Catching a Publisher's Eye and Getting Your Manuscript Noticed

Some of us write for the love of it; some for money; some for fame. And of course, these can all overlap.

Back in 2011 I had some half-baked decision to submit a manuscript. I needed cash. Everyone said writing was easy. You could make a packet.

You could write a chapter a day. Which meant that in a year, you’d have churned out four and three-quarter books or some such. What was there to think about?

So I sent them some the standard 3 chapters, with cover letter and short bio, and off it went to HMB - well writing romance was a doddle, was it not? Anyway, one of their army of reader-filterers replied. Those are the people they employ to throw your work onto what is called the slush pile (or let's call it the bin) if it's not up to requirements.

They requested the full manuscript.

Most publishers won’t look at your manuscript without a reputable agent's name attached to it.

1. Agent? What Agent?

I didn't have an agent because I'd read somewhere that I didn't need one to submit. But speaking honestly? I couldn't be bothered to go through all the brown-nosing palaver that finding and beseeching one to take me on might entail. More importantly, based on the statistics of refusals for first time submissions, I gathered that I probably wouldn't need one anyway. I was still at the writing cack stage.

That said, if you're planning to mount a serious assault on the stronghold of traditional publishers, I'd strongly recommend you seek out an agent. Most publishers won’t look at your manuscript without a reputable agent's name attached to it.

2. What Publishers Really Want

 If we're talking about the layout and formatting end, that's easy. Most good publishers will make it quite clear. But have you managed to get all the right ingredients into your story? Will a publisher want to see it?

As a first-timer without an agent, I quickly realised that getting the potential nod from a major publisher was a highly desirable outcome for the vast majority of new writers. In fact, I didn't realise how many people want to say they have a friend or relative who is a published writer. Or to put it the way I saw it—a starving artist.

I began to appreciate the time I'd put into my storyline, despite not having reviewer, critic, appreciator, mum, dad or cat next door to look over my work. Later on, when I came to understand what a request for a full manuscript actually implied—your eye on the Holy Grail; your hand outstretched within touching distance—I began to appreciate it a lot more.

3. Finding Your (Objective) Beta Reader

But I did miss those key elements. Bend and shake it anyway you want to, flex, cavort, and weave away from the issue. River-dance and high kick all around it if you like. Bottom line: you need someone who’s going to be objective to review your work. Say it with me now: Ob-ject-ive.

This means you’ll have to cut out any of the following. Anyone who:

• Would donate all their limbs to you because you ... oh... just fancy having a spare set.

• Thinks they'll be getting sex from you in return.

• Wouldn’t spit on you if you were on fire.

• You owe money.

Or anyone else who:

• Owes you money. Or a favour.

• Needs money. Or votes.

• Is lonely and isolated (take yourself out of the equation).

• Has been diagnosed as clinically insane. You don’t need them. As a writer you'll already have sufficient voices cavorting around inside your own head. 

Cut out manic sports fans, be they kith and kin. Especially if. They are a special breed all by themselves. Sports fanatics only link into Planet Earth when “The Game, is On," so they'll have no idea who you are—and even less, what you expect them to do with all those pieces of paper you've just given them. If it isn't a beer or a sporting accessory, forget about them. See if the cat's got anything on.

4. Avoid Vanity Press Publishing

A vanity publisher doesn't pay you; you pay them. Although what they do is legal, the ethics of charging someone to bake you a cake is highly questionable. Vanity publishers will often lure you in with a request to submit something, then hit you with a bill for your own work. So beware when being asked to submit to a publisher that has no selection criteria.

Trend-wise, what a publisher wants to see can change at any time. That said, you can be pretty sure there are certain things that always remain part of the recipe.

For example, a story that follows the formatting rules that publisher has laid down. Font, spacing, layout, justification, indentation.

And that's just the beginning.

Your story has to be scintillating; offering potential to the publisher—or should I say the publisher's reader? What, you really imagined the publisher sat down to read your story? No, hun, 'fraid not. They pay someone to do that for them.

5. Create a Game Changer

I accept I'm one of the few in the Western world who hasn't read Fifty Shades of Grey. When I first saw the title of this top selling novel, I assumed it was about an older woman fighting her way through the job market by trying out different hairstyles. But then everyone had a first impression theory, and, as said elsewhere, not everyone can like everything you write.

One can't deny that FSOG's had enormous influence on the romance genre. It's made BDSM part of the genre norm. I remember seeing a group of young Moslem women looking furtively for the book in W.H. Smith, so there you go.

6. Waiting to Hear Back and Chilling

Don't worry if you haven't heard back from a publisher in the first few weeks. The first submission I made to a major publisher was requested in full, but after about six months of waiting to hear, I assumed rejection and self-published (it's remained my preference ever since). Three months later they replied with a request for rewrites. Patience, it would seem, really is a virtue. Who knew?

In summary, you can catch the eye of a publisher but you're going to pay in sweat— if not over the book itself then in some other way. Presenting your work with a clear objective vision, following the rules on formatting and submission are critical. Prepare your work effectively and it could result in the outcome you always wanted.