4 answers
Makensie
Student
Helena, Montana
1
Question
Updated
248 views
How do you get into published writing?
I know the largest thing is to write and submit to a publisher, but not everything is accepted by publishers or needs to be promoted by the author. How can I improve my writing to increase the chance of being accepted / promote effectively if I am?
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4 answers
Ingrid Livesey
Job seeker
3
Answers
Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
Updated
Ingrid’s Answer
Unfortunately you have to use a publisher but research for the best one to meet your needs.
Try Olympians publisher.
Their speciality is to cater for first time publishers and have good support available.
Another ruite to go mb is to start your own blog just as a start of point
Try Olympians publisher.
Their speciality is to cater for first time publishers and have good support available.
Another ruite to go mb is to start your own blog just as a start of point
Ramya Nandakumar
Account Operations Manager
9
Answers
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Updated
Ramya’s Answer
Share your personal experiences by talking about the challenges you faced and how you overcame them. Be honest and genuine in your writing. This sincerity will connect with readers and can boost your chances of getting noticed and promoted by publishers.
Richard Caldwell
Broker
18
Answers
New Windsor, Maryland
Updated
Richard’s Answer
If you are in high school, write for the school newspaper, submit editorials to local newspapers, and enter writing competitions. Take writing classes at your local community college. Read as many books as you can in the genre(s) you wish to write. Read carefully and analyze how the author structured the story, the plot, characters, and scenes. Focus your writing on what you know, so that it will come across to readers as more authentic. There are lots of free writing resources out there to build your knowledge of the craft. Use them even if you only glean one tidbit that resonates with you. Be wary of social media when looking for like-minded writers or writer groups. Check with your local library or a teacher or professor in language arts. A lot of people on social media offer connections only to find out they are selling something. There is so much to learn but it will pay off in the long run. Writing should bring you joy. If you feel that it is a burden, then try something else.
Roger Maxwell
Freelance Writer
16
Answers
Phoenix, Arizona
Updated
Roger’s Answer
I think you're kinda, sorta, asking two questions: "How do I write better?" and "How can I get published?" The answer to the first question is relatively easI think you're kinda, sorta, asking two questions: "How do I write better?" and "How can I get published?" The answer to the first question is relatively easy, the second, not so much.
How Do I Write Better?
The answer to this question has already been addressed quite well. The most common answer you’ll always hear - ad nauseam - is: “you have to read a lot and write a lot”. Some would even go so far as to tell you how many words you should write every day, 500 being the average. It’s not a bad idea. For me, I look at it differently.
I started reading comic books. My world was comic books. When I wrote my first “serious” piece of work in my English Literature class, for an extra credit A, I based it off of Conan the Barbarian, my favorite comic. And I wrote it as if I were writing a Conan story. Two days ago my wife found that two and a half page story and I read it. It was great! I was 15. That’s almost fifty years ago. I hadn’t taken any writing classes, or courses - nuthin! Just raw determination for that extra-credit A, which I got. Writing like my favorite comic book.
Forty some odd years later… When learning copywriting, we were told that everyday we should handwrite advertisements from the best copywriters everyday for a month and you’ll become a much better copywriter than most who don’t.
When you write with pencil/pen and paper something goes on in your brain … learning and memory increases. You’re forming shapes and lines and you tend to think more about what your writing.
So as I copied those ads I noticed a pattern in these top rated works of art, and I noticed the sound the writing made as I scratched out the lines, where commas were used, or dashes (punctuation) and where they weren’t. I started to learn what good, successful copywriting “sounded” like.
One of my favorite books is “Dune”. But not for the story only. But for the writing. Frank Herbert’s writing was like literature. I never read anything like it in all the Sci Fi books I’d read. And that’s how I wanted to write.
By this time I already had a kind of writing style, but I wanted to learn how to get some of Herbert’s style into my style. So I read Dune about 3 or 4 times. I got the audio version and listened to it all the time - I didn’t care where it started from, I just wanted to listen to the music of his writing … how the character spoke, the sound of how they moved, the descriptions of the world they lived in.
Then write it out for myself. Copy everything. Come up with my own little two-page story, with some of Herbert’s style and my style woven together. Then just my style from what I’ve learned. The takeaways from what I learned.
========================================================================
There is nothing wrong with copying another authors’ writing to learn - it’s valuable. Just don’t try to push it off to someone else as being yours.
========================================================================
Getting accepted by an agent or publishing house
This is one of the hardest parts of the business.
You could write an award winning novel, or cookbook, that was ever written since the beginning of time, but if the agent reading your query has a stomach ache from that uncooked piece of beef in his stroganoff at lunch, he/she might get through two sentences then pass it on and grab the next query letter.
This is one reason why so many writers prefer taking the reins and try self-publishing. I tried that with my first book and it was too much work for Rog. Your one little unknown story in a sea of millions of other books who are all striving to be noticed.
There are many companies that provide hybrid publishing, where they do some of the work for free, while you pay for the other part they don’t cover. Or you can pay them a couple of thousand bucks and they’ll do it all for you.
I can’t afford that. And I want my book to stand on its own merit, not because I paid to have it published.
I wrote my current book because I wanted to - I just wrote it, for ME.
That doesn’t mean that it’s going to sell. Agents and publishers want to SELL books. It’s their business. That’s how they exist. If you present to them your book on a topic no one is interested about, they are going to pass it up. Some writers may write about stories that are popular to the current trends, and the publishers will lash on to that. Because that’s what people are buying.
It may have ZERO to do with the quality of your writing or the beauty of your story. HOWEVER, you may find an agent out there who takes that extra step, who believes in you and your story and accepts your submission, and helps you get your story out there to the masses.
It’s hard.
The last thing I’ll say on this … you can do some of your own marketing on Social Media. Tell the world about you story, tell them what it’s about, write a short description, offer sample chapters - stuff like that.
There are sites like: QueryTracker.net, ManuscriptWishList.com, Reedsy.com where you can do searches based on the genre of your story and it will give you a list of agents you can check out and send query letters to.
—---------------------------------------
My best advice to you is get your writing down above all things. And don’t rush it. Read books, stories for pleasure and to study. What do you like about a writers, what do you not like. Find a writer who you would like to be and read, listen, copy their sentences, and feel what it’s like writing them and how it sounds.
I read a book, “The Road”. And it was pretty sparse with the punctuation. It was weird, but I loved it.
Ever see a picture and you copied it - you drew it cuz you liked it? Perfect your art, your writing, your love. When you think you’ve written something wonderful you want to share with the world, then take that next - scary - step, and start your search for an agent - or another way to get your story out there for the world to see.
I hope this helps, a little at least.
Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Happy writing.
Roger
Two books that helped me:
"On Writing" by Stephen King
"Getting the Words Right" by Theodore Cheney
Also, I have answered a few other questions on improving your writing in Career Village, you might wish to check out .
How Do I Write Better?
The answer to this question has already been addressed quite well. The most common answer you’ll always hear - ad nauseam - is: “you have to read a lot and write a lot”. Some would even go so far as to tell you how many words you should write every day, 500 being the average. It’s not a bad idea. For me, I look at it differently.
I started reading comic books. My world was comic books. When I wrote my first “serious” piece of work in my English Literature class, for an extra credit A, I based it off of Conan the Barbarian, my favorite comic. And I wrote it as if I were writing a Conan story. Two days ago my wife found that two and a half page story and I read it. It was great! I was 15. That’s almost fifty years ago. I hadn’t taken any writing classes, or courses - nuthin! Just raw determination for that extra-credit A, which I got. Writing like my favorite comic book.
Forty some odd years later… When learning copywriting, we were told that everyday we should handwrite advertisements from the best copywriters everyday for a month and you’ll become a much better copywriter than most who don’t.
When you write with pencil/pen and paper something goes on in your brain … learning and memory increases. You’re forming shapes and lines and you tend to think more about what your writing.
So as I copied those ads I noticed a pattern in these top rated works of art, and I noticed the sound the writing made as I scratched out the lines, where commas were used, or dashes (punctuation) and where they weren’t. I started to learn what good, successful copywriting “sounded” like.
One of my favorite books is “Dune”. But not for the story only. But for the writing. Frank Herbert’s writing was like literature. I never read anything like it in all the Sci Fi books I’d read. And that’s how I wanted to write.
By this time I already had a kind of writing style, but I wanted to learn how to get some of Herbert’s style into my style. So I read Dune about 3 or 4 times. I got the audio version and listened to it all the time - I didn’t care where it started from, I just wanted to listen to the music of his writing … how the character spoke, the sound of how they moved, the descriptions of the world they lived in.
Then write it out for myself. Copy everything. Come up with my own little two-page story, with some of Herbert’s style and my style woven together. Then just my style from what I’ve learned. The takeaways from what I learned.
========================================================================
There is nothing wrong with copying another authors’ writing to learn - it’s valuable. Just don’t try to push it off to someone else as being yours.
========================================================================
Getting accepted by an agent or publishing house
This is one of the hardest parts of the business.
You could write an award winning novel, or cookbook, that was ever written since the beginning of time, but if the agent reading your query has a stomach ache from that uncooked piece of beef in his stroganoff at lunch, he/she might get through two sentences then pass it on and grab the next query letter.
This is one reason why so many writers prefer taking the reins and try self-publishing. I tried that with my first book and it was too much work for Rog. Your one little unknown story in a sea of millions of other books who are all striving to be noticed.
There are many companies that provide hybrid publishing, where they do some of the work for free, while you pay for the other part they don’t cover. Or you can pay them a couple of thousand bucks and they’ll do it all for you.
I can’t afford that. And I want my book to stand on its own merit, not because I paid to have it published.
I wrote my current book because I wanted to - I just wrote it, for ME.
That doesn’t mean that it’s going to sell. Agents and publishers want to SELL books. It’s their business. That’s how they exist. If you present to them your book on a topic no one is interested about, they are going to pass it up. Some writers may write about stories that are popular to the current trends, and the publishers will lash on to that. Because that’s what people are buying.
It may have ZERO to do with the quality of your writing or the beauty of your story. HOWEVER, you may find an agent out there who takes that extra step, who believes in you and your story and accepts your submission, and helps you get your story out there to the masses.
It’s hard.
The last thing I’ll say on this … you can do some of your own marketing on Social Media. Tell the world about you story, tell them what it’s about, write a short description, offer sample chapters - stuff like that.
There are sites like: QueryTracker.net, ManuscriptWishList.com, Reedsy.com where you can do searches based on the genre of your story and it will give you a list of agents you can check out and send query letters to.
—---------------------------------------
My best advice to you is get your writing down above all things. And don’t rush it. Read books, stories for pleasure and to study. What do you like about a writers, what do you not like. Find a writer who you would like to be and read, listen, copy their sentences, and feel what it’s like writing them and how it sounds.
I read a book, “The Road”. And it was pretty sparse with the punctuation. It was weird, but I loved it.
Ever see a picture and you copied it - you drew it cuz you liked it? Perfect your art, your writing, your love. When you think you’ve written something wonderful you want to share with the world, then take that next - scary - step, and start your search for an agent - or another way to get your story out there for the world to see.
I hope this helps, a little at least.
Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Happy writing.
Roger
Two books that helped me:
"On Writing" by Stephen King
"Getting the Words Right" by Theodore Cheney
Also, I have answered a few other questions on improving your writing in Career Village, you might wish to check out .