So you’re writing a book…

I’ve recently been getting more acquaintances (or strangers) asking me how I went about this process so they can learn from it themselves. Everyone’s path is different, but hopefully this very basic introduction can help those just starting out.

1. Finish writing the book.
   This sounds simple but when I first started, I didn’t know it. I thought, “It’s an awful lot of work to write a whole book if you don’t know whether or not you can get it published”…yup!

   But truthfully, if you aren’t willing to do this work, you won’t get through the publishing process because in some ways, this is the easy part. Or more accurately, this is the only part you have control of. And if you don’t end up enjoying the writing process, I have a hard time imagining the rest of the road will be worth it.

   So sit down and write the book.

2. Rewrite the book.
   I remember thinking, “They don’t actually expect me to reread this whole thing, do they?” Yes. About eighteen times, at least.
   We’re not talking proofreading grammar. Unless you’re a prodigy, you need to revise major pieces of your book for character arc, pacing, world-building, voice, etc. Find some other readers to give you feedback. Study craft resources like the Turning to Story podcast and researching Save the Cat and other story structures. Be sure you have a word count within the right range of your book (usually 60k-80k for young adult and 70k-90k for adult, with about 10k more allowed for fantasy in either age range).

   Then and only then is it worth checking for grammar.

3. Create a list of agents.
   I was very leery of being scammed at this point. Many, many bad and fake agents exist, as do presses who want you to pay them to publish your book.

   Question: if anyone could pay that much to get their book sold in stores, why doesn’t everyone do it?

   Answer: because there are no easy shortcuts to publishing.

   So, to find a good agent at a reputable agency, I say start in the acknowledgment pages of the books you love. Google those agents, find the agency website, look at all the agents at that agency and find their Manuscript Wishlist (MSWL). This will help you find a good fit for your book.

   Warning: agents get HUNDREDS of submissions a day, so they will likely reject your submission quickly if it doesn’t follow submission instructions or fall within the age category and genre they’re accepting. Likewise, if the word count is too far outside the normal range, it may be a quick rejection. Do your homework and don’t submit until you’ve perfected step 4.

4. Write a query.

   And if you thought writing a book was hard, writing a query is worse (for most people). You have about 250-300 words to convince that agent who gets hundreds of submissions a day that they should read your book.

   So how do you write a good query? The fun part is: a lot of advice out there disagrees. Isn’t that helpful?

   A good place to start is studying the back cover copies of published books and finding every successful query you can online. Read, read, read. Study, study, study. Revise, revise, revise. If you’re like me, it will still be bad and you won’t know what’s wrong or how to fix it so you’ll send it out anyway and get the rejections. Welcome to querying.

5. Write the next book.

   Here’s the reality: the vast majority of people do not get an agent with their first book. Looking back, that’s a blessing for me because I have gotten much better since then. So if you REALLY want to publish a book, you have to be willing to repeat these steps over the course of many years.

   It took me five years and three books with a solid one hundred rejections before I got my agent and my book deal, and then I still had to revise and wait two more years before it was published. Plenty of other writers I know have books and years of trying both in the double digits and triple-digit rejections for EACH book.

   If you’re starting this process, go in with eyes wide open.