Becoming a published writer can involve navigating through a mass of contradictory, sometimes chaotic advice! Multitudes of websites give you endless different views.
Publishers tell you to “Send us your manuscript”. Or “don’t…”.
Printers, especially 'on-demand', proclaim "No need for publishers".
Authors advise you not to "…sign away your future!” and “…get yourself an agent".
Agents prefer that you're already a published author.
But publishers won't take risks if they don't have rights over your future work as well. And publishers don't always respond too well to agents – or, alternatively, authors contacting them direct.
Hmmm! Confusing!
Robinswood’s Advice
– Go to The Society of Authors website. It's comprehensive and gives you a very good overview.
– Go to The Word Pool website – especially if your interest is writing for children. This gives you masses of good information – plus a long list of publishers. (Go to Useful Links for some useful sites.)
– Decide what you want to achieve: Fame? Wealth? Recognition? Just 'being published'? Happy readers? Transfer of Knowledge? Be realistic about your expectations – it's a hugely competitive world.
– Buy or borrow a couple of books: Writers' and Artists' Yearbook (A&C Black) and The Writers' Handbook (Macmillan). Very good, everything you need to know.
– Select just a few publishers (unless you want to try an agent or do-it-yourself) who set a tone on their websites with which you feel you could be comfortable. Check out their specialities and limitations, too.
– Email the editor at each of your selected publishers with the essential details they require. Persist a little, but not too much, and try to get feedback. Add to your list every now and then. And always think positive!
– Of course, you can now self-publish very easily. You can even go for a self-published e-book, digitally printed on demand, or as a download, marketing done for you, so – hey! – no design, print or distribution costs, just profits! But, before you cut out the designer, the publisher and the retailer, remember they exist for a reason: to create and display a fully professional presentation. Maybe we would say that, wouldn't we?! Our last word of advice is to remember that you’re contacting publishers – so do check your spelling, grammar and punctuation!
What Robinswood Wants to Know
Well, if Robinswood is still on your list, what we want to know is:
Who you are. What do you do? Where do you come from? What's your background? A bit of a CV-cum-autobiography – just four or five paragraphs will do. What sort of 'Work' you've produced. Is it a teaching resource? A teenage novel? Something for younger children? What age group? Why have you written it? Are you a teacher? Or a Mum? Or a Dad? Or just inspired? Have you spotted a 'gap in the market'? What published products are most like yours? Have you produced a good summary of your 'Work’: a synopsis – the story or content, some short extracts, a list of characters and their descriptions, and practical data like proposed number of chapters, word-count, the expected number of pages.
Send that all on a single email. Don't send attachments – we never open those unless we've entered into a dialogue with you.
What Robinswood Does Next
We expect you’d like to know the process we go through…
– We'll generally acknowledge your email within ten working days.
– Within four to six weeks, we'll tell you whether your Work looks as if it might fit our range and ask you for the manuscript (disk or hard copy).
– Hard copies will be sent to our 'Readers' – teachers, parents, educational specialists, children – and we'll share their comments with you. This can take at least three months.
– If it's still looking positive, we'll send you a draft contract to mull over. Talk to professional friends and The Society of Authors about this. You'll have to confirm that the Work is your own, i.e., your copyright (or agreed with third parties if extracts appear) and agree to give us an indemnity to that effect.
– If we finally sign a contract with you, your Work would normally be published within twelve to twenty-four months if there are no complications.
So now – it’s over to you!