Over the next week, we will be posting blogs written by bestselling author Freya North. Freya spent 4 years trying to get her work publihsed before being snapped up by HarperCollins in 1996. Her 10th book Secrets is out now.
I wanted to write the type of book I wanted to read but couldn’t seem to find in the shops (back in 1990!!) and though I started my second novel (Chloe) once I’d finished my first (Sally), and though I didn’t have an agent, let alone a deal - publication was of course my ultimate goal.I made a lot of careless mistakes when I first started submitting my manuscript - here’s my advice to help you bypass them!
You don’t need to have written the entire book when you tout it around - but you must feel confident that there is a whole book in you, not just a killer opening chapter!
Don’t approach a publisher directly. Yes, it worked for Roddy Doyle - but he was lucky. If you send your work direct to a publisher, it’ll be plonked on the slush pile. If a publisher is sent your work with an agent’s seal of approval, they sit up and take notice.
Do seek out a copy of The Writers & Artists Yearbook as this lists all literary agents. Choose an agency who represents authors you like. Find out which agents there represent which authors and then approach them with your synopsis and three chapters.
When you submit material, either enclose an SAE, or make it known you don’t need your submission returned.
Keep your synopsis to one side of A4
Send in your three best chapters (they needn’t necessarily be chaps1-3). The idea is to have the agent gagging for more…
SPELL CHECK SPELL CHECK SPELL CHECK
Use line spacing of 1.5.
Finally, good luck! If it could happen to me it CAN happen for you – and I look forward to sharing shelf-space in the bookshops with you anon!
www.freyanorth.com
14 comments:
Hi Freya,
Much of this seems to fly in the face of accepted wisdom - ie having novel finished, double spacing and sending 1st 3 chapters.
Tricia
Yes - I've noticed that successful authors often tell atypical (in terms of advice offered by agents) stories - Mark Billingham, for example, trotting off 100 pages and randomly sending it out. We're told again and again that we have to stick absolutely rigidly to the agent's requirements (as laid out in W&A Yearbook) or we won't get read at all.
Darn! I was told that I needed to send my first chapter because if your opening is not good enough to send, it means that the agent won't bother reading anyway.
My head hurts!
Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there's a typo in the first par: "publihsed"
basic - but good info.
Though I do think 1st chapter is a must.
E
What? This is terrible advice!!! Except for the get-an-agent part, this is outright sabotage. Listen, people! If you want to be taken seriously as a writer and get noticed in this competitive industry, you must be professional. Why would any agent offer representation for work that's not finished? That's asinine. What if you can't write a good ending to save your life? Finish your work. A writer shouldn't EVER shop work until it's been edited and critiqued many times over. And if an agent requests three chapters, he/she wants chapters 1-3. Sending random chapters will get you a dunce cap for sure. Agents want to make sure you can hook readers right away and maintain momentum. Send chapter one. CHAPTER ONE. Double space your MS. Spell check is crap, not the least bit reliable, so don't count on that to find your mistakes. It has nothing on several grammar Nazis with red pens. BETA readers, critters, whatever you wanna call 'em, are more precious than gold. Get some. And an editor at a publishing house will get a manuscript from an agent not a publisher. And you need to seek agents who represent the kind of work you write not those who rep the kind of books you like. I like some Steven King, but I haven't written horror, so what good would that do me? You don't approach agents. You query them. Am I published yet? No. I'm on the last round of edits on my COMPLETE manuscript. But I'd never be published if I followed that "advice", except for the getting an agent part. That's my next step.
I'm with Courtney on this.
Maybe it was different in 1996?
I find it amusing that the blog on the Authonomy site is recommending that people never approach a publisher directly, when the whole point of authonomy is to do exactly that. Just amusing. That's all. And yeah... "published" should be spelled correctly here as well.
Well thank you Freya for the post. I know this goes against the standard advice but isn't that the point of getting successful writers to contribute? We already know what the rule book says, now lets here it from people who have gone through it. I think what this really shows is that following the rules is meaningless if you don't have some great writing behind it, and breaking them is meaningless if you do.
Courtney has it right.
Eh, this is exactly opposite of what you read everywhere else.
Small point, but not everyone would agree with spacing of 1.5, most want 2.
Generally the agent will specify this in the guidelines.
If uncertain, too much causes less agro than too little
I have tried this: three different chapters, non-consecutive, beginning, middle and end when submitting to agents at conferences. Without exception it caused disfavour.
It would be an unusual thing to do, and in general is not what they ask for, "First 50 pages or three chapters" means consecutive chapters.
Can you query if you are an unpublished novelist and your novel isn't finished?
http://nathanbransford.blogspot.com/2009/02/can-you-query-if-you-are-unpublished.html"
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