These are my top ten tips from the most frequently asked questions at any talk I have given on 'The Pitfalls of Publishing'.

1. Do your homework by investigating which publisher is likely to read your manuscript. It is absolutely pointless to send a blood and guts crime thriller with naughty bits to a publisher who specialises in producing books about fluffy bears attempting potty training and aimed very firmly at the under fives! The majority of publishers and I'm one, do not readily accept unsolicited manuscripts as we would never have the time to read all of them and still publish any books. Most publishers will normally state on their website what type of genre they will accept, if they do. You can also check by reading The Writers Yearbook available in the reference section of most libraries. If they do not accept unsolicited manuscripts they are unlikely to read yours, however good it is and this is especially so from first time unpublished authors.

2. Do not send in the entire manuscript, a chapter or two will suffice. Some publishers would prefer an email in the first instance and they will state this on their website or include an information link. I personally prefer this method.

3. If you send in anything which includes basic errors in both spelling and punctuation do not expect a kind reply. I have had manuscripts whose authors are under the mistaken belief that punctuation, especially the comma should be thrown around like confetti in the vague, misguided hope that some will settle in the right place. I even had one that had 15 spelling mistakes in the first paragraph and yes, it went straight back without my reading any more!

4. If your book is aimed at an obscure or erudite market that could at best only appeal to a very small group of people and isn't a text book, it won't be commercially viable or attractive to the majority of publishers.

5. Be aware that if you write fiction, someone, somewhere may have written your book already and often better than you. So do check the competition. Look at the books currently on sale in your genre and read as many of them as you can.

6. Do include a stamped addressed envelope with the correct postage. An unsolicited manuscript without return postage will be filed in the bin and treated as you would SPAM or flyers about hearing aids and double glazing.

7. When you send in your first chapter(s) check and see if the publisher also wants a brief synopsis and not one on the lines and length of war and peace! They may also be interested in a short biog.

8. A publisher is looking for style, originality and readability, so do get someone who likes the sort of books you are writing to read it first. Don't be shy, after all you are sending it to someone to publish which means that it must, at some point, be read! And when you do have a reader, listen to what they say even if you don't like it.

9. You are unlikely to strike gold with your first publisher unless you are either incredibly lucky, brilliant or have managed to go to bed with an entire football team and are therefor a 'celeb'. Most writers receive very many rejection letters ie. John Creasey received 743! so...if you really, really want to write, do so because you like doing it. So much so, that when one book is finished start on the next, because sometimes it's the second or third that finds a home and readership not the first.

10. And lastly, if it was easy everyone would be able to get their work published. So please don't give up the DAY JOB.

And now for a horrible last statistic... picked up from the Nielsen Book sales figures for 2007...and believe me when I say it hasn't got any better... Of 200,000 Books sold that year 190,000 sold fewer than 3,500. Even more frightening is what comes next... Of those 200,000 ... 85,933 were brand spanking new and of those bright shiny hard fought for dreams... 58,328 sold an average 18 copies each.




I hope this helps and good luck. Been there, bought the tee shirt, read the book and watched the film.

Linda Mann

PS Since putting this on line I have realised that I have missed out on one more thing that you should never do... and that is don't ever send anything that is hand written or typed. I have had quite a few hand typed and written manuscripts that have imediately been sent back without my even reading them ... you want to know why?   Because the cost of having them copy typed or scanned into a word document in order that the editor can edit would be pretty expensive...say the difference between £3 a page and £10! Think about how many pages there are in the average book.

A publisher wants to publish a book which will appeal to lots of people without it costing more than the RRP to produce and please also add in the fact that there is a trade discount to be factored into the book price, a royalty to the author, editting costs, printing and binding to say nothing of the payment for any art work and typesetting.   Ok you get the picture!

And now I'm going to have a nice lie down in the airing cupboard with a large gin and the latest Martin Edwards!