How does a new author manage to get a publisher to even bother to read their enquiry letter?

Question

I have sent many letters, not manuscripts mind, via email. Just a brief, concise letter asking if they would be considerate enough to read one chapter. They don't bother to reply or send a computerised note saying "no". How on earth do new authors get through the barriers?

Perhaps I should have said "publisher or agent". Helpful answers would be more useful than "get an agent!"

Answer 1

Hi there. The biggest hurdle in getting a book published is finding a reputable agent. Most agencies have thousands of manuscripts sent to them every year and typically, they only select a few that are worthy to represent. DO NOT submit to anyone that requires up front money or "reading" fees. Most agencies will read your book for nothing if it's well presented and if they think it has merit. Reading fees are a rip off.

You can check on legitimate agencies at the Preditors & Editors website. They keep an up to date list of current agents and any problems writers have had with them.

Now, once you find an agency, you need an excellent query letter to get their attention. Search the web for examples. If your query letter is sloppy or has misspelled words, you're TOAST. Get a qualified copy editor to help you, if you can afford one. Then, once the agency reads your query and agrees to look at your manuscript, MAKE SURE IT IS PERFECT before you send it off. Again, bad formatting, grammar problems or poor spelling will doom you from the start. Pay an editor to proof your work--it's worth a few hundred bucks to get your foot in the door with an agent.

After that, be prepared to wait up to 3 months for an answer from the agency. DO NOT submit to more than one agency at a time. That's the kiss of death. If your work is good, an agency will then offer you a contract. From there, it's another 3 month wait (often) for them to find you a publisher. Once you get a publisher, it takes about a year to actually see your book in print.

I hope this helps. If you're serious about getting published, you can make it happen. It takes time, patience and a lot of luck. And as a note of reality, of all the fiction books published in a given year, only about 13% ever sell more than 1,000 copies. Most (75%) sell fewer than 500. Contrary to popular belief, most authors don't get rich. I know--I'm a published author!

Jon Baxley, author, editor, proofreader and ghostwriter

THE SCYTHIAN STONE (a medieval fantasy eBook)
THE BLACKGLOOM BOUNTY (a medieval fantasy epic in hard cover from Thomson Gale)
THE REGENTS OF RHUM (coming, fall '07)

Answer 2

The others are correct. Unfortunately it is as hard to get a good agent as it is to get a publisher. Read their guidelines and submit exactly as they outline. Send hard copies with a SAE if they ask. Send a chapter or two in the format they ask. Check out Predators and Editors before you contact anyone else http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/peala.htm

You ms must be the best it can be before submitting any part of it. If it's fiction, you should be finished before you start looking for agents. Remember there are an estimated 100,000 ms doing the rounds of agents and publishers in the US at ANY ONE TIME. Yours must be so good (ie Chap 1 must be so good) someone will want to see the rest.

Don't be put off by 30-plus rejection letters. Write a brilliant query letter - short, snappy, a little about you (esp previous published works) and 1-2 paras on the story - no more. You may include a list of similar books being sold now, their publishers, their rank on Amazon, their readers.

Consider getting a reputation by publishing some short stories in magazines. A previous record in publishing is the best recommendation. Also, you may get a professional assessment or edit on your ms, but that'll cost.

Best of luck. The first one is always the hardest.

Answer 3

It may help other people answering your question if you would explain what kind of book/writing that you are trying to publish. There is a difference between trying to publish a children's book versus trying to publish a non-fiction piece. It would also help if you explained which publishers you applied to and how you went about doing it so that people can actually critique your application process and actually give you tips more specific to you.

Unfortunately, the previous answerers are correct where in many cases an agent is the answer, especially when applying to larger publishing companies. Without an agent and with the little info you give, the only suggestion I would make at the moment is that you should try your luck with some of the smaller-sized publishers instead. (referenced from first link)

Also, go out and buy yourself a full set of envelopes, nice stationary, and a batch of stamps. Use traditional mail instead of email for your proposals/applications. It's more formal for starters while email is less personal. With email it is also simply too easy for anyone to press a button and delete without a care.

Edit in: Applying to a 'publisher' and applying to get an 'agent' are two different things, thus not interchangeable. For some information on agents check the second link (and the other articles for that particular topic at the site).

Answer 4

Read the writers guidelines for the publisher or agent, word by word, and follow it to the T. They are usually looking for excuses to toss your manuscript right out, and filter things down. E-Mail usually goes unread, unless they specifically say that they accept e-mail submissions.

I would submit the first chapter of your book, or a synopsis, with the query letter. Most likely, you will wind up in the so called "slush pile" with a thousand other submissions. But there is a rare chance it will get read. You cant be discouraged by one or two, or even a hundred rejection letters, if you really want to make it.

Answer 5

Literary agents submit the work of their clients to publishers.

You need a literary agent, otherwise the publisher won't read your manuscript.

They do not respond because they know most of the work is junk, otherwise the person would have a literary agent.

Get an agent.

Answer 6

Hand of Isis by Jo Graham about Cleopatra and the expansion of the Roman Empire. It's historical fiction. Most of the events that her characters attend or encounter are recorded historically. I took a class in college about ancient Rome so I could verify that all the information she was pulling to add to the plot was correct. Even though there was a lot of history, it didn't take momentum away from the storyline or the characters.

Answer 7

Agents have interns or assistants to handle most of their submitted queries. (Run-of-the-mill college interns, people off the street, and so forth--even lawyers!)

So do publishers.

You just have to keep pushing yourself through no matter what.

And keep writing and submitting now and then.

Everything is market-based, so you have to write what the industry wants you to write. Not what you want to write.

Answer 8

JJ is right. You have to have an agent these days.