What to do once your Manuscript is Accepted

The process of publishing can take several weeks to several months, depending upon how well edited and clean your manuscript is. Expect that your manuscript may not be available to the public for up to a year once it is accepted. There are three typical types of publishing that are offered throughout the business.

First, there is traditional publishing, which is what most authors are familiar with. Traditional publishing is where the Publisher offers a certain amount of money (an advance) plus royalties against the projected sales of a book. The amount of advance is flexible according to its "saleability", content, genre and length of the manuscript to be published. Traditional publishing is a bit more difficult to get into for first time authors. As with all businesses, there are greater risks to publishing a manuscript for first time authors than there are for "tried and true" authors that already have successful books out there. It requires a great deal of doggedness to find a publisher willing to take a chance on a first time author.

Next, we have subsidy publishing which offers a more rounded and less one-sided opportunity to publishing your manuscript. Generally, a fee is attached to the publishing of a manuscript which is considerably less than the entire cost. The publisher will carry a large percentage of the cost, while the author invests several hundred to several thousand dollars in the publishing of their book. Keep in mind, publishing costs a great deal of money to get a manuscript from the editing phase, through the artwork for the cover as well as advertising and printing costs. This is NOT self publishing. This is the route which I chose to go as a first time author. It allows for more freedom of marketing your manuscript and more "wiggle room" to get out there and sell your book. As an author, I also retain the rights to my book or to any film offers that might come from it's publication--which in Traditional Publishing, the Publisher retains for the length of your contract with them. If the Publisher doesn't like an offer a movie studio may make, they can decline it and you have no "say so" as to whether it is made into a film or not.

Lastly, there is the "self-published" author. In the past, self-publishing was frowned on by the industry. However, in more recent times, some self-published books have done quite well. We are unaware of what the long-term ramifications of self publishing may include, however, some of the more famous self-published books have been: "Eragon" by Christopher Paolini, "The Bridges of Madison County", by Robert J. Waller, "The Christmas Box", by Richard Paul Evans, and "The Celestine Prophecy" by James Redfield, just to name a few. With self-publishing, the author does all of the sales, marketing, writing and printing of the manuscript. The hidden costs can be huge, even for a small printing of the manuscript. This would mean that the author has to front the cost of: editing, press releases, advertising, travel to and from speaking engagements and book signings, sales and distribution, cover art, printing costs of all materials, as well as the manuscript itself--not to mention the legal fees and copyright issues. So, you can see for yourself that self-publishing can get quite costly, very quickly.

For Further Information on these publishing options see:
http://brightonpublishing.com/

Take into consideration the ways in which you, as an author, would like to be involved in the sale of your book. Choose from a Traditional, Subsidy Publishing or Self Publishing format and go from there. And, as always, keep writing!

Editing your Manuscript

Hiring a professional to review your manuscript can be costly, yet very helpful in producing a manuscript that a publisher will take note of. Don't cut corners with an unknown editing service, as they can cause more work for the publisher in the long run than if you never had it edited at all. In other words, make sure that your editing service is reputable and will do a good job for you. Don't be afraid to take an editing course to fine tune your writing skills. Educating yourself in the editing process can help tremendously with your writing! In my second book of the series, there were fewer mistakes made and it made the publisher's job, as well as the editor's job, so much simpler.

After writing my book, and the manuscript was accepted, I started editing other people's work. It was amazing how much I learned. Do your best to read, re-read, and then re-read your work again to make certain that it is your best work. I can't stress how important it is to send as clean a manuscript as possible to a publisher for editing. I probably read my manuscript over one hundred times to refine the storyline. Most mistakes I was able to catch before it ever went to the publisher. Even so, there were those I didn't catch. There is no replacement for good editing and I believe that it's a necessity to getting published. Best of luck and keep writing!

Writer's Market Guide

I'm a firm believer in checking the "Writer's Market" guide to find possible publishers for your manuscript. I spent several days pouring over the pages in the book, until I finally purchased a new copy of "Writer's Market" and it came with an online information packet. It was a godsend. The online version is much simpler to use, (and takes up less space), than the printed copy and can be renewed every year. The referencing guide, as well as the index which allows you to quickly find publishers and agents who are looking for new talent, is indispensable!

There are also several good tips about writing your query letter, how to choose a market for your book, and what to include in your query. Make sure that you read the referenced material so that you can put yourself forth in the best light possible. Good luck and keep writing!

"First Rights" in Publishing

According to my publisher, Kathie McGuire from Brighton Publishing, LLC, there is something called "First Rights" for publishers. These rights are violated when a manuscript is published in part or in its entirety on websites or in the public domain. At this point, the publisher no longer enjoys exclusive rights to the manuscript and most, if not all publishers, will not touch it.

Also, keep in mind, if you have someone that is writing with you, they must also be included in the credits for authorship of the book. To not include them in the contracts could eventually cause legal ramifications for both you and your publisher!

Good luck and keep on writing!

For New Authors

I am a recently published author of the young adult/teen novel -- The Form Benders, The Sheep in Wolf's Clothing. My book was published by Brighton Publishing, LLC located in Chandler, Arizona -- see my blog link at the top left of this page. I've created this blog for new authors and those who'd like to be, to blog back and forth so that each of us can gain some new insights into the publishing, writing and selling aspects of our manuscripts. So feel free to ask questions and I'll do my best to find the answers for you. If I am unable to find out, hopefully another reader of the blog is able to answer the question. I will share the in's and out's of how I got published, and I hope others will do the same. I will also share any tidbits that my publisher has shared with me about sales, marketing and editing manuscripts! Welcome aboard!