I’m trying to build my strategy for pursuing my latest novel, which is now being privately printed, so I’ll have a few review copies. It helps me to keep thinking about the process! I try to look at it as a series of steps:
1. Finish the first draft, with reasonable tidying, package it up and send for private printing √
2. Distribute the few copies to family and critical beta readers who I’ll hope to get some useful feedback from.
3. Depending on positive and encouraging feedback, the next steps are fairly straightforward.
4. Engage the services of a professional assessment concern like AdventuresInFiction.co.uk to assess the complete submission package (that is, cover letter, synopsis, first 3000 words, and the entire manuscript). This strategy really seems to be necessary to hone the whole package to ensure the best chance of a positive reception.
5. Revise according to the professional feedback, if feasible.
6. Begin the round robin of literary agents and/or small independent publishers.
Unfortunately, after about ten rejections, and/or 6 months down the road from the schlepping of my effort to agent after agent, I’ll be very likely to lose heart. I managed half a dozen anyway with my science fiction efforts, but I think, I hope, that the market for romantic historical fiction is a lot bigger than for hard sci-fi. And if the market’s bigger, maybe finding an agent will prove to be that much more tractable
In the meantime, however, I’m hoping to join the Alliance of Independent Writers, with a view to considering some supplementary and reasonable strategies to move forward with. I might want to do that sooner than later, actually, especially if I can find some encouragements from fellow writers there on the challenges of the process.
The problem is that independent publishing is all very well, if one just wants to get the book out there (though I’ve found that a private printing does that job just as well, and not being in the public domain, the book is not really ‘published’), but it doesn’t have the imprimatur, or cachet, of being wanted by a real publisher who will help to ensure proper editing and at least some professional marketing. And though marketing can be disappointing even with a traditional publisher, the professionalism of being a writer seems to depend on being published in the traditional way . . . otherwise, it feels like one is constantly scrabbling around to prove oneself.
And then, ultimately, it all feels self-defeating, somehow, the writing lark, if nothing garners an audience. So I’m working quite earnestly on this project, for now, now that I’ve [whew!] finished the first draft and tidied things up. I’ve got to remember that this first step is quite a significant one, after all.
I’d also like to have another large writing project to be getting on with, but nothing has really arisen as yet. So there are smaller writing pieces and competitions that are likely to keep me going, I expect.
Biome NE47 