Publishing

There are many sources around AW, Bunnie, but one of the best is this one:

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6710

And here is a helpful Index:
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8754

Plus, others will drop by to give advice and make suggestions.

Also note the 'How to become published' in my sigline. It comes right out of the first link up top.

Write, write, write. Edit. Pray.

I'd put it like this:

1. Write
2. Revise
3. Submit
4. Repeat as needed

The key to getting published is, as you will hear numerous times, writing something great. The way to write something great is to keep working at it. It's one of those things that require persistence for success, just like losing weight, or saving money, or keeping the house clean.

Good luck.

And READ, of course. A person has got to read a lot (a whole lot) to see what's out there, to get better, and to generally gain a perspective on the world of publishing.

All of the above plus write, revise, and write and revise.

Did you have specific questions, Bunnie?

Inkwalk said:

Yes lots and lots as I have published over forty novels and have taught writing for over thirty years. Contact me at so and so dot net for an opportunity to learn more about publishing than you could get in four years at a university.

Click to expand...

Robert, it kinda sounds like you're trying to sell your services. If that's the case, might we expect to find the above sales pitch from you every time someone has a question about publishing around here?

As said above, keep revising the work so you're really happy with it yourself. Then have others read it and when they're really excited about it (genuinely) then you're getting there.

Now you've done about ten percent of the work. I've never had an agent but it seems that anywhere except NZ and AUS that is a real posibility. There are many threads here talking about contacting an agent for you to read.

I've published in Aus, USA and Canada by contacting the publisher direct. First I used Preditors and Editors to make sure I wasn't contacting the wrong people. Then I made a list of publishers in my genre who accept contact from the author direct. I find it's essential to study the publisher's website. I send exactly what the publisher wants, nothing more, nothing less. I spend a lot of time on the communication. If my submission sounds amateurish, what can they expect of my manuscript?

Ask your library, or buy if you're filthy rich, a couple of books on preparing literary proposals. Make sure the writer has had a lot of publishing experiance. In that way you'll get an insite into the industry.

And keep your fingers crossed. And god luck.