Im writing a book...what do I do when its finished?

Answer 1

Getting into the writing business is very hard indeed -- most people don't realise how tough you have to be to be a writer. Don't give up the day job!

First, don't worry about style or spelling or grammar at the beginning, just get the words down, get your thoughts on paper (or computer, whatever). If you use a computer switch off the grammar checker (computers are stupid, they don't know anything about grammar) and do without the spelling checker as well, they will just distract you from the job in hand.

You finish it, then you put it aside for a few weeks. Ignore it.

Then you go back and be a reader instead of a writer. Make notes, jot down where things haven't worked, where you need to expand things, notice the spelling mistakes, the grammar errors. Then go through and correct it. And print out another fair copy -- and put it aside for a couple of weeks.

Then do it again. (You can switch on the spelling checker now, but make sure it is set for the country you are in -- don't use the US spelling checker for UK work and vice versa.)

After a couple of drafts you will now be in a position to go to someone else. Friends and family will not give you an honest answer. Not a publisher or an agent, not yet, but find online (or offline) writing groups and critique groups. These people are not your friends and should give you an *honest* appraisal of the quality of your work.

You have to listen to what they say. If one person says "this bit didn't seem right" but you're happy then you can ignore them. But if two or three people say the same thing then there will be something wrong that needs correcting.

By the time you've gone through this process for a while (and at least a year has passed) you may be ready to start submitting to agents. You will need an agent for any genre except SF and fantasy (but having one is good anyway).

You need to get the Writers & Artists Yearbook which lists all the agents. You find the ones that deal with your genre, it will say what they want (a summary, a couple of chapters, whatever) ONLY SEND WHAT THEY ASK FOR. If you do anything else they will reject you instantly as being unprofessional.

These people get hundreds and thousands of manuscripts sent to them every year, the only way they can whittle down the numbers is by using every possible error to reject. Even misspelling the company name on the envelope could result in rejection.

An agent will take you on IF (and only if) they think they can sell your book to a publisher. The agents know the market and if they don't think they can sell it they will not take you on.

A quick word on vanity publishing: If you want to waste your money, then go ahead and use a vanity publisher. But do not think for one instant you'll make any money by self-publishing. These people will flatter you and tell you you're a wonderful author because they want your money. If you want flattery rather than truth, then go ahead.

This is one of the toughest businesses you can get into, it is not for wimps. You will have your ego battered, and receive rejection after rejection after rejection -- potentially hundreds of them. A friend of mine, who is now a successful author, spent 15 years trying to get published and wrote 20 books that weren't accepted. He's now had 4 novels published and has 3 more in the pipeline.

After all that, if you still want to try, then good luck!

Answer 2

Let it cool, then read it as if you were a reader (or more importantly and editor) and start making changes to tighten and clarify the book.

Then write that new draft, let it cool and look at it again.

After that look for both agents and publishers with query letters and an outline or synopsis of the book.

If the book is a genre it stands a chance, even if it's condensed and published by a pulp rag, such as Mystery or Asimov.

Once you get something published it's easier to get someone to read and take a chance on the next one.

Answer 3

If it is your first time, get your self a literary agent.

Although they generally have a very poor reputation, this is largely unjustified. A good one will cost you a decent amount of money, but will ensure your work gets in front of the proper people and will push for positive responses rather than the usual torrent of "unread" and "rejection" slips you will inevitably get.

One piece of advice I can give you from personal experience is to write a punchy summary of your book and pick the best written chapter as an example of your writing. Use these as the basis for advertising your book. No-one but no-one is going to read your whole manuscript, they will only read the first few paragraphs and this may not be representative of the whole work.

Answer 4

Most has already been said. However, include a self addressed envelope if you want your copy back from the agent, or publisher. Read Artists year book. It gives good info on publishers etc... The very best of Luck!

Answer 5

Buy the book 'The writers & artists Yearbook 2007' that tells you the full process of how to get published and gives you advice on what to do/not do. it's available from all good bookshops and is £14.99. I'm currently writing a novel and found it to be exactly what I needed.

Answer 6

i do no longer come across it very thrilling... And no offense notwithstanding i do no longer purely like the final way you enable the story pick the flow. Ie "interior the academy, good, it was very bland" and then "good i spotted i had to discover the ladies dorm to unpack." you're able to be able to additionally use lots of punctuation corrections. in my opinion I come across it very stressful which you have no longer have been given any capital letters. In first grade even you income expertise of that on the commencing up of a sentence and after a era there must be a capital letter. There are additionally some grammar blunders precise right here and there. basic, sorry, yet whilst it was released precise right into a e book i does no longer study it.

Answer 7

Send it out to publishers! You have to be thick skinned though, you're likely to get a lot of rejections, even if your book is fantastic. Good luck!

Answer 8

Avoid the larger publishers try to find a small independent one

Answer 9

You should publish it and after you publish it,you should start writing another one

Answer 10

register your content and theme before publishing for safer side and then try tp publish it through some publishers and then advertise it and gift it to ur friends