One thing I don’t understand is why writers firstly seek out small publishers, or worse still – vanity press. You’ve written a book – you think it’s fantastic. You’ve edited it and made sure that it’s the best that it can be. Why then would you send it to a publisher with three books on their list and sign your submission to them “from an aspiring writer”. If you’re writing, you’re not aspiring to write – you’re writing – you’re a writer dude! You don’t need a certificate to call yourself a writer. If you write you’re a writer. Yes. I’ve loved my self publishing trip. It’s been really hard work though, and there is no way I would ever submit any book that I’ve written to any agent or publisher that I thought wasn’t anything less than awesome.
If you’re going to be rejected, then get rejected by the best. Look up the very best agents in the world, and submit your novel to them. Expect to be rejected – all the greats have been. But don’t stop submitting to the best. So far, apart from a short story in an anthology, I only have knowledge of self-publishing, so I’m no expert by any stretch of the imagination. The further I go on my scribblers journey, the more I’m liking the word Hybrid. The best of both worlds. Finding ways to make your books appear to potential readers from the millions out there isn’t easy, and there’s no magic formula. Say what you like a about traditional publishing though, if your book gets published by one of the biggish houses, you’re most certainly going to have way more new readers for your Indie books as well.
It’s certainly worth a shot. A couple of publishers are accepting un-agented submissions at the moment. One that’s caught my eye is Hachette’s Tinder Press. As long as you’ve never been published by a traditional publisher – no matter how small a press it is, (except for short stories in anthologies) you can submit your book to them between now and the 15th March. Go for it I say. Even if your book is already self-published it’s eligible. Submit the first fifty pages in double spacing on A4, a short bio, and a one page single spaced synopsis as attachments to the email address there, and see what happens. Who knows? Your book could be the next break out novel of the year. So click on the Tinder Press link and good luck!
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