Finding A Publisher

Robyn Opie

At Fiction Factor and Children's Fiction Factor, we frequently receive emails from writers asking us to recommend a publisher or publishers. It seems like a simple question. Ah, if only life were so simple!The problem with most of these emails is that the author neglects to include pertinent details:
a) what they've written - novel, article, short story etc
b) the genre - horror, romance, thriller etc
c) fiction or non-fiction
d) lengthe) and in the case of children's fiction, whether it's a picture book, easy reader, chapter book etc
f) where the author livesBut, even with these details, we're not in a position to recommend publishers.

We provide FREE information to help people write a book or books. We provide FREE advice on how to get said book or books published. So why don't we recommend publishers?Simply put, because the author of a book is the best person to find a publisher. The author of a book knows that book better than anyone. With little knowledge of the book, we can only guess about suitable publishers. What if we guess wrongly? After all, we really don't know anything about the book in question. We could be giving you bad advice. And, trust me when I say, the last thing we want to do is give you bad advice. We could be wasting your time. We could be costing you money.

So if we recommend publishers to you then we're not really being fair to you. We're not necessarily giving you and your book the best chance in the market place.

Only you can do that, or a good agent if you have one.Now this doesn't mean that we want you all to send us your manuscripts to read so we can learn more about your novels. It doesn't mean that we want you to send us a synosis of your novels.It means that you, as the writer and manager of your career, are in the best position to find a suitable publisher. You know your book. You know what you want from a publisher and your career. You know what matters to you.What we can do, though, is give you advice on how to find a publisher or publishers.So here's some more FREE advice to help you with your writing career.

1) Write your book.When you're starting out, publishers want to see a finished product, or at least part of a finished product. They want to know that you're capable of writing the whole novel. So before you approach a publisher or, even research the market, write your novel.

2) Research the market.First you need to know what sort of book you've written. Who is your reader? Males? Females? Both? What is the age of your audience? Is your book genre fiction? What genre? What about the length?Visit local book stores and look for books similar to your own in length and genre. You'll find the publisher's information easily, both on the cover and inside the book. Write down a list of the publishers you find that might be interested in work similar to your own.

3) Research the publishers.I own a copy of The Australian Writer's Marketplace. You can buy Writer's Marketplace reference books for other countries as well, including the US and UK. (see book covers at the end of this article) You'll find details of many publishers in this reference resource. These details include their address, phone number, email address, website and submission requirements.The Internet has made finding publishers a much easier task. If a publisher has a website, and most of them do, then visit the website. Research what they are publishing. And look for submission information. Firstly, do they accept unsolicited manuscripts? Your manuscript is unsolicited if a publisher or editor hasn't requested to read it. In other words, your manuscript is unsolicited if you're sending it to a publisher without their prior knowledge. A lot of publishers inlcude submission guidelines on their websites, which can be downloaded with a minimum of fuss. Always read a publisher's guidelines and always follow their instructions. Give your manuscript the best chance. If guidelines aren't readily available on a publisher's website, then send them a polite and professional email asking for a copy of their guidelines.

The reason you conduct research on publishers before you submit a manuscript is to save you time and money. There's no point sending your horror novel to a publisher that only publishes romance novels. There's no point sending your children's picture book to a publisher that doesn't publish children's books or picture books. There's no point sending your unsolicited manuscript to a publisher that doesn't accept unsolicted manuscripts.

4) Be professionalWhen you deal with publishers or anyone associated with the publishing industry it pays to always be polite, friendly and professional. Publishers are looking for writers who can produce great novels and conduct themselves professionally. This includes submitting your work in a professional manner. A neatly formatted manuscript, accompanied by a well-written query letter will be more readily accepted than a hand-written, unedited story!You can find plenty of articles about query letters, manuscript submission and formatting here: http://www.fictionfactor.com/submission.html

5) Be RealisticBiggest does not equal best! Almost every writer wants to see his or her own book up there on the New York Times Best Seller lists. But aiming your book at the biggest name publishing house you can locate is not always realistic - nor is it always the best possible publishing home for your precious work. In many cases, a smaller, more specialized publisher might have a better chance of placing your book in front of the right readers for your particular genre.

6) Research again!Just because you may have found the name of a publisher willing to publish a book similar to your own does not necessarily mean they are still accepting submissions! Keep a close eye on websites that list publishers actively seeking manuscripts.

Some of these even list publishers who are no longer accepting submissions, so you'll at least have some idea of where NOT to send your work.Here are some links to help you find a publisher's website:http://home.vicnet.net.au/~ozlit/austpub.htmlhttp://www.publishers.asn.au/links.cfm?doc_id=35http://www.publishers.ca/CNM_Index.wwshttp://www.lights.com/publisher/alphabetic.htmlhttp://www.publishers.org/member/members.cfmhttp://www.ukwebstart.com/listbookpubs.htmlhttp://www.booktrust.org.uk/publishers/pubindex.htmNaturally

there are many more websites on publishers that you can find for yourself by searching the Internet.You are in the driver's seat of your writing career. Take control and target your submissions to the best of your ability. And that means researching the market and researching publishers. © Copyright Robyn Opie. All Rights Reserved.

Robyn Opie is a children's author from South Australia. She has been writing for ten years and has 55 published titles, with more on the way. She enjoys visiting schools to share with the students her love of books and reading. She is the author of the wildly popular "How to Write A GREAT Children's Book"and the new "How to Write A GREAT Picture Book". You can visit http://children.fictionfactor.com and http://www.robynopie.com for more of Robyn's advice, articles, writer's resources and free children's ebooks.

StoryTelling

by Tina Morgan

The elements of a novel are illustrated in dozens of how-to manuals and websites. As beginning writers, we visit these sites and read the books in an effort to craft the perfect fiction stories. We take classes and workshops. We write exercises and outlines, but how far can these go to improve the quality of our writing?

As a member of several on-line writers' groups, I am always amazed by the number of writers who timidly toss out story ideas and ask if the group feels they're worth pursuing. Character exercises and setting descriptions flow through my in-box almost as quickly as the porn spam. Unlike the ads to enlarge my non-existent male anatomy, I actually read these and I wonder how I can help these inexperienced writers gain the confidence they deserve.

Unfortunately there is no magic spell that can bestow this gift. It has to be earned but not in the way you might think. Becoming published isn't the only way to build confidence in your writing.

Ask yourself this question:
If a musician, athlete or scholar is expected to practice and study to improve their talents, then why isn't a storyteller?

Why do we expect to put pen to paper and create a masterpiece the first time we try? Many of us have played games of skill, studied for a test, or learned to play an instrument. We knew we had to work to improve; yet we don't carry that expectation over to our writing.

In an interview with Orson Scott Card, he told me, "And since every writer has about ten thousand pages of utter drivel in them, you might as well start now so you can get a good portion of that out of your way while you're still young. After all, you learn more about writing from writing a 100,000-word manuscript than you ever will from any writing class or writing book (and I say that as a teacher of writing classes and a writer of writing books)."

We have to practice. We have to work to improve our talent. It doesn't matter how old we are. It doesn't matter what level of talent we have. We will never improve if we don't start somewhere. So don't question your story ideas. Write them. Put them to paper and then put them away for a day, a week, or a month. Read a new author. Try a new genre. Then go back and reread what you've written. How does the story affect you? Do you feel you've captured that elusive element of 'storytelling' and not just written what the how-to books and classes tell you is required? The writers we remember are those that tell a good story. Even if they work from a formulaic plot, we continue reading them because they're "storytellers" . They don't just "talk" on the page, they tell a story that comes to life and lives inside our mind while we read.

Some of them write flowery prose that almost sings, while others remind us of down home relatives talking about everyday things. Whatever their style, we read each page with anticipation.

Broken Pencil seeks fiction

PAY: $30 Broken Pencil seeks "fiction that conforms to no principles, no guidelines and no reconceptions...work that hurts you to write, and us to read". Submit stories 50-3000 words. Payment varies; magazine endeavors to pay contributors $30 minimum, but hopefully more. Send stories to mailto:fiction@brokenpencil.com attention Ken Sparling, along with bio and complete contact information. Guidelines: http://www.brokenpencil.com/about/submit.php

Online Media Releases

This is for writers who want to submit online media releases, I have a number of free ones with direct links posted on my site. Easy to use. Bookmark it for your convenience:http://tri-studio.com/MediaReleasesSubmit.html

Why Write or Read Stories?

"The thing about a story is that you dream it as you tell it, hoping that others might then dream along with you, and in this way memory and imagination and language combine to make spirits in your head."— Tim O'Brien
by Christopher Meeks

Why look at the stars? Why make banana bread?
Last month I gave an overview on structure, speaking about essays, mythic structure, and narrative. One question that started to emerge is why write or read stories? Why learn story structure in the first place? Using the Web to buy and sell objects is one thing—and interesting, well-written text can certainly help commerce—but what's the big deal about stories? How does that help you get ahead?

These questions led me, in part, to teaching English at a local college. I hated English classes in high school and most of college. It was only after one brilliant teacher encouraged my writing that I stumbled onto a passion and a career, and now I feel I'm returning the favor. My goal isn't to create a legion of fiction writers or playwrights but simply to show people that, hey, reading can be incredible—and writing is something you can do.

What writing can do for those who read it
I don't try to cover any historical period of English literature. I only want people to discover that reading fiction can be an experience. What kind of experience? That was my single question on the final test, after we spent the semester reading The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien, In Country by Bobbie Ann Mason, and "Soldier's Home" by Ernest Hemingway, among other pieces. The Vietnam War was our main subject. What follows are some of the thoughts by the students.

"Many history books talk about history as if it were some kind of game with written rules; this is way wrong. History involves people, and you can't talk in just facts and numbers. History isn't an exact science," wrote Gil. "With Vietnam, not a lot of us knew what it was like to be there, to wake up everyday into this terror, to walk around the woods with the feeling your next step may be your last. Stories bring us the cultures we never had a chance to be a part of, and they give us an opportunity to live the lives we never had. Stories are the least we can make for the next generations; stories are the most we can give the world."

I like that. Gil is suggesting stories are both an obligation and a gift. He makes a good point, as does Jose: "After reading The Things They Carried, I asked myself, 'How would I handle being sent to a war I did not believe in or did not want to fight in?' How would I handle facing the prospect of my death? Am I ready? We are all going to die—me, you, the whole class—but if we begin to discuss it openly, many would probably feel uncomfortable. It makes me uncomfortable just thinking about it. These were young men full of romantic notions, carrying guns, fear, anger…and the possibility of death. In life, everything is temporary, even life."

Wow! Jose is right. We are just temporary. Are we meant to buy so many fruit baskets from Harry and David on-line, then call it a life? "I shop, therefore I am?" Who knows—maybe. Good fiction has us consider these things. You must realize, there is no one answer. Jose walked into class the first day worried he was not "a writer," and just trying to figure out how he was going to make it through the semester, and he left with such thoughts. I'm impressed.

Eye-opening
"When you are able to write believably, your reader will fall gracefully into your story, awaiting the next twist," wrote Lori. "If you don't believe in your own story, don't expect anyone else to. This confidence can only come from experience." Further in the paper, she added, "I can't express the shock I felt as O'Brien shared his inner struggle in 'The Vietnam in Me.' He expressed his suicidal thoughts so vividly, that I found his instability alarming, much as people must have felt when Hemingway took his own life. Men with such talent and so much torment: truly eye-opening. "

Lori ended her paper with a poetic image of her own: "The journey through literature is a solo flight."
Tim O'Brien in The Things They Carried speaks of story, too. He writes, "Forty-three years old, and the war occurred half a lifetime ago, and yet the remembering will lead to a story, which makes it forever. That's what stories are for. Stories are for joining the past to the future."

Later in the book he writes, "The thing about a story is that you dream it as you tell it, hoping that others might then dream along with you, and in this way memory and imagination and language combine to make spirits in your head."

I encourage you all to read, if not write, stories. Make spirits in the head.

15 Tips for Becoming A Better Writer

By Michael Angier

Whether you're writing a memo, a letter, an article or a full-length book, there are a few basic rules to keep in mind that will help your message first to be read and then to be better understood and accepted.

1. Never Be Boring Your reader will forgive almost anything except you being boring. Your reader doesn't have to agree with you, but he or she should at least be intrigued. Make the reader care. Don't be afraid to be "edgy." Look at every sentence and ask yourself, "Why will the reader care about this?"

2. Write in Short Sentences The reader shouldn't have to work hard to understand what you're saying. If he or she has to go back over a sentence because of poor structure it's not his or her fault, it's yours. Read what you've written aloud or have someone else read it aloud to look for sentences that are too long or convoluted.

3. Write to the Reader Use "you" often. Look for ways to eliminate or reduce "I" and "me."
Present tense, second person is always best. It feels more to readers like you're talking to them.

4. Go Active Use active verbs as much as possible. They're more engaging. They move the reader along and take fewer words to get your message across. "John loves Mary" is much more powerful than "Mary is loved by John."

5. Keep it Simple The front page of The Wall Street Journal and all of USA Today is written for the eighth grade reading level. Why should we be any different? People aren't interested in things they don't understand. Make your points quickly and succinctly. Make your words work and use as few of them as possible. Use the right word, not just to show off your vocabulary (or your new thesaurus), but to convey your message clearly.

6. Tell Stories Facts tell and stories sell. The best writers and speakers of the world have always been good storytellers. Your own stories are the best. What you are sharing is wisdom from your point of view and stories can illustrate this better than anything else.

7. Know Your Subject Write on things on which you've earned the right to write. The more you know, the more confidence and credibility you'll have.

8. WIFM This is the radio station that everyone listens to. The call letters stand for "What's in It For Me". People want to know what they'll get out of what you're writing, so appeal to what they want.

9. Write Like You Talk Often I see people who are good verbal communicators trying to put on a different air in their writing. It doesn't work. It's much better to be conversational.

10. Paint Pictures We think in pictures and should write in ways that create these pictures in the mind of the reader. Be descriptive. Use examples. Describe the unfamiliar by using some of the familiar. For example: "Jennifer's first day at her new job reminded her of the freshness and unfamiliarity she experienced on her first day of school."

11. Sleep On it It's a rare individual who can sit down and write something well at the first attempt. Any writing of import should be written and then reviewed later, preferably at least a day later. Some things should be edited several times over an extended period of time in order to properly convey a clear understandable message.

12. Write and Read Extensively This advice is from Stephen King, a prolific writer. If you want to be a good writer you have to do two things … read a lot and write a lot. Enough said.

13. Break it Down Where appropriate use bullet points. Use them for summaries or outlines. Think about someone who may only start out by scanning your text. Let your bullet points draw the reader in.

14. Keep Paragraphs to no more than Six LinesShort paragraphs provide white space to the text. They break up the page and make it appear less formidable to the reader. Like in music, the space between the notes is as important as the notes themselves.

15. Avoid using Capital Letters to make a Point Capital letters are harder to read than upper and lower case. They also can be perceived as SHOUTING! A little uppercase usage is OK but regular use of words with every letter shown as a capital doesn't work and it looks amateurish.
Writing can be a happy and rewarding experience. If you follow these tips, you will find it easier to convey your written communications to others.

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Creating A Vivid Setting

One of the first problems a writer must contend with is setting. Where there is a story, there must also be somewhere for it to take place. Setting is a much-overlooked part of the storytelling process--my feeling is that you should regard setting not as an external element to your story, but as another character. In many ways, it is!

The setting is integral to the story. You can't separate the two and still have a complete work. Your setting adds dimension to your story, giving it realism. It can also tell the readers things about your characters without "telling" them--imagine the difference in our impressions if we had met Lando Calrissian in the bubbling swamps of Dagobah and Yoda in Cloud City!

Especially in the genres of fantasy and science fiction, when we praise a novel as being "vivid" or "detailed" or even "realistic", what we are usually praising is the depiction of setting. When you write in this sort of genre, you have to build your setting from the ground up. In fact, setting is one of the major reasons why these novels tend to be so lengthy--the fantasy author can't make the assumptions about setting that the mainstream fiction author can. The fantasy author must construct a whole new world for their setting; from the ground up.

So setting is important. We want the most vivid depiction of setting possible without boring our readers. What are some of the ways we can make a setting more vivid?

Your setting should be planned during the story planning--not tacked on at the end. If you plan the setting as part of the story from the beginning, it will show. From your very first glimmer of an idea, you have some conception of where it must occur. Develop that along with the rest of the work, and you're one step ahead.

What requirements does your story place on its environment? Does your story require a setting near water? In the city? Way out in the country? Is this a cold climate? Tropical? What time of year is it? What sort of people and animals might your characters encounter? What kind of social change is going on? What sort of issues are important to your characters?
You'll need a whole extra set of questions to develop a fantasy setting. What sort of magic is standard here? What sort of governing body is there? What kind of currency do they use? How do they dress? What patterns of speech might they use? How technologically advanced are they?

Don't neglect the passage of time in your storytelling. Everything your characters do will take time, and it is up to you to provide a realistic sense of the time passing while they do it. Don't forget that even the hardiest heroes need to sleep! A common beginners' mistake is a story that reads like one long day, or heroes who never stop to sleep. This kind of pace will exhaust your readers too! Let your characters progress through time naturally, and keep a timeline so you can see what happened when, and make sure your days are broken up realistically.

What about weather? The weather in your character's world will change. Depending on the season, you may have rain, or snow, or blistering heat. If you don't provide a sense of the weather--and the greater context of season--the reader is left with a sense of unreality about this place. It wouldn't hurt to note the weather on your timeline, so that you can make sure your seasons progress as they should.

Draw a map.
Especially in fantasy story-telling, a map will often show you things about your world or give you plot ideas that you would not have found otherwise. It also makes sure you have a clear idea of the layout of your setting, and keeps your directions and sense of space constant.