What it Takes to Publish a Novel
Good Grammar, Talent, Determination Equal Great Writing
To get a publishing contract for your novel, you need to work hard, attend literary events and workshops, enter contests, meet other writers and continue to write.
The number of creative writing programs that have sprung up in universities, colleges, and even community centres is a testament to just how many people are out there writing.
Take the afternoon off and wander around a bookstore. The number of books for sale is astonishing. Or browse online: millions of sites are dedicated to selling, promoting, reviewing books—and this at a time when the fate of the ‘book’ is being constantly questioned and debated. Even with so many opportunities to be creative in other ways, people feel they ‘have a book in them’ and a large number are dedicating valuable free time to produce it.
From Idea to Book
So how do they do it? How have successful writers gone from taking an idea and turning it into a book others are willing to purchase?
Merely wanting to write isn’t enough, of course. You must also have some aptitude. Good grammar and editing skills, knowing the rules in order to break them, verbal confidence, dexterity with syntax, imagination, good ideas—all of these are useful, but without grit and determination, they won’t get you very far. Focus applied to ability, discipline to talent, step by step, eventually you will form your craft. Many successful writers have ten years of purposeful daily writing behind them before the effort pays off with a publishing contract.
In a recent interview, Cormac McCarthy said that if you’re a writer, ‘writing has to be what you do.’ It’s both a calling and a job; one part imagination, nine parts hard slog. The Irish poet, Paul Durcan, writes about everything, everyone, whatever’s going on, wherever it’s happening, and he writes all the time. He’s inspired by the past, what he hopes for the future, what happens in the news, on the street, between friends, in his own head. He writes and writes and throws most of it out. “Sadly, there’s very little you can use,” he says. Once you find your story, you must shape and reshape it. Peter Carey wrote more than a dozen drafts of his Booker Prize winning The True History of the Kelly Gang before sending it to his editor for a ‘first look’.
Rise to the Top of the Slush Pile
After all this hard work, it’s time to put the manuscript out there. This is not as easy as it sounds. After all, why should anyone pay attention to your manuscript when there are so many others? You must rise above the crowd and attend to the business of being a writer.
Seven Steps Toward Getting Published
- Have your manuscript assessed by a manuscript assessment service.
- Enter contests.
- Participate in workshops and seminars with editors, literary agents, publishers.
- Meet other writers. As in most professions, contacts are important in the literary world.
- Build a reputation.
- Get involved with writers’ festivals.
- Attend local literary events. One thing will lead to another and another, as long as you don’t give up. And—through it all—remember to keep on writing.
