Publishing Question

siliconenhanced

I read the rules, but couldn't find the Let's Pool Our Resources thread and the Sample Query link was a 404.

To wit, I'm writing a memoir of my experiences growing up in the Army and fighting in two wars, and was curious how I would go about asking publishers if they were interested in such a book, and what steps I would take.

bsjezz

Usually it's pretty much a matter of sending off the manuscript and painfully waiting for a rejection letter, then repeating the process. To ease this up a bit you should make an effort to know your local publishers, see the kind of stuff they are putting out by browsing some bookstores. If you see a publisher that you're particularly interested in, see if they have a website and a guide for submission. Sometimes they'll just want a synopsis, sometimes a few sample chapters, often the whole thing.

The most important thing is to get it written and get it out there. Make sure you're aware of whether or not the publisher will look at something that's already been submitted elsewhere - if you can get a synopsis off to three places at once you're saving a hell of a lot of time, but most places will frown on that. By all means write an email or something querying the submission process if you're unsure - it's better to ask first and find out that the publisher's probably not for you than to tie your manuscript up for 6 months waiting for a response which is doomed to fail.

I hope that helps a bit - this is all second hand experience by the way, I haven't written a novel yet but I imagine I'll be confronting the same ordeal soon enough. I hope this helps, and best of luck!

Baron Dirigible

I have no experience in the matter, but apparently non-fiction pitches work a bit differently to fiction pitches, as there's more of an emphasis on the author. Either way you'd probably do better to find an agent than send out unsolicited manuscripts. This will involve writing a query letter (the specifics of which vary with genre -- memoir pitches will need more information about you, whereas fiction pitches should have the absolute bare minimum) and then hopefully sending out partials and full drafts.

The most important part, obviously, is getting the manuscript finished. Unless you already have demonstrable success in the writing field, nobody will want to represent or publish a piece on the grounds of an unfinished draft. (Sure, exceptions probably exist. But those people would be crazy.) So worry about that first, and then do your research regarding agents and publishers. The Writer's Market is a decent resource for this. There are also a number of blogs such as Miss Snark and Evil Editor that go over query-letter how-tos and publishing etiquette and common pitfalls and whatnot.

[edit: there's also Identity Theory's Magic Bullet, but that hasn't been updated since March.

All the best!

siliconenhanced

Thanks for the information gentlemen. As far as agents go, is it as easy as googling "writing" agent, or is the process for that a bit deeper?

Baron Dirigible

As I said, check out the Writer's Market for agents who represent works in your field. You'll need to do a fair bit of research as far as getting a suitable agent goes, and you'll need to be able to express this in your cover letter -- it's been a while since I read up on the proper etiquette, but as with getting a job, it's important to show that you know the area and you have a reason for writing her as opposed to any other agent.

Agent Query might also be worth checking out. Do your research from a wide variety of sources and you should be fine as far as unscrupulous and shady agents go.

Anyway, write the memoir first, find an agent later. Too early to be worrying about that now.

Hachface

Quick note: Never work with an agent who charges a reading fee. Those agents are scam artists, by and large.