By Maggie Dunchurch
Breaking into the world of writing is not an easy thing to do. Knowing what direction you want to go in ahead of time is paramount. If there’s one piece of advice that I could give anyone wanting a career in writing; hold out for a traditional literary agent or publisher. If I could rewind the clock, I would have waited. At the time, I thought that five years was so long to be sending out queries and that another year of waiting on top of that was the end of the world.
Meanwhile, here I am twenty years later and even though I’m now beginning to make it; I would have been there fourteen years ago. Instead, I self-published with a self-publisher who stole from me & other authors for more than a decade until they were finally shut down. Luckily, I had only published one book with them. It could have been much worse.
So, my advice is to do everything you can for as long as you can and never give up hope. Don’t think that because you’re not getting answers, eventually someone won’t answer you. Because sometimes; they do.
Here are some tips for writers to live by:
- Research your agents and publishers. Know what type of publisher they are, how long they’ve been in business, and what complaints they may have against them.
- Be patient. It’s a waiting game. Be prepared to wait and be thankful that communication is not by snail mail!
- Never send a full manuscript to anyone, unless they’ve already read a sample and are interested in taking it on. Any company that requests a full manuscript as a sample is not a reputable company. Any company that wants to charge you for submitting it isn’t a reputable company.
- Be open to new ideas.
- Be thankful for criticism.
- Surround yourself with people who genuinely want to see you succeed.
- Stay motivated, stay focused, and never give up.
CHECK OUT MAGGIEDUNCHURCH.COM
