How can I get in touch with a reputable publisher and author to sell a story quickly?

Question

If I'm in a situation where there might be a race with one or two others to write and publish a particular story, and it's mine, how can I get this done, or at least underway by early next week, if not sooner? Also, how can I get an agent or attorney to represent me in all of this, or at least consult with one by Monday or Tuesday, at the very latest?

Answer 1

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Answer 2

You can't. Face it. First of all you need a completed manuscript. A book - not a story. No publisher gives a fig about publishing a single story.

Secondly, you need to sit down, calm down and learn the process.

1) You have to have a complete manuscript.

2) It has to be EDITED and do not let anyone here tell you otherwise - that is a fact.

3) You have to go to either Literary Marketplace or Writers Market and make a list of agents and,/or small publishers who are reading books in the genre of your book.

4) You have to go to Preditors and Editors and Absolute Write Water Cooler's Bewares and Background Checks and make sure the publisher and/or agent is legit. Many are not. Still others are in financial trouble.

5) You have to read that publisher and/or agent's submission requirements and follow them to the letter. Generally they will ask you for a query letter and perhaps a summary of a certain length. You have to write all that up and send it to them. Most do not accept e mails. Major publishers will not accept unsolicited queries from you at all. They throw them out. Only an A list agent can contact an A list publisher for you.

5) You sit and wait. Some answers take a couple weeks, some several months due to the volume these people have to deal with. Unless the publisher/agent says they accept multiple submissions, you can only send out one letter at a time. Tops, you can only send out two or three.

6) Then when the rejection letter comes in (and believe me - it will. Even Gone with the Wind was rejected 50 times) you start over and query another publisher or agent.

7) The process goes on until one shows interest in your query. They they contact you and ask for two things from you. 1) A complete or partial manuscript and 2) A book proposal - which is a very specific document you must write and send to them. You can get books that teach you how to write one.

8) If an agent accepts you, they start trying to sell your book to publishers. That can take a long time. If a publisher accepts you, they put your book in line for publication. According to your contract, that can take up to a year before the process even gets underway.

9) The publisher has your book re-edited for their purposes. You have no say in this edit. They change what they want so they can sell it. They also have the right to change your title.

10) When they feel the book is ready, they have a galley print and sent to you to sign off on. You spend a month or so proofreading it so it's perfect. and send it back.

11) Your book goes into the line for printing. That can take another couple months. Most printers print for more than one publisher.

12) THEN your book is ready. If you have a major publisher, it may be distributed to bookstores. If you have a lesser publisher, it becomes available at B and N.com and Amazon.

13) YOU promote your book. YOU pay for the promotion. It is very rare that a publisher gives you a budget to promote a first book. You may hire a marketing firm to come up with a marketing plan. You work your tail off trying to get your book promoted. You write a ton of letters to bookstores urging them to promote it, you write to reviewers and often you PAY to send them copies so they will review it in papers and magazines. You try to get stores and libraries to have you for signings, you pay for a website. The list goes on and on.

So if you think anything is going to happen by Monday or Tuesday at the latest, you are very delusional. If it is a short story, your best bet is to try and get it in an anthology of stories of the same genre. If it is a novel, you go through the steps above.

Nothing happens quickly in the world of publishing. Even a vanity press doesn't work that fast. Sorry to disappoint you. Pax - C

Answer 3

I agree that there's very little you can do and about the reality of the publishing business. However, that said, there is something you can do to protect yourself in the time frame you gave. Write it out a letter. Send it, certified, to yourself. DO NOT OPEN IT!

This will give you a date and time you can prove that you said x y z.

But a publisher wont' touch you, and without anything like a story written out, either will an agent.

Answer 4

Two pieces of advice:
1) Relax, slow down and smell reality. You aren't going to accomplish what you want to do quickly and neither will your competitors. Publishing life doesn't work that way; unless you're a celeb like Paris or Lindsay.

2) READ and HEED the answer from Persiphone Hellecat. She really knows her business and you won't get a truer response.

Good luck with your writing.

Answer 5

Get a copy of the New York City or copy of the London England Yellow Pages. Top publishers can be found
there.

Answer 6

It relies upon on what your existence tale is approximately. what's exciting approximately it? It desires to be exciting adequate to sell books in a mass industry, or no writer will waste the time. so far as writing, you could hire a ghostwriter - somebody who writes for you below your call.

Answer 7

either you fork out several thousand dollars and get the book printed yourself, or get a lawyer with proof its your story.

These things take time.