Getting published

Getting published - useful information

The first step, would be to send the manuscript to the Literary Consultancy who offer a proof reading service. As part of this, they employ the services of a professionally published author in the same genre to which your work relates. It is worth bearing in mind that this is a very subjective process and you may not agree with everything the proof reader says but it can also prove useful as the proof reader may have a greater understanding of what publishers require. This service costs from £150 and you can obtain the necessary information from The Literary Consultancy Ltd, Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3GA, Telephone 020 7324 2563 or e-mail: info@literaryconsultancy.co.uk

Assuming you go ahead with this, you may then want to make any suggested changes to the manuscript. Once this has been done, this is where your options open up. The most desirable option, for all concerned, would be to obtain an agent. As most of the larger publishing houses will not accept unsolicited manuscripts (in reality they actually do but an unsolicited manuscript will go to the bottom of a large pile and decisions are based often on the first few sentences), the best way to get them to consider your manuscript is by an agent forwarding on the manuscript, on your behalf. Most of the larger Publishing Houses view agents as the best way of selecting publishable manuscripts and often assume that if an agent is representing the author/ manuscript then the work must be of publishable quality. A word of caution however, is that although it is easier to get a publishing deal when you have an agent representing you, this is by no means guaranteed as often-budgetary restraints restrict the amount of manuscripts a Publisher can publish at any given time. However, with an agent on board you are much more likely to be considered than when an agent is not involved.

In order to determine the best agent for you, you will need to look through the Artists and Writers Yearbook and The Writers Handbook, (both of which are available as Reference copies from the Central Library). Or visit Writers' Services The Website for Writers, (external website) with over 1700 pages of information and services. They chronicle all of the Agents in the UK. From this list, you will need to refine it by determining which of them represent authors similar to you. Once you have done this, it is most definitely advisable that you make contact with the agent so that they know who you are and that you would like to send them your manuscript for consideration. At this stage, you should determine exactly how each individual agent requires the layout of your manuscript to look. Bear in mind that there is no standard layout and you may have to play around with the layout several times for different agents.

Once you have determined the agents who represent similar authors and sent your manuscript to them, you then have to wait and see whether any of them are interested in representing you. Assuming they do, you would then need to get legal advice on any contract terms they were offering to represent you on. Again, bear in mind that the agent works for you and your best interests and not the publisher but beware of any agent who wishes to take more than 20% of your contract with the Publisher, as their fee. Once an agent has been secured, they will then do all of the work necessary to secure you a Publishing deal.

If however, you are unable to get an agent, it is still worth sending unsolicited manuscripts off to Publishers who publish books such as yours. Again, a list of all of the UK Publishers is contained in the Artists and Writers Yearbook  and The Writers Handbook. If going down this road, once you have made a list of the Publishers, again it is worth contacting each of them to determine the best person to send your manuscript to as well as making contact with them and trying to endear yourself to them. In this way, they are more likely to give consideration to your manuscript.

If this comes to nothing, it is always worth considering approaching local Publishers. The main one in the region is Tindall Street Press. (external website) They focus mainly on Adult fiction but will consider anything of good merit. They are based in Birmingham but distribute their books across the country.

The final option and one, which should be entered into with caution, is Vanity Publishing. This is whereby the Publisher will publish your books on your behalf but you must pay all of the costs involved, usually in excess of £5000.  Again, a list of these can be obtained from the Artists and Writers Yearbook  and The Writers Handbook. Bookstores are often reluctant to stock Vanity Publishing and you are responsible for distribution and sales so most people who go down this route rely on the goodwill of friends, family and people like me to host events for them, whereby, they can sell their books. As a Coventrian, if you did go down this route, we would of course put on events for you within Coventry Libraries. Again, this would limit your audience to Coventry.