how can you tell your writing's good enough to be published?

Question

i really love to write and i've been doing it for years. i won some competitions in writing short stories. lately i've been considering to actually publish my story but i'm kind of scared that the publisher might reject it. what's the measurement to know wheter your writing is good or bad? i mean, i can't judge my own writing, right?

i appreciate your help. thanks :)

Answer 1

You will be rejected. Probably dozens of times. If the fear of rejection is stopping you, then you will never publish. There are actually books out of famous rejection letters for books that later became bestsellers.

Of course, you will never get accepted if you don't work on your spelling and grammar. These are the two most important tools of the writing trade. If you don't master them, you will never get published professionally.

Rejection is a neccessary and normal part of the process. As a publisher, I can list some of the most common reasons why I reject books:

1. Writer doesn't follow directions. This is the BIGGEST PROBLEM. If I say submit the work in a WORD.doc in 12 pt Times New Roman, then you better submit it that way. If you submit it as a PDF with 16 pt italics in fuschia, I am not going to read it. Those submission guidelines exist for a reason. When I ran my writing contest last year, 40% of the entries were rejected because of this. 40%!!!!!!

2. Wrong market. I am a speculative fiction publisher. You can have the greatest romance novel in the world. I am not going to publish it. I don't publish chick lit. I don't publish children's stories. If I get these things, they get rejected unread. During our 2005 writing contest, the submission guidelines clearly stated we would not accept vampire romances. Out of the 204 entries, would you like to guess how many vampire romances we got? 37. All rejected.

3. Unprofessional presentation: I got the following query e-mail the other day. "HI! i want 2b a riter and i want 2 rite 4 UR company i have a grate idea for a rpg and i will rite 4u if u promise not 2 rip me off."

If you cannot prove to me you can construct a complete, correct sentence, I an going to reject the work. I don't care how great you think your story is. If I can't read it I am not buying it.

4. Unoriginal ideas: Believe me, there is nothing original about an angst-filled sexy vampire that falls in love with a "flame haired" or "raven haired" mortal woman. If I never see the words "flame haired" again, it will not bother me. You might have mastered the basic mechanics of storytelling, but the story itself sounds like a hundred others and brings nothing new to the table. Predicable plots, stereotypical characters, redundant pacing, these things destroy a story.

One of the things I always do is tell a writer WHY their work is rejected. I don't send form letters...ever. When we were putting together our zombie anthology Dead Men (and Women) Walking, I rejected three of the stories that ended up in the book. I explained to the writers why the stories were rejected, they LISTENED and made the needed changes, then resubmitted. The new versions of the stories were far superior to the originals and ended up getting published.

So to make a long story short, don't be afraid of rejection. Rejection is an opportunity to correct problems with your work and make it even better.

Answer 2

The fact you've won some competitions should confirm that someone out there likes what you write.

You should know once you travel the road toward publication, you're going to get rejections. You better have a thick skin because you might get a LOT of rejections.

Editors and agents are on the look out for specific work, writing that fits certain criteria. The writing must be good, original and strong. And polished. However a rejection doesn't always mean your writing isn't good; it means it wasn't what they were looking to publish.

Find a critique group, in your region or online. These are people who will give you constructive criticism and feedback (your friends and family will only give you praise which won't let you know if your writing is any good.)

Get a current copy of Writer's Market, available in any decent book store or in the reference section of your library. Start from there.

Good luck.

Answer 3

Well, you've won competitions for your writing so your obviuosly not the only one who thinks your writing is good. I think you should go for it. And if you get turned down then send it in to a different publisher. I once read in an interview I was reading online that gart nix(a writer) says that you should send your story into atleast twenty different publishers before giving up. And even then you should maybe try a different story, that one might just not have been THE one. Besides, you can't lose anything by trying.

Answer 4

You can't likely know. You need the help of a professional editor, agent, and publisher. Go to the library and get a book on how to publish your work, and send out some samples.

Join a writer's group and get some feedback. You can also learn from others' success and mistakes.

Answer 5

It's awfully hard to judge with such a limited manuscript. Sound's like it could be good.

Answer 6

You can't know. That's the reason you should take writing classes. Your teacher and your fellow students WILL let you know. If that isn't an option, then submit your writing to an agent. If it shows merit, you'll be offered representation.

But I still think your best bet is to take writing classes. Cheers; and good luck.

Answer 7

well, if u've won competitions, it means u r a good writer. if u feel that the topic is nice and is near to ur heart, or just a good topic related to ppl then try it. have ur friends or family read the work and tell u which one's a betterfor publishing first (or firstly if it is good enough)

Answer 8

Send samples to publishing houses and get feedback.

Rejection means not yet

a contract means it's good enough.

Get an agent.

Answer 9

take a breathe, take a risk and send it! and don't get dispondent if it's sent back, you'll be very verly lucky if it's not sen back the first couple of times! but every time they'll have comments to work on. good luck! have faith and confidence.

Answer 10

...send it to a publisher. if its good then great... if they reject it then you lose nothing but the price of a stamp.. carpe dium.. send it in now..i wish you luck.