The Basics on Getting Published: Where to Start, Where to Go

As I started on this path toward publication I came across one hurdle after another. I had questions on the proper process, where to find information, and the very basics in technique, but no idea how to get answers.

Through many books, interviews and writers workshops I have finally learned enough to answer those nagging questions. The biggest question of all being "Where do I start?"

It is a job in itself just trying to get the book/short story/essay published once you've written it. Of course, you have to write it first.

For the writing, let me suggest The Writers Way, by Jack Rawlings, which has some very good ideas on getting the words on paper. Though it is designed more for essays then short fiction, or fiction in general, most of the ideas are good for any writer. On top of it you can learn where and what you could write essays for, and where you might take them. Holly Lisle's has a lot of information on world building, good for all genres, on her website. She even has a free book, Mugging the Muse: Writing Fiction for Love AND Money. (Check side bar for links.)

Once you have the story down you are going to need to edit it. I haven't met one person who couldn't be helped by having someone look over their prose and find all the little mistakes for them. Most workshops work on the basis of a crit point system. For each story you crit you earn a point. For so many points you earn the right to have your own story critted. Most workshops have you crit two for every crit you receive.

Workshops depend on genre, length, and size of the workshop. Larger workshops will generally give you more crits, but are less personable. Smaller workshops may generate fewer crits but you will get to know the people in the group as individuals instead of a faceless mass. There are many workshops listed on Preditors and Editors.

Once you have the piece edited you have to decide what kind of market it would fit into. Each market has specific things they like. Pay for each area varies, as well as response times and publication dates. In general, the larger a publication the larger the pay and the slower the response time.

You will need to put your manuscript into the proper format. Vonda McIntyre (see side bar) has a tutorial and example of how to format a manuscript, along with an explanation on why it is done that way. Print it out, read it. You will see exactly what she is talking about when you have it in your hands.

Writers Market has a lot of tips and tricks inside the front cover of who might want your work, and how to go about getting it to them. You can go out and buy the newest version, or you can buy a slightly older, used copy and just look up the editors of the place you want to contact. (I got one for $4, including shipping, compared with $30 brand new.) Writers Market is also online [writersmarket.com], but you have to pay per month. Please read the "how to use" section at the beginning of the book, or website.

There are also several good search engines for markets. (See side bar.)

Or you can search for magazines, publishers, and other literary dealers online and in the newsstand. This takes time. Just find the subject or genre your article or story deals with, enter that into Google along with "magazine guidelines" and you will get many links, some of which will be magazines, others e-zines or book publishers. It will take a little time to search through them, but you may find some unusual markets this way.

You then have to find the best one. No matter how you find the market you are interesting in submitting to, you should always check out a sample copy of their magazine and make sure your writing would be appealing to them. A lot of magazines now have online articles that you can browse through.

Once you find a few markets you think your writing might fit into, write a cover letter. Writers Market has a good article about query letters.

A few guidelines:
DO not go over one page.
Do not address it "Dear Editor". Find the name of the person you send it to.
Do get to the point.

Get a SASE, package it up with the story, your cover letter, and whatever else they ask for. Pay specific attention to the guidelines here. With a novel some markets will say "only send three chapters", others will say the whole book, some will say "only a query letter".

DO NOT ever send more then they want you to.

Do not have smears or coffee stains on the manuscript or cover sheet.

Do not have it formatted any other way then is mentioned above.

Do not try to get their attention with multi colored lettering, or odd colored inks on your query letter or manuscript.

Once you have everything into the folder, including that all important SASE (believe me, no editor wants to spend millions of dollars of their own money shipping manuscripts back to people who forget to add this when they could be spending it on publishing books), now comes the hard part. You send it out.

When you get the rejection in the mail (and you will get some, if not many, do not fool yourself) stick the manuscript back into a new envelope with a new cover letter and SEND IT OUT AGAIN!

This is the step where most would-be authors fail. They got the rejection slip, said "Oh, whoa is me", and never sent it out again. The truth is that 75% of rejection slips are sent out because the manuscript was terrible. However, if you take a LOT of precautions, go through workshops, learn proper grammar and spelling, have a good plot, chances are that isn't you. The last 25% of rejections are sent out because people either send them to the wrong publisher, the publisher doesn't have room for it, or the editor is not passionate about it.

Keep sending it and you have a good chance that one editor will become passionate about it, and he will get it published.

The time to worry, and wonder about going back to the drawing board is if several editors reject it with comments of how much work it needs. Most editors will only send you form rejects because they get so many manuscripts every year, so your best bet to head this one off is to get into those workshops and get opinions on your writing.

Now, it is always good to keep in mind how others have faired. "Zen, and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance" was rejected over 100 times before an editor picked it up, loved it, and published it. It was on the best sellers list for quite a while. Stephen King had a spike on his wall piled with rejection slips before he finally hit it big with "Carrie", a book he didn't even like. Most writers have been rejected time and time again. Find out about your favorite author, read a biography about them and note how often they were rejected. This will give you hope when you start pushing for your own stories.

How cliché, but it rings true, especially in this business: If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!