This week I’ve had the pleasure to communicate with a few new writers and they all have one thing in common – an urgent need to publish.
I remember those first couple months after I finished my first manuscript. I sent it to a dozen agents a week and received encouraging feedback but no contract.
It was both satisfying and frustrating at the same time. If the book was so great, I thought, why doesn’t anyone want to represent it? Why doesn’t anyone offer me a publishing contract?
I then started reading about bestselling authors and here’s the thing, 99% of them had one thing in common – it took years and thousands of rejections for them to get published.
In fact, I once read that the average time it takes a new writer to get published is around 5 years.
What Does This Mean for You?
The single most important advice that I can offer you as an aspiring author is to be patient. Have faith in your skills as a writer. Continue writing, learning, reading, and submitting your manuscripts. Push forward and believe that one day someone will recognize you and offer you representation and/or a contract.
And if you’re completely impatient and just can’t wait for that to happen then here’s my second piece of advice…self-publish. Not only can self-publishing be extremely profitable and rewarding, it can also be your foot in the door at a traditional publishing house.
Post of the Week
What part of your manuscript gives you the most trouble?
For me it’s the ending. I find it emotionally challenging to finish manuscripts. We had a lively conversation over on Facebook about the various ways people struggle to start and/or complete a romance story. The post, From Start to Finish, Where do You Struggle? Offers not only a few tips but also some solutions and please come by Facebook and share your thoughts too.
Happy writing!
Annette