Publishing in General

Answer:

If you're talking about manuscript formatting, just look it up. Or go to this Writer's Digest blog called "Questions and Quandaries", and you can post a comment in one of his blogs asking your question for manuscript formatting. Usually, he'll either get back to you via personal email or he may even post a blog about it. I think he's already done that, so look around the categories and it should answer any and all questions you have.

Yes, you can type out your manuscript on Word, as the majority of writers do. There IS a certain format regarding contact info at the top of each page, double spacing, etc. There's this gigantic book called "The Writer's Market 2008" or something like that, it should be blue, and in there they have an article on general formatting.

Usually people don't send [I'm going to start calling them manu.] manu. to publishers DIRECTLY. That ends up in the unsolicited pile, also known as the slush pile, and that particular pile is very hard on the manuscripts who get sent there- I'd say only about 2 or 3% of the manuscripts that end up there come out and actually get a book deal.

Here's how it works: You query. It's basically your "please" letter and your seller both. A query letter is when you're trying to sell your manu. and you usually start out with a hooking first paragraph about your novel, then you get into a BRIEF summary about the entire book, and then you talk about why they should take on said book and any credentials you may have that would be beneficial for impressing them.

First, find an agent to query because those are the people who will get to the publisher more quickly than you yourself will ever do unless you are the publisher [then that's going into self-publishing]. I suggest you get a subscription to Writer's Digest because they feature a literary agent pertaining to all literary genres in each issue. Or, you can look around in books that you feel are similar to what you want to write, and usually they'll say thanks to the agent and/or editor and/or publisher. But watch out if that person is, say, Stephenie Meyer or Sarah Dessen [her agent is Leigh Feldman ;)] or someone of literary stardom, because it's going to be harder for that agent to pay attention to you if they do take you on, especially since their client is so important. Anyways, finding the right agent takes just as long as it does to write and edit your manu. Look around the Writer's Digest site [www.writersdigest.com] for goodies, that's your best bet.

And if you're afraid of bad agents, there's a certain organization that only allows reputable agents and it's sort of like this giant listing. I'm sorry, it's slipped my mind for now but I'll look around and try to tell you as soon as possible.

Okay, so here's how the whole book process goes, from what I’ve understood and read about.

You---->writing manu.----->editing manu.------>format query----->send in query to agent---->agent replies for more [which means you've pretty much got them]----->you send it in----->they edit a bit----->you edit----->repeat as many times as possible----->send it out to publishers & editors---->book deal---->publishers/editors send it back to you for editing---->edit----->repeat for many times------>book is published.

That's a rough sketch of how it goes, honey. So you better be up for some major editing.

To get a reply from a query from any agent typically takes about 2-3-or even-4 months, depending on how busy/popular/how many clients they have. But if you send in the manu. straight to the editor, that takes FOREVER, maybe about 4-5 months unsolicited and even if you queried because they want AGENTS. The majority of the big publishers such as HarperCollins, Random House, Penguin, SimonTeen, etc. won't accept anything if you don't have an agent. Hence the importance of one. Remember, the publishing world moves slowly because most things are done by snail mail, whose meaning really comes in as a factor.

There's always the teeny line between Big Publisher or Small[er] Publisher. The smaller publisher seems to have more pros because if you go with a big publisher you're more likely to get pushed off and ignored and not listened to. But I'd say a publisher the size of PUSH at . It seems like a fairly respectable publisher for teen books, and the main editor, David Levithan, "fathered" the books "Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List" and the other "Infinite Playlist" book. And they hold a novel contest, look for the details around the site. They have fairly young writers too.

The YA [young adult] genre market is WIDE OPEN right now. But everything starts with the first word, the first sentence, the first paragraph, the first chapter, and you're not going to get all this good stuff if you don't set the pen on the paper, or the fingers on the keyboard.

Anyways, if you've got any other questions, I'd be happy to hear them. :)