Category: Writing about Writing

When Considering Which Publishers to Approach

According to an article in The Guardian, the United Kingdom publishes more books per inhabitant than any other country in the world.[1] When it comes to approaching a publisher with your manuscript, there are plenty of them to choose from. Everyone has most likely heard of the ‘big five.’ Faber and Faber, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan Publishers, and Penguin Random House have grown into massive publishing companies which produce thousands of new titles every year.

There are also plenty of new publishers and small press publishers who tend to focus on niches. An example of this is Daunt Books Publishing, who focus on travel books, non-fiction and literary fiction that explores a sense of place, or the Feminist Press who will only publish content written by female authors. Independent publishers differ from massive publishing houses which are more commercially focused and often produce a range of different genres and styles of books. The publisher you decide to approach will depend on the type of book you are writing, how much you are willing to compromise, and the goal you are trying to achieve.

If you are planning to approach a big publisher, you will most likely need to get an agent. Big publishers won’t accept unsolicited manuscripts as it would be impossible to keep up with the sheer number of submissions they would receive. If you don’t want to publish your book through an agent, then small press publishing might be more suited to you. A large number of small press publishers accept unsolicited manuscripts and are often more open to new authors if their work fits what they are looking for.

Small press publishers tend to let the author have more of a say about the publishing process too.  If a small press publisher accepts your submission and decides to publish your book, they will work with you to create the finished piece. This isn’t to say that you surrender the right to any input if you choose to go to a big publisher. The author can still turn down cover illustrations, for example. But it is more like selling your piece to the publisher and being told what changes they want to be made, than working as a team to create a final product. Big publishers have a wider audience and therefore will try to edit your book as much as necessary to appeal to a broader market, whereas small press publishers often try to target a specific readership. This means the final piece will be closer to your initial submission and the editing process will be more concentrated on ensuring your book is at its best quality, rather than censoring any of your ideas or removing your favourite character.

However, if you don’t mind compromising and are looking for a way to make a living or write the next bestseller, big publishers have the budget to promote your book. They will also be able to pay you a nice and healthy advance. True, you will have a lot of competition as big publishing companies print thousands of new books a year, whereas a small press publisher may only print around twenty. But small press publishers wouldn’t be able to spend as much money on promotion or give you as large an advance as a money-making giant like Penguin Random House could.

In conclusion, there are many different publishing houses of varying sizes and who desire various types of manuscripts. While a small publisher could be easier for a new writer to approach, you will probably need to continue your day job to receive a manageable income. While a contract with a large publishing company isn’t a guarantee for success, it would be beneficial to your bank balance, as long as you don’t mind adapting your work to fit their preferences.

Personally, I think I will submit my work to small press publishers first to build up my writing profile. Then, if necessary, I could try to pitch my later work to bigger publishers for a healthier income. After all, if you are lucky enough to become an established author, even the bigger publishers might let strange plots and alternative characters pass as long as your writing sells.

[1] Alison Flood, The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/oct/22/uk-publishes-more-books-per-capita-million-report

[accessed 19 May 2019]

Writing for the Market

‘Write from the soul. Not from some notion the market-place wants. The market is fickle; the soul is eternal.’

– Jeffrey A Carver                     

I have to admit, that when writing or coming up with an idea for a written piece, I never think about what trends are popular at the moment, or what my market would be interested in reading. As Carol Blake wrote, ‘starting your novel today means that the earliest it could be published is three years from now (…) you would need a crystal ball to know what will be hot in the marketplace in three years’ time.’ This means that by the time your work is published, all of your readers will have moved on to a new trend. Vampires become dystopian fiction, dystopia becomes medieval fantasy which becomes zombies or romances about snowmen. There is no sure way to determine what readers will want next.

As writers, we are warned time and time again not to write for ourselves, but personally, I think that if we aren’t writing something we can become emotionally invested in, then why do we need to be the one to tell that story at all? If even the author doesn’t feel strongly about the work, then who will? And how do you intend to promote something you regard only with indifference?

As Jeffrey A Carver says, ‘the soul is eternal.’ To write something that has significant meaning to you, or have characters you can relate to and feel a bond with, makes a novel feel worth writing whether it becomes published or not. If you write something that meets the market’s demands, but the writing is dispassionate or the characters dull, it will still end up at the bottom of the rejection pile. If you write something you are invested in with believable characters and a strong narrative voice, eventually the market may change in your favour and you can submit a manuscript you’re proud to have your name on.

I have found in the past, that trying to mimic other writers’ styles or attempting to write about things I am unfamiliar with simply because they have worked well for other people, has never produced work that I could be happy with. If I tried using a voice that wasn’t my own, the writing felt forced. I struggled to say what I wanted to because I felt that I couldn’t use my own words. Writing things outside my comfort zone has resulted in a similar experience because I couldn’t feel enthusiastic about writing something I wasn’t interested in.

In conclusion, I feel the best approach for me to take is to write about subjects that interest me and develop my own style, meaning that I can create characters in a world that I care about so that I am able to produce a piece of high-quality work. There is always an opportunity to find a way to tailor your novel to the market once it is finished, but it must be how you envisioned it or something that you are happy to be associated with. After all, if it does get published, it’s your name on the cover.