Tips for New Authors

First and foremost, the best way to get yourself published is by submitting your novels or short stories to as many publishing houses, magazines, e-zines etc. that you can manage. The more people who see your name, the better chance you have of success. Remember, every rejection letter is one step closer to an eventual sale!

So, now that you have a manuscript or some stories ready to submit, what now? Send them on their way of course! Find a list of publishers in your area or on the Net and, if possible, find out any submission guidelines they may have. Most publishers require similar formats, but if you're not sure, the following tips may be useful in your search for publication:

Make sure your pages have an inch margin all round and that the text is of a Courier font or similar, 12 point and double line spaced for easy reading. Don't be tempted to right margin justify, no matter how much neater you may think it looks! Use a # for scene breaks or at the end of each chapter. The first page of the manuscript should have your contact details on the left margin, a word count on the right margin and the book title and author's name centred about halfway down the page. Your story can then start underneath that. Each page should also have the title, author's name and page number, usually as a right-aligned header. You do not need to put a copyright notice on your manuscript, as this will only label you as an amateur. If the work to be submitted is a short story, submit it in its entirety. If the work is a novel, then usually the first three chapters are sufficient.

The cover letter should serve to introduce yourself with a short bio and list of any other works you may have already published. If you're submitting a novel, remember to provide a substantial synopsis of the story, its key characters, and whether the novel is a stand-alone work or part of a planned series etc. Don't be afraid to divulge too much - the publisher/editor needs to know what's going to happen.

Chances are you'll receive more rejections than sales, especially for a novel-length work. The trick is not to give up! If you receive critiques or suggestions, put them to good use and don't be afraid to edit. The first editor who looked at my novel, Reflections, told me it was way too long and that I needed to "trim the fat". At first, the thought of purging so many of my lovingly written words seemed akin to killing my offspring, but I knew that the editor was probably right. So I went on to edit 10,000 words from my manuscript before it was finally published, but I believed that it read so much better by then. Then, as a final irony, the first review I received for Reflections made mention that the novel was perhaps too short for the reviewer's taste. I guess you're never going to be able to please everyone!

Neil Cladingboel

Author of The Erebus Equilibrium trilogy.