Susan has written this guide from her own experience, and from that of people she
knows in the writing business. She hopes it is of help to anyone hoping to break into that
business, but does not claim that it is one-hundred per cent correct or infallible.

SHOULD I SEND MY BOOK TO AN AGENT OR A PUBLISHER?
Agents are a great blessing and a boon, if you get a good one. They take a lot of the workload
off your back. They know the market-place and the going-rate. They'll get you a
better deal and do all the negotiating. They might even find you work. And all for a mere
ten-per-cent of your earnings. (In television and film, they'll take twenty-five per cent).
However, an agent is unlikely to be willing to represent an unknown. So you might be
better employed sending your book directly to a publisher, rather than wasting time trying
to interest an agent.
If you send your book to a publisher as an unsolicited manuscript, it will land on the 'slush
pile'. As the name implies, publishers don't have that high an expectation of books that
arrive unsolicited. It will sit in the pile for weeks, maybe months, until someone has time to
have a look at it. Your book will have to shine indeed to be chosen. Most likely it will be
rejected.
One way of giving your book a slightly better chance of being chosen is to turn it into a
solicited manuscript. Do a bit of research. Find out which publishers actually publish the
kind of book you've written. Go into a bookshop with a notepad and look for books similar
in type to your own - whether it's Chick-Lit, Children's, Science-Fiction, Thriller, Detective
or whatever. Write down the names and addresses of the publishers. (You'll get a more
up-to-date idea of who's publishing what in a bookshop than in a library).
Phone the publishers and ask for the name of the editor in charge of Fiction or Children's,
or whatever applies in your case. Then you can address a letter directly to that editor. Be
quick off the mark, though, as editors tend to move around pretty often these days.
Write to the editor, saying that you have written a book of so many thousand words with
such and such a reader in mind. Keep the letter to one page and keep it simple. If you
have first-hand experience of your book's background - for instance, if the book's set in a
school, and you have been a teacher - then mention that. Ask if they would like to see the
book, and ask if they would like to see the whole book, or a synopsis and specimen
chapters.
You can write as many of these letters as you like and send them all off at the same time.
Some editors won't reply, some will say no, but with luck some will invite you to send them
your book (or synopsis). It will then be a solicited manuscript and - again, with luck - will be
seen sooner, and looked on with a little more favour than something off the slush-pile.
Then, again, agents do sometimes accept unknowns as clients. I was myself accepted as
an unknown, unpublished sixteen-year-old by an agent, who found me a publisher for my
first completed book. So maybe it would be worth trying an agent. It's a tough choice to
make, and I can't really help you.
Whatever you choose to do, brace yourself for disappointment. It costs a lot to 'originate' a
book, and it's always easier to turn a book down than take the risk of publishing it.
The most valuable trait a writer can have is sheer, dogged, bloody-minded persistence.

WHERE DO I FIND ADVICE ON AGENTS AND PUBLISHERS?
There are two books: 'The Writers' and Artists' Yearbook' and 'The Writer's Handbook'.
Both should be available in bookshops and libraries. Both give lists of agents, publishers
and publications that might print your work. They also provide extremely useful and
informative articles on such things as the tax problems a writer might have to deal with,
which word-processor to buy, and how to choose an agent.
The Year Book is the older publication but, I'm told, the Handbook is the more up-to-date.
It's also possible to join the Society of Authors even before you've published anything, as
an associate member. Once you're a member, the Society will vet contracts and provide
all sorts of advice and help. They have a website if you want to know more. You'll find it at:
www.societyofauthors.org

CAN I SEND MY BOOK TO MORE THAN ONE PUBLISHER AT A TIME?
A thorny question.
You can expect to wait something like four months for a reply from a publisher. (If you wait
longer than that, politely enquire about whether they've received your typescript. But don't
enquire sooner than that).
Writers quite reasonably point out that, while they were waiting all that time for a refusal,
they could have been sending their book to another publisher, who might have been more
interested. So why not send the typescript to several publishers at once, and save time?
I gather that this is normal practice in America. As long as the publishers are aware that
this is a multiple submission - that is, that the typescript has been sent to several other
publishers at the same time - it's okay.
However, it's not the normal practice in Britain. I don't see why it shouldn't be, and I've
heard that one or two people have done it, and one or two publishers don't mind it - but it's
still not general practice.
So it's another of those tough problems that you have to make your own mind up about. If
you do decide to make multiple submissions, make sure that you clearly state that you
have done so in your covering letter, so that no interested publisher is under the mistaken
impression that the book has been offered to them alone.
It is okay to send preliminary letters, asking if a publisher would like to see your book or
synopsis, to as many publishers as you like. You then send the typescript to whoever
answers, or whoever seems the keenest. At present, this seems the safest course to
pursue, but it's your decision.

HOW DO YOU PRESENT A BOOK WHEN SUBMITTING IT?
This is something I found it very difficult to get advice on when I started. Keep firmly in
mind that the whole object is to make your typescript easy to read. It should always be
typed or produced on a word-processor. Use good quality, white paper, so that the pages
underneath won't show through. This makes it clear and easy on the eyes.
If using a typewriter, make sure you have a new ribbon, so that the type is black, sharp
and clear.
If using a word-processor, try to print off on an ink-jet printer, or better, if you possibly can.
Dot-matrix printers produce type that's very wearing on the eyes. You don't want to give
your potential publisher a headache.
Also, if using a word-processor, don't be clever with typefaces. Publishers already know all
the typefaces. They aren't impressed by seeing how many you have on your machine. All
they want to do is read your book, as quickly and easily as possible. Many fonts are
difficult and tiring to read. Use plain old simple Times New Roman - it's always used
because it is so easy on the eye. Don't go smaller than 12-point.
Type on one side of the paper only.
Set your line spacing to 'double'.
If using a typewriter, set generous margins. If your book is accepted, the editor will use
them for jotting down editing points and queries.
Make your chapter headings clear and obvious.
Number your pages consecutively right through the book. Don't start each chapter at
number one again. This business of 'Chapter Fourteen, page three,' 'page four, Chapter
Nine' can be very frustrating and annoying when you've dropped all the pages on the floor
and you're trying to sort them out. You don't want to do anything that will annoy your
prospective publisher.
Don't bother going to the expense of having your typescript bound. Just fasten the pages
together with paper-clips - nothing else. You might think it worth putting them in a
cardboard folder, but personally I just put an elastic band round it and stick it in an
envelope.
You should always include a covering letter.
You should always include return postage. Once your book has been accepted, you don't
need to do this, but when you're submitting your work to a publisher for the first time, it's
courteous.

WHAT SHOULD I PUT IN THE COVERING LETTER?
Your name and address, typed or printed clearly. A telephone number and/or e-mail
address.
Keep the content of the letter brief and simple. Say what sort of book it is, what type of
reader it's aimed at, and how many thousands of words it is.
As mentioned above, if you had any first-hand experience that helped you write the book,
say - briefly - what that was.
DON'T bother telling the publisher what your family or spouse or neighbours think of the
book. They've heard it all before and they're not interested. They will judge the book for
themselves.
DON'T bother trying to think up any kind of gimmick or stunt that will draw the publisher's
attention to your book. A publisher once told me how she'd received, in the mail, a
flattened coke tin. A few days later, another arrived. And then another. She started to be
frightened, thinking she was being threatened. Then another flattened coke tin arrived with
a message, 'Watch this space'. And then yet another, with a sheet of paper announcing
the imminent arrival of a typescript. Finally, the typescript itself arrived, and, because
she'd been so irritated and frightened by all the flattened coke tins, she sent it straight
back without reading it.
You don't want to annoy your potential publisher. Be content to just boringly submit your
book in the ordinary boring way, like everybody else. If it's any good, it will make its mark.
Eventually.

HOW DO I PRESENT A SYNOPSIS?
My agent reminded me the other day that she once sold a book of mine on the strength of
a synopsis that was less than a page long. It was for a horror(ish) book, and it ended, 'and
then something incredibly Gothic happens. I don't know what yet, but I'll think of
something.'
So perhaps I'm not the best person to give advice on how to write a synopsis. A beginner
probably wouldn't sell a book on the strength of a synopsis like that. But it seems to me
good advice to tell you: Don't get into a sweat about details that don't really matter.
Keep in mind that a synopsis is a SHORT version of a book. It exists to give a publisher
an idea of what a book will be like without having to read it at full length (and perhaps
without you having to write it at full length - though if you submit a synopsis before writing
the book, and it's accepted, you'd better be sure that you can then write the book. Perhaps
it's best, especially for a beginner, to write the book, and then condense it into a synopsis).
If a publisher likes the synopsis, they might ask to see the full book.
So, when you write your synopsis, make it clear what kind of book it is, and when and
where it's set. Tell the story clearly, but briefly, making each turn and twist plain.
If it's very character-driven, you might want to give a potted biog of each character.
You might want to give a short scene, as an example of your writing. But remember that
it's meant to be short. Edit it down to as few pages as you think you can compress it to,
and still give the reader an idea of what the finished book will be like.
I usually set my synopses out like this:
Across the top I print my name, address and contact number or e-mail address. Under
that, a heading: SYNOPSIS.
Under that, a series of headings:
Title of Book: (if it has one yet),
For: (followed by the name of the editor and publishing house that it's to be sent to. This is
really for the benefit of my agent, and if you don't have an agent, you may want to miss
this out.
Age-Group: (I usually write for children, so I'm letting the publisher know whether this book
is aimed at 9-12s, or at 14-16s, or whatever. You might want to replace this with genre -
thriller, detective, etc.
Word-Number: (I am often writing a synopsis for a commissioned book, where I know the
word-number that's wanted. Even if your book isn't commissioned, you may know the
word-length you want to write to).
Content: (This is where I tell them what the story will be about. I might start with something
like, 'Set in the quasi-Middle-Ages…')
But it's worth pointing out that I made up the above lay-out because I didn't know how to
write a synopsis (still don't), and I just made up something that seemed to suit my
purpose. I don't know that there is an officially 'correct' way to write a synopsis. Just make
it clear and make it short.

HOW MANY WORDS SHOULD MY BOOK BE?
These are rough guides.
For a picture-book text, about 300 words.
For 8-12, about 10,000.
For teenagers, about 35,000
For adults, about 50,000 - and for an adult blockbuster, about 80,000.
Again, don't sweat about details. If you've written a good book for teenagers, and it's
45,000 words, it's not going to be rejected because of that. If an editor loves a book, and
it's really vital that it be made longer or shorter, they'll help you to make the changes.
When first writing your story, don't worry about the word-number. Just get on and tell your
story in as lively and vivid a way as you can. Then, if you have to, set about cutting or
stretching it.

WHAT IS COPYRIGHT? HOW DO I ESTABLISH MY COPYRIGHT IN WHAT I'VE
WRITTEN?
You automatically create copyright by writing something. If you write a letter to a friend,
you own the copyright of that letter.
Some writers worry about their work being stolen, and fret about whether they will be able
to prove that they wrote something first. I've been in the business for 30 years, and have
never bothered to do anything to protect or prove my copyrights. As far as I'm aware, I've
never been ripped off.
However, you can post a copy of your work to yourself, and keep the sealed, post-dated
envelope, as proof that you had finished that piece of work before that date. Or you can
lodge a copy with your bank or solicitor.
But while we're on the subject of copyrights, one good piece of advice is: Never, never,
never, ever, sell your copyright.
Some writers have sold their copyright for a flat fee, and then watched in dismay as their
work became a mega-seller, making a fortune for other people and not for them.
If you retain your rights in a work, and people want to it into a television series, or a film; or
make the characters into dolls, or put them on mugs or pencil-cases, or whatever, they
have to pay you for the right to do these things.
If you've sold the copyright - even if you sold it for what seemed like more than you ever
expected to earn from that piece of work - then you no longer have any rights in it.
You can never tell what's going to happen with a book. The first Harry Potter book wasn't
a best-seller at first. Interest can be revived in a book twenty years after its first
publication. It may slowly develop a cult following and build into a best-seller. If you've sold
your copyright, you've sold all your rights in these possibilities. So never, never, never,
ever sell your copyright.

I'VE SEEN ADVERTS IN THE PRESS, ASKING WRITERS TO SEND POETRY AND
SHORT STORIES IN FOR PUBLICATION. ARE THESE WORTH ANSWERING?
No. These adverts are placed by what is known as 'the vanity press'. If you answer the
advert, you will be told that your work is just what the publisher's been looking for, and you
will be asked to contribute towards the cost of publishing it. When you've paid what may
be a considerable sum, your work will either not be published at all, or will be published
very cheaply - and not marketed or promoted at all.
No reputable publisher or agent will ever ask you to contribute towards the cost of
publishing your work. A reputable publisher takes all the risk, and pays you. If a 'publisher'
or 'agent' ever does ask you for money towards publishing, then demand your typescript
back at once, and have nothing more to do with them. It's a scam.
If you do want to pay for the publication of a few copies of your work, for your family and
friends, then go to a local printers and ask them for a quote. They will certainly do a better
job, at a better price, than any member of the vanity press.