Coutts Woman

Getting Published

It is often said that everybody has a book inside them. The publishing industry is only too happy that such a statement is untrue, as they are already deluged with scripts.

The commercial fiction department of Orion, publishers of Maeve Binchy, Ian Rankin and Anita Burgh, receives about 800 submissions every year but only takes on around six new authors.

‘That is just the agent submissions,’ explains commercial editor Sara O’Keefe. ‘We also receive, on average, 60 submissions a week from authors without agents. We just cannot physically deal with that volume.’

While smaller houses, that may not have the funds to match agents’ demands, may look through the ‘slush pile’ for a hidden gem, in general most publishers do not.

‘I sometimes employ a graduate to work for a few days going through the slush pile and say ‘if you read 30 submissions, give me the best’,’ says O’Keefe. ‘But it can be a needle in a haystack.’

The best advice for anybody seeking to publish a book is to employ an agent. But if publishers are inundated with submissions, agents are overwhelmed.

‘You need to write a strong submission letter, which highlights the book’s USP and flags it up,’ advises O’Keefe. ‘It is like a marketing tool. You should have a good sense of the readership for your type of fiction and market it with a clever hook to catch the agent’s attention. Do the work for them. Suggest how it should be pitched to publishers.’

“Never forget twelve publishers rejected JK Rowling’s manuscript for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone!”

Most would-be authors consider the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook, published by A&C Black, to be their bible. It details the specialisations of agents and their pool of authors. ‘It is no good sending really commercial women’s fiction to an agent specialising in literary works. They are different skill sets,’ explains O’Keefe.

Most agents require a synopsis of the plot, three sample chapters and a pitch document style letter. A self-stamped addressed envelope should also be included for work to be returned.

A recent survey by the Writer’s Magazine found that most writers approached at least nine agents before getting signed up, and then submissions were made to an average of seven publishers before deals were signed.

Agents who are members of the Association of Authors’ Agents have at least three years’ experience, and have a good idea on which publishers to approach with different works and how much you should expect to be paid.

There are several specialist agencies that help would-be authors get their work into shape for submission to both agents and publishers. The Literary Consultancy, which was founded in 1996, provides editorial advice to writers.

It will assess manuscripts for a fee per page, and can offer valuable advice to transform the work to catch the eye of an agent or publisher. It does not, however, guarantee to find these for the client. ‘These consultancies can be very useful for an author,’ explains O’Keefe.

She believes that it is possible to tell within three chapters whether the book will prove unsuccessful. But it can require more reading to know for sure whether it will prove successful. Sometimes a book may be taken on because a gap has appeared in the publisher’s list, for example in crime or romance, that it fills. An earlier submission may prove unsuccessful.

Publishers are also constantly aware of their existing pool of authors. ‘There is an existing relationship and we are building their reputations,’ explains O’Keefe. ‘I think authors have to be quite hard-headed to get through that awful fear of rejection.’ Never forget twelve publishers rejected JK Rowling’s manuscript for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone!