GETTING PUBLISHED

 

This can be a never-ending struggle. I’ll tell you my story briefly.

I started writing in 1994. My first story wasn’t very good, but I picked up a few techniques along the way and wrote a second manuscript. I submitted it to agents in around 1999, and I was picked up by an agent relatively quickly. I sent her my next manuscript. Despite her best efforts, she couldn’t get me placed, and we parted company in around 2002.

That is around three years of constantly checking my emails, waiting for the good news, but it never arriving.

When we parted company, she sent me all the rejection letters (she only submitted the first manuscript I submitted, as she wasn’t keen on the second). I went back to the manuscript, and if two people said the same thing, I presumed that they had a good point. I shaved off another 5,000 words from the story, considered all the points made by the publishers, and re-wrote it.

By this point, I had lost my literary agent (it had been my decision, but I think she was quite happy about it), and had been rejected by all the major publishers. I knew I wouldn’t get taken on again, so I self-published. This was before Kindle, hard copies only. I had a thousand copies printed up (I wouldn't recommend that many – half went to the local tip), and I sent them to publishers and agents, thinking that their portability might make them read it.

 

This is what happened. My current agent read it on a plane, got in touch with me, and by 2004 I had another agent, Sonia Land at Sheil Land Associates.

Cue another couple of years of checking emails daily, always waiting. The good news took another two years to arrive, as I got the first nibble of interest from HarperCollins in 2006, which is when I signed my first contract.

The point of all of this is that it takes time. You might be one of the lucky ones, but it took me five years to produce something that was good enough for an agent to take an interest, and another seven years after that before I was offered a publishing contract. As hard as it is, be patient. Looking back now, it was just part of the process.

Should you get an agent? It depends, I suppose, on your aims. I would say yes, but there are other options now, with more ebook-only publishers, who might be more willing to look at unsolicited submissions. If you want to see your book in a shop though, the big publishers will only ever deal with literary agents, for the simple reason is that they act as a form of quality control. The agent will know which doors to knock on, and will hear the inside talk of the industry, so they will know where there is a gap.

In my case, HarperCollins were starting a new imprint, Avon, where the focus would be on sales in supermarkets and airports. The initial focus was three books a month: crime, romance, and erotica. Quick churn, big sales. For that, they needed new writers, all ones who fitted differing types of sub-genre. I was the Peter James or Val McDermid type. Helen Black was the Martina Cole. Claire Seeber was the psychological thriller. I’m sure you get the drift.

 

I was the launch for Avon. If I’d been submitting books myself, however, I wouldn’t have known about them, and would have missed the party. I would probably still be checking my emails daily. I didn’t get that deal. My agent did.

Also, when it comes to negotiating a contract, the agent will know the minor tweaks that could have a huge impact. My agent didn’t give my worldwide and foreign rights to my UK publishers, so she was able to negotiate separate contracts with publishers in Germany, France, Poland and Slovenia. There can be minor percentage tweaks that seem standard, but can have a huge impact if sales go a certain way.

An agent will help you get placed, and will help you get the best contract. I owe my writing career to my agent. I have seen my books in airports, in Tesco and Asda, in the big shops in the big cities and the small shops in the small towns. I saw them in Sydney and Brisbane, and in Toowoomba, a city on the edge of the outback in Queensland. I saw a Polish version in Krakow. All of that was down to my agent, not me. She got me the deals.

The first golden rule is that an agent only gets paid when you get paid. If an agent wants money from you upfront, avoid.

In finding an agent, check out their website, and only send them what they want. If they want a synopsis and the first chapter, don’t send the whole story. It’ll stop them printing it off. If they want to read the rest, they’ll contact you.

A vital piece of information, however, is to also stress whatever non-writing skills you have, and this goes for direct unsolicited submissions. It isn’t all about the book. You have to remember that there will be people who can jump the queue. Book bloggers. Editors. Friends of editors. Their manuscripts may well be fine, but what they have is direct access, the contacts to make the right person look at it. It doesn't matter how good your manuscript is, getting someone to take a proper look at it is half the battle. Make yourself stand out.

When I was first told that HarperCollins were interested, I had a phone call scheduled with the commissioning editor, and I assumed that she’d want to talk about my book, or my plans for my next book. I was wrong. She wanted to know about me, and about my legal career. We barely discussed the book, and I realised that it was because she had to sell me to bookshops. I’m a criminal lawyer. I write crime fiction. My legal career meant that their sales team could speak to Tesco or Asda or Waterstones or WH Smith and say, “when this guy writes about crime, he’s the real deal.”

The book buyers for the shops won’t read the books. They just want to know how to sell it, and you are a huge part of that story. What is it about you that makes you interesting? If you are a retired detective, don’t just talk about your writing plans. Stress your police career. If you’re a bus driver, big up the rags to riches angle. Whatever it is that makes you interesting, that is part of your pitch, because your pitch has to be what makes them want to pick up the page to check it out.

If you can’t get published, or even want to have full control, go indie. Being self-published doesn’t have the same stigma it did many years ago, and I know some writers who prefer self-publishing because it gives them control, and make a decent living. It is easy to do now, with Kindle and other online bookstores.

If you go indie, there are two main things to remember:
- Get someone else to read it. Consider paying for an editorial overview. There are people who offer that service online. You want your story to be the best. The one-star reviews will be a dagger to the heart.
- Get a good cover. If it looks good and sounds good, people will give it a go. It might cost you a couple of hundred quid, but it will be on your shelf forever. I've used this guy before, for the two books I've brought out myself: ccover.co.uk. A nice guy, good at what he does, and a good range of pricing options.

One word of warning: there are publishers out there who will promise to vet and edit and promote your book, for a fee, often a large one. Avoid. Publishers pay you. You do not pay publishers. If you pay them, they are just a printing service. You might as well do it yourself.

Good luck with your writing. If any of the information in these pages helps you get the megadeal you’ve always dreamed of, invite me onto your yacht.

 

Neil White

2024