Every writer loves to imagine being published by their dream publisher, with their books gracing the shelves of their favorite Barnes and Noble. But after completing a likely first disastrous draft, those dreams might be tempted to flicker out.
Being published, period, is a feat that many writers never get to achieve. Much less with a publisher of their dreams!
The Author Conservatory’s fiction writing program teaches the writing and business skills it takes to build a successful career as an author. We’ve had students land agents and publish novels, but that process began with helping students believe that their dream career was a possibility in the first place.
These are the key principles that we teach our fiction writing program students and the process we walk them through to help them enter the publication world with success.
Step One: Perfecting Your Manuscript
The road to publication begins long before an author signs a contract with their dream publishing house. Building a book is a lot like building a home: first, you have to lay a foundation that will support the house and protect from leaks or damages.
If you focus solely on blowing agents away with an incredibly written novel, you may discover that your story isn’t structurally sound until you’re face-to-face with an agent. Not to mention that adjusting major plot points and foundational pieces is a larger undertaking than simply rewriting a scene, so focus on getting that right first.
Before you even start writing your book, make sure you ace your premise. It’s important to keep in mind that just because a story has complicated elements, that doesn’t necessarily mean it will grab the attention of an agent—or be very good, either. Rather than trying to weave in the most crazy and complicated ideas into your novel, focus on nailing the basic premise structure.
We’re not telling you to “dumb down” your novel; in fact, don’t hold any of your ideas back! Uniqueness makes your story stand out to agents and draws in readers.
Complex elements, on the other hand, go beyond the fundamentals of excellent craft. For example, pairing a complex element like time travel with too many other complicated threads often leaves readers confused and makes your story less believable.
Before moving onto outlining or drafting your novel, make sure you get multiple eyes of feedback on your premise. Read more about the essential elements of a concept here.
Most writers are eager to jump straight into drafting before they begin writing; or, once they begin edits, they focus mostly on making their writing sound better. We love self-motivated authors, but the problem is that they often neglect their book’s foundation. Imagine spending hours editing your novel, only to have an agent tell you that a basic aspect of the premise needs work! At The Author Conservatory, we want writers to feel confident about the foundation of their novel.
Once your draft is completed, we recommend a layering approach to editing: first, tackling the big-picture or structural fixes, then moving on to scene-level changes, before finishing up with polishing your prose.
If you haven’t already, find a writing mentor and/or peer authors who are willing to read your writing and provide feedback as you polish. Feedback is essential in the polishing process, not to mention that it is practice for entering the real publishing industry!
When a student begins the querying and pitching process, we want them to be confident in the quality of how their book is structured and lean on their hard work and the professional feedback they’ve received.
Step Two: The Querying Process
With a polished manuscript ready to get in front of publishers, writers now enter what is referred to as the querying “trenches.” Thankfully, with professional strategy and insight, the process doesn’t have to be so grueling.
Set yourself up for success by perfecting a short pitch for your novel to grab an agents’ attention. The term “elevator pitch” exists for a reason: you should be able to explain the premise of your novel in about a minute.
A query letter is another pitch material to perfect, preferably with writing friends and mentors.
Here at The Author Conservatory, feedback is our secret weapon. As you develop your pitch or query letter, consider participating in (or starting your own) query group and workshop your pitch with other writers.
One of our favorite techniques for developing a solid pitch is to have a friend write it for you! If you have a writing partner or group that’s familiar with your book, ask them to write a short pitch for your novel.
Whether or not they have a completely polished manuscript, we recommend our students and any young writer to attend writing conferences to make industry connections. These conferences serve as an opportunity for students to build relationships, learn from other industry professionals, and (optionally) meet with agents or publishers where they can practice pitching and receiving feedback on their writing. That way, the querying process is more familiar when they officially step into it with a polished manuscript of their own.
These writing conferences serve as one of the best ways to query a manuscript and get them in an agent’s hands. Additionally, online boards and lists exist of agents currently accepting submissions for students to check and utilize.
If you’re interested in pitching a manuscript at a conference, it helps to come prepared with business cards and a one-page informational sheet with a blurb of your project and personal contact information for agents or editors to take home with them.
Step Three: Considering Your Options
Let’s say your dream comes true and you end up with an offer of representation from your favorite agent. You may be tempted to say “yes” immediately and sign on the dotted line.
That’s probably how R.L. Nguyen, one of our recent graduates, felt when she received her first offer of representation from an agent. In total, she received six offers of representation from renowned literary agencies.
However, publishing successfully doesn’t mean signing with the first agent that offers you representation. It’s crucial to make sure that the agent representing you understands your story, your mission, and your values.
In the publishing world, this is known as “fit.” And it’s as simple—and complicated—as making sure that the agent is the best person to represent the story you’ve so tirelessly created.
That’s why Author Conservatory students do their research ahead of time, crafting a list of their top agents that seem to be a good fit from the get-go. For example, Calissa Ding signed with Suzie Townsend at New Leaf Literary, an agent that she had dreamed of working with for years and believed would excellently represent her novel to publishers.
To set yourself up for success, create your very own dream agent list. One of our favorite ways to find agents is to pick up books that are similar to your genre and message and flip to the acknowledgements, where most authors thank their agents. Compile a solid list of 10-20 agents that appear to be a good fit to represent your writing and you as an author.
If you get that dream offer from an agent—or better yet, secure more than one—start by celebrating your amazing accomplishment! Hopefully, you already have a group of writing friends and mentors to also celebrate with you. This community will also be invaluable for evaluating your offer(s) for representation and help you make a wise decision about which agent you choose to move forward with.
Quick note: Any agent that requires payment ahead of time should be avoided at all costs!
The Road to Author Success
The Author Conservatory’s fiction writing program teaches students the mastery of the fundamentals of creative writing, as well as the marketing and business skills it takes to be successful in the industry.
If you want to learn how to craft professional novels and have the marketing skills necessary to actually sell them, we have a resource designed for you.
Our Road to Publishing guidebook provides you with the exact roadmap you need to turn your writing dreams into a reality:
