For Authors: How to Impress a Publisher

Whether you write fiction or non-fiction, when you set out to sell your manuscript, a professional attitude and approach is crucial. That, coupled with an ability to write well, gives you an excellent start. The best way to impress a publisher is to show you’ve done your homework: Study the submission guidelines, study the books your target publisher is producing, follow their instructions for submitting, and give them what they’re looking for. It’s that simple. And, no, that won’t guarantee you’ll sell, because there’s always an element of timing and luck involved (i.e., the right book being in the right place at the right time), but it should certainly increase your chances and keep you from being rejected in the first round.

One problem editors sometimes see is an author not giving equal attention to the entire manuscript. For instance, the writer will polish the first three chapters to dazzling perfection; an editor reads this beautiful proposal and, on its strength, requests the full manuscript for further review. But when it arrives they discover that beauty truly is only skin deep. Or in this case, only three chapters deep, because the rest reads like a rough draft. Not only will that submission be quickly tossed in the reject pile, but also this sort of thing rarely endears the author to that editor for any future submissions. A key point to remember is that most publishers are dealing with dozens to hundreds of submissions a month. At the biggest publishers they’re dealing with thousands a month. Their time is precious and in short supply, so try not to do anything to make their job more difficult than it already is. Don’t shoot yourself in the foot through simple carelessness or impatience. Writing is a highly competitive field. There are too many other authors vying for the same publishing slot that you’re hoping to win.

Another problem that will lose you points is sloppiness in grammar, punctuation, spelling, and word usage – or even just a lot of typos. Always proofread your work; then proofread it again. These may seem like minor issues, but too many little mistakes can add up to a big mess. In everyday life it’s a healthy thing to not drive yourself crazy over details – as in the old adage: #1) Don’t sweat the small stuff, and #2) It’s all small stuff. However, the same doesn’t hold true for writing, because writing, in its very essence, IS “small stuff.” What is a book, after all, but a series of individual words, little details all strung together into one grand, coherent, hopefully glorious whole. In writing, the small stuff does count, and you DO have to sweat it to make it work. Think of your manuscript as a precious cut gem where each facet must be precisely placed and polished for optimum brilliance of the finished product. That’s the best advice I can offer: Mind the details, and you’ll be amazed how wonderfully the rest falls into place.

Above all, make sure you are writing because you truly LOVE to write, because it warms your heart, activates your head, and energizes your spirit. Don’t do it for the money or the fame, because in reality very few authors ever achieve those things to any great degree. But ANY author can experience the deep, soul-stirring satisfaction of creation, which is worth far more than mere dollars or a splash of limelight. Writing is like opening a door to a new dimension where anything can happen. We put pen to paper or fingers to the keyboard and – presto – like a phoenix arising out of the ashes of our hopes and dreams, whole worlds spring to life in full-blown color and daring! There’s power and healing in that, provided you never forget the love that drove you to such flights of fancy in the first place. It’s magic in the truest sense of the word. And it’s all yours. All you have to do is keep writing.

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