Rejection, Rejection, Rejection

A couple of nights ago I went to my writing group. We all met on the Creative Writing MA nearly ten years ago, and have been meeting every few weeks or so ever since. Bar one who is still on the first novel, they're all on their second or third books. I'm the only one who's had her novel published.

I am so impressed that they continue with writing. There have been near misses along the way, meetings with agents and publishers that have looked promising but haven't ended up in a contract, lots of positive rejections and so on. It's always a bit tricky offering advice because I don't want to appear patronising and besides, my choices are not necessarily paths they would choose to take. The only thing is...

It occurred to me that when I was looking for an agent I sent my work out to more agents than all of them together have done over the past ten years. And yes, it's tiring and yes, it can be hard to motivate yourself after yet another rejection, but I can't help thinking that if you're serious about getting published you have to get out there: it won't come to you.

10 Facts about Agents

Fact 1: You don't need an agent to approach a publisher, and you don't need an agent to be published. However, most publishers won't look at unsolicited manuscripts. If they do, be prepared for a long, long wait. Or for your manuscript to be looked at by someone on work experience.

Fact 2: It is NOT an agent's job to carefully read every unsolicited manuscript that comes in through the door.

Fact 3: An agent's job is to look after existing clients and their work. That's why authors like having agents; they don't want to have to read the small print, or negotiate, or invoice or do any of the hundreds of things agents do for clients.

Fact 4: Every agent wants to discover a brilliant new talent, but just because you've written 100,000 words it doesn't automatically follow that they're brilliant.

Fact 5: Every agent gets fed up with badly written, rude, demanding, illiterate letters

Fact 6: Every agent sees far too many of the above

Fact 7: Every agent receives hundreds of manuscripts to look at a year - for some it may be thousands - and can rarely take on more than a couple of new clients in each year

Fact 8: The maths of Fact 7 means your work may be above average, it may even be rather good, but only exceptional work will get taken on.

Fact 9: It is your job to make your work exceptional, not the agents.

Fact 10: New writers are taken on by agents every year.

I'll write about how to make your work exceptional tomorrow.

10 Steps to Getting Published

1. Write

2. Finish what you start

3. Write from the heart – be passionate and committed.

4. Keep your eyes on the market – read read read

5. Rewrite, get feedback, rewrite, edit.

6. Write until you’re sure it’s the best you can do.

7. Do your research – read The Bookseller, go to conferences, join organisations.

8. Be professional – publishing is a big business not a dinky little hobby. You want them to give you money, show you deserve it with perfectly presented covering letter, synopsis and first three chapters.

9. Deal with rejection gracefully and be persistent

10. Be lucky and/or have a rich partner

Above all, WRITE!