Try an Agent

If you have completed a piece of writing and want to consider publishing it then the best way to approach a publisher is through a Literary Agent. Agents can objectively advise you on your work and will know the most suitable publisher to take it to, not to mention fighting for the best deal on your behalf.  Most publisher’s won’t accept unsolicited manuscripts, so please don’t send directly to a publishing house – you will likely have to get an agent.

The best way to find an agent and to find more handy hints and tips about getting published is to get hold of a copy of The Writers' and Artists' Yearbook. It contains a comprehensive list of publishers and agents both in the U.K. and abroad, together with names, addresses and details of what type of books they are looking for.

If you are going to send your work to a Literary Agent for their consideration, try and make sure you follow some basic rules:-

• Submit only two or three sample chapters (the first two or three are normally your best bet) and send these with a 300-500 word outline of the rest of the work and a simple cover letter.

• Your manuscript should be typewritten in a sensible typeface, double spaced and on one side only of white A4 paper. Do not bind it.

• Your manuscript should be clean and not marked.

• Make sure you enclose a stamped, self- addressed envelope for the return of your material.

• Don’t ever pay a reading fee – if an agent or publisher asks for money upfront from you – then make sure you go elsewhere.

It is likely that your work will be read by a professional reader who works for the Literary Agent. You may then get a standard rejection letter, an encouraging letter directly from the Agent or a promising phone call requesting your work be ‘called-in’! Being ’called-in’ is excellent news, someone thinks that your writing has promise! However, if this doesn’t happen, then don’t lose faith – it takes a long time and a lot of effort to get published as many very famous authors will tell you. Just keep trying and ask for some feedback from anyone who reads your work.