How to Get Published

That, as anyone who is trying to get published will tell you, is the sixty thousand dollar question, or maybe sixty million dollars, adjusted for inflation.

But as anyone who is published will tell you, getting published is really only the beginning. The more – some would say, the most – important question is, Do you have the stamina and the flexibility to be a focussed dreamer, a sociable writer, a faithful promoter, an intimate blogger, a modest self-publicist and a forthright diplomat? If not, I suspect this game is not for you. The rules keep changing, and if you are anything like me, you will be the last person in the room to discover that they have changed, or to work out how the changes affect your professional position. The chances are, every change will impact your life in some way, and, because no-one in this hectic business will have a great deal of time to explain any of this to you, there are huge advantages to being psychic, as well.

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Nevertheless, if you are able to gaze upon that prospect with equanimity, this series of articles attempts to articulate a little about what I think I have learned about how the writing and publishing process works: to consider what agents, publishers, and the reading public are looking for and, most importantly, how to manage expectations.

I can only write from my own experience, and there is a great deal I have yet to learn. There is also a great deal that I will never learn, because there is so much to know and memory is finite. (At the last count, my account and password list was nearing fifty and I haven’t the space for many more). And, as I say, the rules keep changing.

Thanks for reading!

To be continued.

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