5 Steps to Getting Published!

OK, so you are halfway or more through your latest writing project, excited about the direction it is taking, and now you are wondering how you are going to get it out before the eyes of the viewing public.

Of course, you will have questions, unless you have done this a few times before, but if that were true, why would you be reading this? All of us here at the Newton Writing & Publishing Center have answers to those questions, and we want nothing more than to provide them to you and assist you in stewarding your work along until that moment that all authors cherish, the opening of the delivery box and seeing your work in all of its gleaming, stacked glory.

However, knowing what questions to ask is almost as hard as doing it without the answers.

So here are five important steps to help you formulate what questions to ask. And don’t worry; answers will be forthcoming in this space, so be sure to check back often.

The first, and most important step is:

Defining your goals.

Consider what primary goals you have in wanting to be published. Are you looking for commercial success? Artistic renown? Educational awareness? And what sort of audience are you looking to reach? Children? Readers of thrillers and mysteries? Those who prefer print over e-readers, or the other way around? Are you looking to supplement an existing business, become known as an expert in your field, publish or perish academically? Maybe just seeing your name in print, having a few copies to send as gifts, or to silence the naysayers at Thanksgiving is enough for you.

It is important that you know what your written work is capable of conveying, to whom, and how your message should be received. Like writing a mystery, it is often preferable to start at the end and work backward to the beginning.

The next step is the hardest:

Writing the damned book (poems, essays, articles, short stories or novellas)

Jot down ideas (or use your smartphone like a recorder, as I do) collect scraps of conversation, ideas, snippets, stir them into a creamy soup, then serve to your word processor or typewriter.

Set aside a regular time to write, and then stick to it faithfully. Do not worry overmuch about typos, corrections, tenses, grammar or other craft-specific details, just let it out onto the page, editing always improves the product, but you must first have product to edit. Just get it out on the page, do not make corrections while writing, there will be plenty of time for that later.

There really is no limit as to how much you write every day, but to be successful you set yourself a minimum, and stick to it. Remove distractions; discipline your self, and just DO IT.

Once written, now is the time for editing. Use spellchecker, but do not rely solely on an electronic brain to do it for you, carefully ensure that what is on the page is what you meant to convey. Read the entire piece forward for content, then read the entire piece backward to check for spelling or contextual errors. (When reading forward, your brain often fills in the gaps that cause you to overlook mistakes)

The next step is often the most uncomfortable:

Get someone else to read and/or edit the work

Of course you love the piece, after all, you have been laboring over it, editing and polishing, doing your best to make it flawless. But you are also too close to it to see what an objective set of eyes may see; things that do not make logical sense, threads left dangling, mismatched verbs, or gender articles, or any number of grammatical errors. You may have over-written scenes simple because you think they are cool, and they may be, but your story (or poem or whatever) may benefit greatly from their removal, which is something that only someone else can tell you.

DO NOT TAKE CRITIQUES PERSONALLY!

Remember the idea that any criticisms, corrections or suggested edits are about the work, and not you as an author/poet. If you are told that entire sections of your piece do not work, that you need to rip them out and start over, it does not make you a bad writer, or a bad person, it just means that the piece needs work in order to shine.

The next step in the process is the most complicated:

Research publishers

You can either submit to established publishers, or go the self-publishing route. Both are viable, proven avenues, and far too complex to be covered thoroughly in this brief essay, however there are a couple of salient points you might want to consider up front.

Large established publishers have much wider markets, which means more readers. They have resources to help you with formatting, designing the cover(s) the overall feel of the book, as well as marketing. When you self publish, you do all that yourself. Most (but not all) large publishers only consider (sometimes will only read) solicited works, meaning they got access to the piece via an agent. Some agents also only work with authors they know. How do you break in to these inner circles? Persistence, mainly.

Self-publishing gives you a LOT more control, 100% of the profits, and the freedom to discount, share, or even give away your work. However, nobody will ever hear about your book unless you yourself get out there and market it. You can do this via public reading, radio and/or TV talk shows, but it is not easy, nor does it happen overnight.

Once you have determined which method you want to pursue, you need to research that method as completely as possible. Select several possible publishers and learn what types of books they want, what their guidelines are, their reading cycles, word limits, whether or not they require a synopsis, single or double spacing, etc. Almost all of them require hard copies, and they rarely return them, so never submit your originals. If self publishing, learn what formats are preferred, file sizes, paging requirements, fees, etc. so that you are aware of what is need before stepping into the waters.

And the final, most frustrating step of all:

Be patient and persevere

Publishers operate on their own time, and often take a lot longer than you may have guessed to read and decide on your work. If you get rejected, do not despair, simply track all of your submissions and keep trying. If you get a rejection with some advice, this is excellent news, it means that they thought enough of your work to assume that your writing has merit, and can be improved enough to meet their standards. Take their advice to heart, re-write and try again.

This is a very simplistic, bare bones overview of a very complex subject, if you are interested in learning more, stop by the Newton Writing & Publishing Center, sign up for one of our many workshops, inquire about our editorial and design services, or just hang out with other writers going through the same trials that you are going through.

Christopher Reilley is the current poet laureate of Dedham, MA, and a board member of NWPC. He is the author of Grief Tattoos, and Breathing for Clouds, as well as being a print technology expert for a major production printer manufacturer.