World Book Day special - what does a publisher do? by Catherine Randall

You’ve found a publisher for your book. What happens next?

Sadly, a publisher will never take your manuscript and say, ‘Great, that’s perfect, we’ll send it to the printer!’ It has to be worked on by quite a few people first. The good news is that all these people will help to make your book the best it can possibly be.

 Firstly, an EDITOR will read the manuscript carefully and suggest any changes they’d like to make to big things like the plot or the characters. They may even ask you to change the ending or get rid of a whole character! These suggestions can be difficult for you as the author, but I’ve found that however hard you’ve worked on a book yourself, it will always benefit from having a fresh pair of eyes looking at it, especially when those eyes belong to an experienced editor.

Once both you and the editor are happy with any changes, the book is sent to the copy-editor.

The COPY-EDITOR is responsible for going through the manuscript line by line, checking for spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and over-used words. The copy-editor makes sure that the story you want to tell is clear for the reader. They also check for consistency so, for instance, if a character has blue eyes in chapter 2, they can’t have brown eyes in chapter 10.

While the copy-editor is doing their work, the manuscript will be sent to the DESIGNER. The designer makes decisions about how the finished book will look. Here’s a double-page spread from Barbara Henderson’s book Black Water to show you the sort of decisions the designer has to make.  

The DESIGNER will then combine the finished, copy-edited text with their finished design and produce proofs showing what the book will look like when it is printed. After these have been checked again by everyone, including the author, the book is finally ready to go to the printer.

But you might have noticed that there’s something very important missing! Ally Sherrick will tell you all about that tomorrow ….

 

 

The Time Tunnellers are five authors who write historical novels for
children and young adults -
Susan Brownrigg, Barbara Henderson, Catherine Randall,
Ally Sherrick and Jeannie Waudby.

Every Thursday we share a new blog article on a different topic
and a youtube video with a writing challenge for young people and teachers.

World Book Day special - How to get published by Susan Brownrigg

This week on the Time Tunnellers blog we look at the different stages a book goes through from manuscript to bookshelf!

How do books end up bookshelves?

How do you find a publisher for your book? by Susan Brownrigg

So you've finished writing your novel - Congratulations! Make sure you celebrate this amazing moment because it can be a bumpy road to publication for writers.

What next? Have you edited your book or is it still a first draft? Writers will often re-read their book many, many times looking for spelling mistakes, errors, plot holes and ways to make their writing brighter and tighter! 

It is of course very hard to spot all your mistakes or to see where readers might get confused by your story. This is where it can be great advice to find someone you trust to read your book and give you honest feedback.

Think carefully about who you ask to do your 'beta read' - a family member may tell you 'I loved it. It's perfect,' because they love you, think you are incredibly clever for finishing a book (you are!) 

A good place to get honest feedback is at a writing group.

If you write for children/young adults like the Time Tunnellers there is the Society of Children's Books Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI.)

Once you have your edited book it will be ready for submission. This is what sending your book to an agent or publisher for them to read and consider is called.

Most publishers will not accept unsolicited submissions direct from authors - this means if they have not asked you to send your book they do not want to see it.

Beware of any publishers who want you to pay towards the cost of the publication - this is called vanity publishing. If you are unsure about a contract offer, you can join the Society of Authors who will offer you free legal advice. 

So many authors will try to find an agent who will represent them.  Agents pick the very best books (often the ones they think are very commercial - e.g will sell in big numbers!) they are sent (from the 'slushpile.'. They will then submit the book to editors they think will like the book as much as they do.

Agents take a cut of the money the author is paid, usually 15%.

Agents are very busy people and they haven't time to read everyone's complete manuscript, so most will only want to read the first three chapters and a synopsis (usually a one page breakdown of the entire plot.) You can find a list of agents and publishers in the Writers & Artists Yearbook and by doing a google search.

Agents and publishers will often have a page on their website that gives precise details on how to submit to them. Make sure you follow them to the letter. 

Some agents and publishers have certain dates when they are open or closed to submissions. Look out for competitions too as they can offer publication as a prize or an opportunities to meet with agents and/or editors. Examples include SCBWI's Undiscovered Voices competition and Slushpile challenges and publisher Chicken House's annual competition and 'open coop' submission day.

You will need to include a covering letter - make sure you address it to the agent by name and not Dear Sir! Your letter should explain what your book is about, how long it is, what type (genre) it is e.g sci fi or mystery and why you wrote the book - especially if you have a personal connection to the theme. When submitting my book Gracie Fairshaw and the Mysterious Guest I wrote about my love of Blackpool, and explained that Gracie has limb difference like my great grandfather. 

As I mentioned earlier, agents are very busy and often they will state that if they have not replied withing 8 weeks then they are not interested in representing you. If you do get a reply, it may well be a rejection, and often a standard or 'form' letter. 

 

Some of my rejection letters

If your reply includes comments specific to your story you may want to follow the advice given if it resonates with you.

Some writers are lucky and get a yes the first time they submit their books, but many more successful authors received lots of rejections before their first book was accepted for publication. 

I clocked up lots of rejections for five books before I was offered a publishing deal by Uclan Publishing. 

Writers need lots of resilience and perseverence if they want to become an author - but dreams can come true! 

The Time Tunnellers are five authors who write historical novels for
children and young adults -
Susan Brownrigg, Barbara Henderson, Catherine Randall,
Ally Sherrick and Jeannie Waudby.

Every Thursday we share a new blog article on a different topic
and a youtube video with a writing challenge for young people and teachers.