bad. Take it on board and if you want to, try again, or re-edit your text. Alternatively, the agent might ask you to either contact them or send them more of your text if you didn't send them the whole thing in the first place. We're really entering into a grey area here – there's really no telling in many ways what the agent will actually do. They're human beings after all, and they may well have mixed feelings about your work. You'll have to hope that you strike it lucky, because there's a lot of luck involved in the whole process.

Conclusions

There's no way around it – this is a tricky business. But I must stress the first point again – you really need to be sure that what you've written is worth the cost and effort of attempting to get support from a literary agent to help you get it published. Bear in mind the vast volume of writing that both agents and publishers receive every day, let alone every month or year. Masses of it is dreadful tat, which they quickly eliminate – but no doubt there's also a lot of competition between the better pieces out there. Make sure that yours can see off the competition, in some way or another.

Once you're sure of that, my method should see you well up to the final stages. By that time it will become so personalised that there's no way anyone can predict how the interplay between writer and agent/publisher will play out. Remember that the whole game is about making yourself seem professional, passionate about what you're doing, and remaining determined. If you're truly passionate enough about the whole idea, even if you've tried my suggestions and failed – no doubt you'll one day find a way. Sometimes the way to achieve something lies beyond the realm of prediction or suggestion. But I can hardly write an article about that, can I?

Good luck.

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