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badredheadmedia.com - 19 hours ago on May 9th 2020
By Rachel Thompson
Congratulations! You’ve completed the manuscript you’ve slaved over for weeks, months, or maybe years and are ready to begin seeking out your publishing path.
The publishing industry is massive. With resources like Draft2Digital, Smashwords, IngramSpark, and KDP all accessible, it’s entirely possible for an author to pursue publishing their book on their own.
Many terms come to mind when choosing this path:
Self-publishing – Receiving assistance with publishing your book
Indie Publishing – Doing it all on your own without any help
Vanity Publishing – paying a company to publish your book
Hybrid Publishing – a mix
I’ll never say indie publishing is a bad route to go. FyreSyde started there and branched out to become the small press it is today. However, the idea of marketing, hiring a publicist, promotion, reaching out to reviewers, etc., might sound daunting. Heck, let’s face it, it is.
Some authors – in fact, a large number of them – still choose to have a publisher (small press, etc) do the work for them. That way they can focus on the writing aspect of their work and let the publisher worry about publication.
Beware! Many authors think this means they won’t have to market. Spoiler alert: you as the author, are still your greatest asset in marketing.
Publishers have set numbers of resources allocated to each book since they deal with many more books and authors than a single person.
Think of it this way: You are a parent of a single child. Your neighbor has ten kids. It is much easier for the parent of a single child to offer more resources than the one with ten.
Let's say that you choose the traditional publishing method. There are certain things you need to do if you hope to see your book accepted.
Let's Dive Deeper.
1
Read The Publisher’s Submissions Page ThoroughlyWe can’t tell you how many manuscripts we turned down because submitting authors didn’t read our submissions page. Doing this often ends in automatic rejections because it shows the author can’t be bothered to follow rules. For FyreSyde, this shows us the author doesn’t have our interests in mind and may not be willing to take our feedback to heart.
The submissions page is the first go-to for anyone wanting to query. Read it thoroughly!
2
Have Someone Else Look At Your WorkPublishers have editors that can handle the more minute aspects of editing and revision, however, never think this means you shouldn’t have at least two (sometimes three) other people look at your work. Getting an understanding of potential readers and spotting messy opening paragraphs full of errors can help keep your manuscript in a publisher’s eye.
FyreSyde often follows that very important rule of first impressions. We don’t expect authors to have perfect manuscripts, but we do expect to be dragged into an author’s story from page one. If we aren’t, we’re very quick to reject.
3
Check the Marketability of Your WorkThis is very important. Never should you write to market, but you should know the marketability of your work. This is something that plays a key role in our choices of manuscript. Just because we like a story, it doesn’t always mean we’ll be able to market and sell it. Doing some of this research ahead of time can often mean the difference between acceptance and rejection.
Never take a rejection personally! Publishers are businesses who are inundated with manuscripts on almost on a daily basis. We simply cannot accept all of those thrown at us. Also, don’t be afraid to hold onto a manuscript or use one as freebies to gain a readership. Knowing how to use these tactics can help an author gain a following.
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4
Locate Your Target AudienceSomething publishers do when marketing is to locate a target audience. This helps narrow down the aiming of ads and reduce the cost of throwing pasta against a wall. You, as the author, should know this as well before selecting a publisher to help in your marketing endeavors.
The golden rule in business: Work Smarter, Not Harder.
5
Have Your Query Letter ReadySome publishers don’t require query letters, but it never hurts to have one prepared. Do so by having others read it, preferably authors who have written one and received a publishing deal with it.
6
Examine The Publisher’s Books: See What You Like or Don’t LikePublishers often have something a potential author might not like. Before contacting them, do thorough research into their covers, marketing partners, media connections, etc. For example, say you find a publisher you really want to query, but you don’t like their covers.
Reach out to them and see if you can bring your own cover artist. Many often will say yes because we like to save money where we can.
7
Always Ask The Publisher QuestionsAfter you have played by all the rules, the final one is to measure your success. You aim for goals and measure the outcome of how close you came. You can find gaps or decide to improve strategies. Evaluation helps you get better at playing the game.
8
Never Assume a Publisher Needs Your Work: They Don’tKeep in mind, a publisher doesn’t need your manuscript. They don’t have to read your book. This is why querying is so important. Though some publishers don’t need a query letter, it can often give them a feel of your book before accepting or rejecting it.
Another key thing to remember, a publisher is a business. They have to make money back on what they’re marketing. If their audience isn’t a fit for your book, they can and most likely will reject it.
9
Remember, Publishers Run a BusinessBy now, I’m sure you’re sick of seeing this. There’s a reason why I’ve harped on it so many times. It’s because we’ve received many emails stating we have to and need to have an author’s book. I won’t go into detail again because I know it’s been said.
If the demand isn’t present, or if a book doesn’t fit in with our audience, a publisher has to make a business call. We might personally love your work as readers, but in the end, it all comes down to supply and demand.
10
Be Willing To Work With The PublisherThis is the biggest piece of advice to keep in your back pocket. Too often authors are unwilling to “murder their darlings” when a publisher gives feedback. For FyreSyde, this is another key “first impression” we notice when offering feedback as to why we rejected something. If the author is willing to look at what is said and address concerns, it shows massive flexibility.
This isn’t to say an author should go back and take, remove or destroy the essence of what makes a story theirs, it means they’re willing to see from another point of view. Just as there is an abundance of different readers, so too is there an abundance of different publishers.
If a publisher doesn’t like your work for reasons you don’t want to change, go find another. You might’ve not found your right fit.
