Growing a Novel
If you can afford it, get a critique from a literary critique service. You pay to have your work critiqued by professional writers/editors who will give you a written report on your novel. There are many critique services out there, I have tried most of them and found these two to be the best.
Literary Intelligence www.literaryintelligence.co.uk
The Literary Consultancy www.literaryconsultancy.co.uk
When you receive their report back use it a basis to rewrite again.
How do I get my novel published?
Very few publishers accept unsolicited adult fiction manuscripts now. You will be better off getting an agent first.
The Writers’ and Artists Yearbook and the Writer’s Handbook have a list of agents in them. Go through it and pick out agents who deal with the sort of book you have written. Or check in the acknowledgements section in similar style novels. It’s a good idea to pick an agent who is a member of the Association of Authors’ Agents and to avoid those who charge a reading fee or any upfront fee. Follow their preferred method of submission. Often they will ask for an introductory letter, a synopsis and the first three chapters with an SAE. Your manuscript should be typed on one-side of A4 paper only, in double line spacing with wide margins.
Be prepared to wait, be prepared for rejections, be prepared to rewrite.
A synopsis is an overview of your novel, an outline of what happens in your book, what the story is about. It should very simply tell the outline of the plot, avoiding too much detail. It should make clear who the main characters are, where/when it is set and what the theme/premise is. It should not include dialogue or extracts from the story. It should be no more than two sides of A4 paper, less if possible, a dozen paragraphs is ideal.
Yes, almost certainly. Big literary agencies receive more than 13,000 unsolicited manuscripts a year but may take on no more than five authors. But don’t worry, virtually all of the top published authors have been rejected, some of them dozens of times.
If you are lucky enough to be taken on by an agent, they will then try to sell your book to a publisher. However, getting an agent is not a guarantee that you will get published.
If you are lucky enough to get a publishing deal you may still not be in a financial position to give up the day job. There are stories of six figure advances in the press but a more realistic figure is £5,000-£15,000 for a first novel. You will only get royalties if you ‘earn-out’ your advance. If your book sells at £6.99 the publisher and retailer will take most of this, leaving you with around 7.5 per cent of the cover price. Your agent will then take 10-15 per cent of this. You will be left with less than 50p for each book sold so don’t make the mistake of writing a novel to try to make some money! Do it because you simply have to.
Good luck!
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