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After you've finished writing your novel...

4/6/2015

0 Comments

 
It's a good idea to hear how your story sounds out loud, especially if you've written a picture book parents are going to read to their children. There are programs that do this - read text out loud. Else you could get someone to read it to you or record yourself reading it and listen to it back.
 
Obviously, grammar and spelling need to be perfect before you send it off, which is why it's a good idea to put the manuscript aside for a few weeks (I usually wait 5 or 6); it's amazing how many errors you can find on re-reading with fresh eyes. You may want to join a writing community like
www.mywriterscircle.com (I've been a member for many years and it's helped me a lot). 
 
Few reputable publishers accept unsolicited submissions anymore, but there are a few medium sized traditional publishers that do, with Andersen Press probably being the best. I made a blog post listing them here:
http://www.walkerproductions.co.uk/blog/13-reputable-uk-childrens-publishers-accepting-unsolicited-submissions
 
So going the agent route is probably best to start with. They will sell your MS to the best publisher in return for 15% commission. Every writer should have a copy of the current Writers' and Artists' Yearbook
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1408192454/ (the new 2016 edition is out in July), which lists who does what in UK publishing.
 
Make sure you research any prospective agents thoroughly online before submitting anything. Does their website look professional? Have they successfully sold books in your genre? Most are members of the Association of Authors' Agents, although some reputable agencies are not. Just have a look at what they've sold. Then decide who to send the MS to. The larger agencies have many agents working for them, so you should read their profiles and select the best fit and address your submission to them. Always follow their submission guidelines. Most are either email or form submissions, which is handy (although I have had a few subs and replies lost in the ether from time to time). Usually they ask for the full MS for picture books, either as a Word or PDF file (be aware that formatting may be lost if they have a different version of Word to you). For longer works the first three chapters and a synopsis is usually requested. The synopsis is not a blurb or teaser, but a concise summary of the main plot, including the ending. Try to get it onto one page of A4. Everything, including the synopsis, should be double spaced (select all and press ctrl +2), 12 point Times New Roman, no space between paragraphs unless starting a new section. In other words, the complete opposite of how I've formatted this blog post.
 
Put your address and contact details, the title, your name and the word count on the title page. Make sure you number the pages. Attach the file(s)to a cover email which introduces you and your work.
 
Dear [agent's name],
 
Please find attached my picture book/novel, TITLE IN CAPS (word count). [Short summary of the novel, no more than three sentences, then a little about yourself].
 
Don't say your daughter and her classmates loved it. Don't say the agent will be missing out on loads of money if they turn it down. Don't say it could be a movie and you will write the script.
 
Select about a dozen agents and submit to them simultaneously. That is a perfectly standard thing to do, unless they specifically say they only accept exclusive submissions. Do not CC them all in to the same email though!
 
Expect to wait between 1 and 3 months, and if you haven't heard back send a polite email enquiring whether they received your submission OK.
 
Everyone gets rejection. Don't let it bother you. They are almost always form rejections that say about how your work is not quite right for their list. But if they take the time to write you a personal rejection treat it like gold dust and treasure it.
 
If you run out of agents, try the publishers listed on my blog. Then you may want to look at self-publishing (note: use a Print-On-Demand company like Lulu.com where there are no set-up fees. You do not want to be paying vanity publishers thousands of pounds for them to dump 100 books on your doorstep). That's the main thing you need to keep in mind: "money should flow towards the author, not the other way round". You do not want to be paying publishers or agents anything apart from commission and 'expenses' like photocopying and proof copies. Publishers make their money by selling books. Agents make their money on commission from selling books. Do not hand over any money unless they have sold something.

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14 Reputable UK Children's Publishers Accepting Unsolicited Submissions

7/8/2014

5 Comments

 
The vast majority of book publishers only accept submissions via a literary agent. However, there are still a few small/medium-sized publishers accepting unsolicited submissions, and the ones below publish children's and YA titles.

It is perfectly acceptable to send simultaneous submissions (that is, the same manuscript to several publishers at the same time), but it's good manners to mention it in your cover letter. Unless specified, the publisher wants a short cover letter, synopsis (NOT a blurb- a plot outline) and a sample (usually 3 chapters). Check individual guidelines thoroughly.

Age ranges for children's fiction are usually divided thus:

Board books/picture books/easy readers - for toddlers and young children up to about the age of 7 or 8. Usually contain about 1,500- 2,000 words at 32 pages. And obviously contain pictures!

Transition books/chapter books - for ages 7-10. Fewer pictures, more text divided into 3/4-page chapters. Usually around 50-60 pages in length.

Middle grade/junior fiction - for ages 8-12. More complicated themes and sub-plots. 100-150 pages.

Young adult (YA) - for ages 12+. A wide variety of genres and themes. Lengths can be anything from 200-400 pages.

NOTE: Avoid
Pegasus Publishers - don't be fooled by their professional-looking website; this outfit is a vanity press in disguise. ie. Although they make no mention of author fees on their website, countless writers report that they are offered contracts which include them having to hand over thousands of pounds. No reputable publisher (or agent) charges fees.


ANDERSEN PRESS -  Picture books to YA fiction, up to 75,000 words. Hard copy only. 2-3 month response.

BLOOMSBURY SPARK - Publishes ebooks only. YA fiction 25,000-60,000 words. Email submissions. Will not hear back unless interested.

BUSTER BOOKS - No picture books. Email or postal submissions.

CARINA - Run by Harlequin UK. Publishes ebooks only. Young adult. Any genre and any length. Response 3-4 weeks.


CURIOUS FOX - Ages 8+. No picture books. Email submissions. Will not hear back unless interested.

DAVID FICKLING - Currently closed - check back for submission guidelines.

FAT FOX BOOKS - Ages 3-14. Any genre. Email submissions. Will not hear back unless interested (3 months)

FLEDGLING PRESS - Email submissions. 6 weeks response.

HOT KEY BOOKS - Email full manuscript. 3 months response

INSIDE POCKET - All age ranges. Email submissions.

MOGZILLA - Ages 4-15 (45,000-75,000 words rough guide). Email or post submissions.

MYRMIDON - Currently closed - check back for submission guidelines.

PHOENIX YARD - Ages 3-13. All genres. Email subs only.

STRIDENT - Currently closed, check back later. 7+ to YA. Email a proposal only in the first instance.





5 Comments

Preparing Your Initial Submission To Agents/Publishers

26/10/2013

2 Comments

 
Agents/editors usually ask for the same three things from novelists: cover letter, synopsis, first few chapters. It goes without saying that you should always check their submission guidelines on their websites (almost all have them). And a lot now seem to accept email submissions, which is a happy development.

Cover Letter
It's almost always a 'cover' letter rather than a 'query' letter; few ask you to submit a proposal without any accompanying prose. But anyway, there's hardly any difference between the two. Instead of 'Please find attached a synopsis and the first three chapters', for a query you'd put 'I'd be delighted to send you the synopsis and first three chapters at your request'. Everything else is the same.

You need:

- Your premise in tagline form. As short as you can make it. A couple of sentences at most.
- The TITLE, word count, genre and target audience (yes, your title should be in CAPS).
- A short blurb, only a few sentences long, expanding your premise and introducing your main character(s).
- A short biography. Include any writing-related experience. Mention if you have a good social platform following (blog, twitter etc.)
- A few publishing credits. Seriously. If you don't have any, get some. Write a few short stories and submit them. Getting published on a non-paying ezine blog still counts. It shows the editor you're serious and your writing is of a certain standard. And it's the first thing that'll catch their eye when they open your email/envelope - a list in the middle of the page that can only be publishing credits. Sets you above 90% of the rest, gives you an advantage before they've even started reading. Get some.

Please try and find someone to address your cover letter to personally. Many agencies have agent bios where you can find the most suitable agent and address your submission directly to them.

After that, you introduce your novel. There are different ways of working this, but I'd recommend opening with the premise tagline, then the TITLE/word count/genre/audience, and then the blurb. Follow up with "I have attached the synopsis and first three chapters for your consideration" (or whatever they ask for) and end with your bio and publishing credits. I'll say again: those credits will really help you.

Synopsis
Some writers seem to hate writing their synopsis. This is the best way I've found. After your novel is finished, you read it through, summing up each chapter in a couple of sentences as you go. You'll end up with a detailed plot outline (that probably looks quite different to the one you planned in the very beginning, if that's how you work!) Cut out everything that isn't to do with the main plot. Your synopsis should only be two pages, maximum (double-spaced!). That's only 650 words or so. So yes, you'll most likely have to play around with your sentences, cutting and cropping to avoid having precious lines taken up with only a word or two. In your novel, white space doesn't matter - is good, in fact - but in your synopsis you don't have enough to waste.

Also, try to cut out as many characters as possible, leaving only the main ones. You want to mention as few names as possible, or else the editor will have trouble keeping track of who's who. For instance, in my synopsis, instead of calling Lorna's father by his name, ALAN, I always referred to him as 'Lorna's father'. And yes, the first time you mention someone by name you put it in CAPS.

The most important thing is to include all twists and turns, including the ending. The synopsis I wrote for my first novel, ten years back when I was 16, didn't say how it ended, because it was a twist, and I didn't want to 'ruin' it for the editor. So it wasn't a synopsis. It was a blurb. And of course, no editor ever asked to read it all anyway.

Sample Chapters
Of course, your chapters are the most important thing. Yet if you haven't written a good cover letter and synopsis the editor won't even read this far. So if they do get here, for God's sake make it good. As good as it can be. Don't submit anything until you're sure you can't improve it. And the opening needs to be your very best. You need a main character in a tricky situation, from the very get go. We need to care, we need to be intrigued, we need to want to read on. We need a hook.

Don't open with scene-setting, or narration, or exposition, or describing the lovely fantastical city, or the weather... Throw us in the deep end, right in the middle of the story rather than the beginning.

Then perhaps we'll read on. And maybe an editor will too.
2 Comments

Paying Short Story Markets: Genre Fiction (horror/sci-fi/fantasy/crime)

5/8/2013

1 Comment

 
Here's a list of paying markets that publish short stories in the horror, science-fiction, fantasy and crime genres. ALL accept email submissions or use an online submission form. Please let me know if you find any dead links. 'Sim sub' = simultaneous submission (submitting the same story to more than one publication at the same time).

www.3lobedmag.com
Horror, dark fantasy. No sim or multiple subs. 500-7000 words. Pays 3c/word up to $35.

www.aftereverafter.wordpress.com/fiction/guidelines/
Fantasy/sci-fi/horror. Sim subs and reprints accepted. 100-10,000 words. Pays $10 flat.

http://www.albedo1.com/submission-guidelines/
Fantasy/sci-fi/horror. No sim or multiple subs or reprints. 2,500-8,000 words. 6 Euros/1000 words

http://www.analogsf.com/information/submissions.shtml
Sci-fi. 2,000-7,000 words preferred for short stories. Also publishes serials up to 80,000 words. Pays professional rates.

http://www.andromedaspaceways.com/
Sci-fi, fantasy. No sim or multiple subs. Up to 10,000 words. Pays 1.25c/word (Australian)

http://www.apex-magazine.com/submission-guidelines/
Fantasy, Sci-fi, horror. No sim or multiple subs. 30 days response. Up to 5,000 words firm. Pays 5c/word.

http://www.asimovs.com/info/guidelines.shtml
Sci-fi. No sim subs. up to 20,000 words. Pays 7-9c/word.

http://www.betenoiremagazine.com/magazineguidelines.htm
'Dark' genre fiction. Sim and multiple subs and reprints accepted. Check reading periods! Pays $10 flat.

http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/submissions/
Literary fantasy. Sim subs accepted. No multiple subs or reprints. Up to 10,000 words. Pays 5c/word.

http://bullspec.com/submission-guidelines/
Genre fiction. No multiple subs. Sim subs and reprints accepted. 1,000-8,000 words. Pays 5c/word. CURRENTLY CLOSED.

http://aescifi.ca/index.php/submissions
Sci-fi. 500-3,000 words. Sim subs accepted. No multiple subs. Pays 6c/word (Canadian).

http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/submissions/
Sci-fi, fantasy. 1,000-8,000 words (4,000 preferred). 2 days response. Pays 10c/word to 4,000 words, 5c/word after.

http://dailysciencefiction.com/submit
Sci-fi, fantasy. 100-10,000 words. Especially keen on flash fiction. No sim or multiple subs or reprints. Pays 8c/word.

http://www.themysteryplace.com/eqmm/guidelines/
Crime, mystery. Any length, but 2,500 -8,000 words preferred. 3 months response. Pays 5-8c/word

http://electricspec.com/submissions/submitting-fiction/
Genre. 250-7,000 words. Sim subs accepted. No multiple subs or reprints. Consider reading periods! Pays $20 flat.

http://fantasyscrollmag.com/submissions/
Sci-fi, fantasy. Up to 5,000 words. Accepts reprints and sim subs, but no multiple subs. Pays 1c/word.

http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/about/guidelines/
Sci-fi, fantasy. 1,500-7,500 words. No sim or multiple subs. Reprints accepted. Pays 8c/word. CURRENTLY CLOSED.

http://www.newmyths.com/?3e3ea140
Sci-fi, fantasy. Up to 10,000 words. Sim subs accepted. 60-90 days response. Pays $50 for shorts, $20 for flash.

http://www.onebuckhorror.com/submissions
Horror. Up to 3,000 words firm. Sim subs accepted. No multiple subs. Pays 5c/word.

http://onirismes.com/submitform.php
Fantasy, sci-fi. 2,000-4,000 words. No multiple subs. Pays 60 Euros flat. CURRENTLY CLOSED.

http://www.overmydeadbody.com/wguide13.htm
Crime, mystery. 750-4,000 words. Sim subs accepted. Response time 4-6 weeks. Pays 1c/word

http://www.phantasmacore.com/submissions/
Fantasy, sci-fi. Up to 5,000 words. Sim subs and reprints accepted. Pays $5.50 flat.

http://pseudopod.org/guidelines/
Horror, dark fantasy audio podcasts. Shorts 2,000-6,000 words, flash up to 1,500 words. Sim subs and reprints accepted. No multiple subs. Pays $100 for short stories, $20 for flash.

http://www.shimmerzine.com/guidelines/fiction-guidelines/
Genre. Up to 7,500 words (4,000 preferred). No sim or multiple subs. Pays 5c/word.

http://www.shroudmagazine.com/info.html
Dark fantasy, horror, crime. Up to 5,000 words. Sim subs accepted, no multiple subs. Pays $10 for flash and $25 for short stories. Response time 2-4 months. CURRENTLY CLOSED.

http://www.shocktotem.com/guidelines/
Dark fantasy, horror. Up to 5,000 words. Reprints accepted. No sim or multiple subs. Pays 5c/word.

http://www.somethingwicked.co.za/submissions/
Sci-fi, horror. 2,000-8,000 words. No sim or multiple subs. Pays 7c/word.

http://www.strangehorizons.com/guidelines/fiction.php
Speculative fiction. Up to 9,000 words (5,000 preferred). No sim or multiple subs or reprints. 40 day response. Pays 8c/word.

http://tgenedavis.com/submission-guidelines/
Speculative fiction, must be 'family friendly'. No word limit, accepts flash to novellas. 60 day response. Pays $50.


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