How do I Get a Novel Published?

couple months ago my computer system crashed. Because I had moved to a new town, I took my computer to a new repair technician. An appalling $250.00 later, my computer was returned to me. As I scanned down the list of tasks they had performed, I could not see one thing that I could not have done myself.

Not only did they perform tasks I could have executed myself, they used the software I had already installed on my own computer. I sat stunned for a while, then had to laugh. I have been trying to teach my writing students this same lesson for more than four years. With a little knowledge, you can edit your own novels and find out why they are not published.

Selling A First Novel

"How do I get my novel published?" If I had to guess, I would say that one half of the 3000 students I have taught ask me this question at one time or another. I can usually offer them a quick, easy answer. In many cases, the answer is so easy they reject it as a brush off. But, the truth is, it is often very simple things, and easy to repair problems, that keeps fiction novels from being published by a reputable publisher.

Read over the following list carefully. Learn to understand what these errors are. Use this list as a checklist. I tell unpublished authors to edit their novel for these things, one at a time. Yes, this is a lengthy editing exercise. But, compared to the amount of time it takes to submit a manuscript once, and have it rejected once, the amount of time spent editing will be well spent. By editing this way, one problem at a time, you will learn to avoid these mistakes as you write the first draft, making future novels easier to write.

Learn to eliminate these errors. This is half the battle of becoming a published author. The Craft of Writing is half learning how to write, and half learning to avoid the things listed below.

I have edited a lot of student manuscripts, both as a freelancer, teacher, and contracted editor for a publishing company and found that the errors listed below comprise at least 90 percent of the problems which keep novels from being published. Most are easy to avoid, if you are aware of them, and can be fixed or avoided easily, once you can spot them.

Read, Read, Read

There is one exercise in my course where writers plan to send their first manuscript. Almost every writer gives me a 'copy and paste' listing out of a publisher's directory. If you have no idea what a publisher is releasing, then how will you know if your book fits their idea of a good book? Read their recent releases. This one exercise can eliminate most of the rejection letters writers receive.

Almost unanimously, students who take my advice and read a couple books released by their prospective publishing company, thank me for helping them 'waste their time. ' Their book did not fit what that company thought was a publishable novel. Something in their novel was different from what that publisher released. It could have been their grammar style, voice, structure, characters, vocabulary, plots, or missing elements. A dozen things could make that publisher reject your novel. However, it does not mean your novel is not ready to submit.

Avid readers make the best writers. This is true, as long as you consistently read novels in the genre, style, and voice you want to read. If you are an avid reader, then look at the back of the books you are reading. That is the best place to find a publisher.

Editing and Proofreading

The next step is to make sure you do not submit a first draft. Too many first time writers send first drafts to publishers. Writers spend ten percent of their time writing and ninety percent of their time editing and rewriting. However, few writers spend any time learning to edit or proofread.

This is why I included a free online editing course in this series of articles, as well as several articles on editing. The next in this series is called "Are You Ready to Submit." It discusses some of the common mistakes that new writers make.

Learn to Write Well

Blogging, writing exercises, and journalizing are three ways to write everyday. Many writers complain about a lack of time, or they feel that any time spent writing or learning is wasting time they could spend on their novel. This is not true. Writing every day has two benefits. First, the writer learns to correct mistakes as they write. Second, it sharpens the writer's skills and develops their voice and style. Another benefit is that it teaches the writer to think in complete sentences, not the short form dialect they speak in.