getting published is HARD!
I bet this is how the majority of people think it works:
(this is how I thought it worked)
You write a book.
It's okay if it's not perfect because that's what editors are for, right?
And it's alright that you don't remember all the technicalities of punctuation and grammar.
If you have some choppy parts, your agent or editor will fix them.
No one is perfect. Your manuscript doesn't have to be perfect.
If an agent likes your book, they will help you smooth things out.
There are lots of books in the world and some of them even suck.
YOU can write just as good.
It should be easy to get published. Anyone can do it.
If you think this is how it works, go publish your own book because no agent or publisher will look at your work without laughing. Its harsh, I know.
This is how it really works:
You write a book.
Then you re-write it.
Then you edit it, and re-write it some more.
When you get to the point where you are changing every sentence in fear that something may be wrong and then you end up changing it back to how it was in the beginning... only THEN
can you PREPARE to send it off to an agent.
Wait, you say. I thought we just prepared it?
Nope.
You have to write a query letter.
Query=Ask
You are asking an agent to read your manuscript.
One page, that's all you get so it better be good.
Then you have to write a synopsis. Which, many-a-writer will inform you (and even argue) that the synopsis is harder to write than the actual book.
Oh, and some agents want a one page synopsis of your entire book. Some want two pages, or five, or ten. So... you have to write them all.
But wait, there's more...
Then you have to write an author bio. Even if you aren't an author yet, you have to sell yourself, so make it good.
After all that's prepared, an agent may ask to see the first five pages. Or ten. Or the first chapter. And if you're REALLY lucky, a partial.
Then, they can ask for the full manuscript or they can do what every writer fears:
REJECT it!
All based on one (or two, or five, or twenty) pages of your hard work.
Gone are the times where anyone and everyone who writes a story can get published.
Its a hard, harsh, sad, and trying publishing world.
Someone's gotta do it.
Perseverance is key, right? At least, that and great grammatical skills and a kick ass query.And why I love it, I can't say. But I suppose I will continue on it for as long as it takes.
