Newcomer...

[matthewdsn]

OK. I'm new here. I'm based in the United Kingdom and am currently writing. I have written some (unpublished) screenplays but am concentrating on a book right now. My question is this: What is the best way to publish it? I have been through the maze of the internet and have to admit, I got a little lost. Reading the do's and dont's didn't help me at all, probably because every site I wandered into had its own versions of advice, most contradicting each other - I was told not to go to an agent unless I was the Dutchess of Windsor...

The 'book' I am currently writing is constructed of four novellas. I'm not sure this is best for a first publish (according to Stephen King this is part of the ghetto market). I was directed to come here and ask for help. Hopefully I will find someone who can do just that.

Thanks.

[Aconite]

Welcome to the board. Wow, what a big question. Since I don't know where you're starting from or what your goals are, I'm going to assume you already understand the writing process and manuscript formatting, that you're looking for commercial publication, and that you're looking for the most basic information right now, with finer details to come later as you get further into the process.

The first thing you should know is Yog's Law: Money flows toward the author. (Yog is James D. Macdonald, or Uncle Jim, as he's also known here.) Never, never, never pay your agent or publisher out of pocket--not for reading fees, for editing, for co-publishing, or anything else. Respectable publishers pay you for your work and assume the other costs of publishing themselves, and respectable agents work on commission.

To find a reputable agent or publisher, do your research. Go to bookstores and look for books similar to yours. (Publishers who get books in physical bookstores are doing a lot of things right, which is why you want to start there and not by skimming Amazon listings.) Note who published them. Find out who agented them. Check references. (Look in the Bewares and Background Check forum for more information on this step.) When you have a handful of vetted agents or publishers, start querying. Start with top agents and publishers and work your way down--you want experience and influence on your side.

In an ideal world, your queries will generate requests for you to submit your manuscript. Do this according to the agents' or publishers' guidelines. If you get no positive responses to your queries, punch up your query letter and submit to your next round of agents and publishers. During all this, be writing your next book.

If you get an agent first, the agent will submit your work to appropriate publishers (often after suggesting some changes to improve the book). If you get a publisher first, go to your top-choice agent and tell them that you have an offer on your book, and ask if they would they be interested in representing you. In the unlikely event they decline, go to your second-choice agent and do the same thing. (You want someone experienced representing you--publishing is complex and arcane and not for the uninitiated. Don't try to wing it on your own.) When you get a publisher, the publisher will work with you to improve the book, so don't think all the work is over once you get an offer!

While all the querying is going on, make sure you're educating yourself about how publishing really works, what makes a good contract, what you can expect from your agent and publisher, and so on. The more you know, the better your odds of making good decisions.

Best of luck!

[matthewdsn]

Thanks for the reply. The problem with looking at books similar to mine is, well, there is no particular genre to the whole collection. It has a love story, or the effects of love on different types of people in different situations. It has a war story, one of madness, and a 'horror' situation. All of the stories are linked by characters, places, etc.

The only book I could compare it to would be Hearts In Atlantis by Stephen King. Most ideas I have, either unexplored or explored, are very different from each other. However, I will take your advice as best I can. But I somehow feel that my first atempt at publishing should be a solid story, not a collection of interlinked novellas. I may be wrong, but maybe that would work best if/when I am established a little.

Luckily time is on my side and ideas are plentyful. I will do my research and ask around. Although, doesn't it tick you off that some "celebrities" have publishers knocking at their doors for some input in a story about their lives when many talented writers have trouble getting recognised? I am taking nothing away from those who have written great books on their personal stories - Nick Mason to name one.

Well, I guess some are just in a better position than others...

Kind regards.

[aruna]

Welcome, from another UK writer! This is the right place; you'll find a wealth of information here, there are lots of threads on all aspects of publishing. You might want to read the Ask the Agent thread in The Book World Forum - though this is a US based forum most of the info also applies to the UK. Good luck, and keep trying!
As for your question on your book, you're right, it's probably better - ie easier - to break in with an established, clear cut genre. Publishers will really only take something compteley new from a first time author if the writing is so spectacular they know it will win get on the Booker shortlist or something. The need to have a handle on it, to identify it, to know how to market it.
But there are editors here who can probably advise you better than I can.

[Aconite]

The problem with looking at books similar to mine is, well, there is no particular genre to the whole collection.
That's okay. You're not necessarily looking for a genre. If your book is interlinked novellas, see what you can find that's similar in both style and tone. You might find that your work fits a genre or subgenre that you aren't aware of. (And if you're really not sure about publishing them as one book, have you thought about submitting them individually as short stories?)

Luckily time is on my side and ideas are plentyful. I will do my research and ask around.
That's a great place to be in. You have ideas, you have time--no need to rush into anything.

Although, doesn't it tick you off that some "celebrities" have publishers knocking at their doors for some input in a story about their lives when many talented writers have trouble getting recognised?
Not really. I don't think about them much. I'm not competing with them for publishers' attention, because we're not writing the same types of books, and the profit publishers make off the celebs' books underwrites the ones I'm interested in reading and writing. The celebs' books get people in the bookstores or newstands or wherever they're buying books, and that means they may browse and pick up other books like, oh, mine, if fortune smiles. And, too, the books are probably ghostwritten, so for every celeb book, there's a ghostwriter with some hard-earned cash. So I don't sweat it.

Do stick around--people with vastly more experience than I will be here with advice and answers soon, I'm sure. Best of luck to you.

[matthewdsn]

Thank you. I accept your point about celebrities and books. As for publishing my stories seperatly as short stories, I think it would be better if they stayed together. The interconections would be gone and I think that those links between the characters add as a strong point and back up any emotions that the reader is going to feel. Although, short stories are sometimes easier to get out of me.

Kind regards.