Anne Bowling is the editor of the Novel & Short Story Writer's Market from Writer's Digest Books. Bookworm's Book Reviews examines this guide to book publishers, magazine editors and online markets every year and calls it "a vital tool to your writing career." She also contributes her industry expertise to the Ask the Editor feature on this site.
FictionAddiction.NET's Apryl Duncan recently caught up with Bowling to discuss insider secrets to getting your work published.
What's the biggest mistake aspiring writers make when submitting their work to publishers?
They send inappropriate submissions. It's a cardinal rule of submitting fiction that you know the place you're submitting to is looking for what you've written. Consider the subject matter of your short story or novel, consider the tone and sensibility.
If you've written a traditional romance, send it to a publishing house that's looking for traditional romance. If your work is more experimental, send it to a publishing house that wants more experimental work.
It takes a little extra time, but not much, to check listings in books like Novel & Short Story Writer's Market, or check a publisher's Web site, to make sure your work would be a good fit.
Another way to get a sense of what a publisher's looking for is to visit the bookstore and prowl around. Is your book similar in any way to one already published? Find out who that publisher is.
Should writers study market needs before they write or does good writing sell itself?
It certainly can't hurt to know what's current stylistically and to know which genres are strong at any time. But really, what the market's doing is beside the point pretty much. If you were to trying to jump on a trend, usually by the time you've submitted, been accepted and finally published, that trend has come and gone. Conventional wisdom says write what you love, write the book you want to read and the market will take care of itself.
Does it help first-time authors to establish a relationship with a certain publisher (such as through short story submissions or other smaller pieces) before sending the Great American Novel?
Publishing credentials always help a writer get the attention of an editor. They show that your work has already passed one editorial test if not more, which gives the editor advance confidence that your work may be pretty good.
The vast majority of literary fiction writers begin writing and publishing short stories and a lot of genre writers begin that way too. Note also that if you haven't been published before, don't mention it. That's liable to have the reverse effect and make the editor less likely to be confident of your work.
How can writers decrease the chance that their manuscripts will end up in the slush pile?
Getting an agent to represent your work is the best way to slush pile-proof your manuscript for novelists. Agents earn their percentage by knowing which editors like what type of work and networking your manuscript into the hands of the right editor. But many, many writers manage to represent their own work successfully as well.
It's kind of like real estate: some people want to sell by owner, others are happy to hand over a percentage to a realtor to do the work. It's a little harder to do it yourself, but it can be done either way.
Is it better for a writer to target a few publishers or send to as many as they can find?
Target, target, target! As specifically as you possibly can. You'll save time, money and frustration. Manuscripts that aren't specifically targeted can appear to an editor to be junk mail.
For short fiction, you want to know the publication you're submitting to pretty thoroughly, have the name of the editor (spelled correctly!) and give a reason you think your short story will complement the publication. For novels, it's pretty much the same - know the publisher, the acquiring editor's name if possible and point out that your book is similar in sensibility, or subject matter, to novels they've recently published.
