How much do you want to get published?

It’s 2007 - time of resolutions and goals. Here is your challenge. Are you prepared to do what it takes to get published this year?

“Yes,” I hear you say.

No, honestly - are you prepared to do what it takes to get published?

“Yes, of course. Anything short of selling my home or my children.”

Now, before you start wondering what the point of all this is, bear with me.

I’ll ask again: “Are you prepared to do what it takes to get published?”

“YES!” I hear you shout. “I spend at least an hour writing every day already. I’m 100 per cent committed.”


Ok, that’s brilliant. But what if getting published were to mean the following:

Firstly, reading at least 3 books from the current bestseller list.

Secondly, rewriting your current synopsis so that it flags up your selling points. And rewriting this over and over again until you get it right.

Thirdly, rewriting your novel so that the first 30 pages will really ‘wow’ editors and literary agents.

Finally, rewriting your novel so that it has the reader hooked from the opening page. They care deeply what happens to the characters. They are so emotionally involved that they can’t put the book down. It’s a genuine page turner.

Now perhaps you understand what I’m getting at?

You see, every year I deal with writers who do not read books by other authors, therefore do not know what type of books are currently selling. They listen to our consultants’ advice, but instead of giving their manuscript the complete overhaul it requires, they tweak at the odd full stop and word. They tinker with what they have already written, deleting sentences here and there, when what is really needed is to delete and rewrite entire chapters. They cling to notions of what they believe to be ‘good’ books and refuse to take ‘the market’ or commercial aspects into consideration. Then, they wonder why publishers and agents aren’t interested.

Every year, I also deal writers who have listened to our consultants’ advice. Not only this, but they have taken action. They have read books on the bestseller list. They have flagged up their selling points in their synopsis and rewritten it sometimes upwards of 10 times. They have overhauled their books to such an extent that the final draft is almost a different book from the first draft. They do position themselves to think: what is it that the publisher/literary agent wants?

And you know what? I can see almost straight away which books I will be able to place and which books I won’t. As a result, I had excellent success in either helping many of our clients to get publishing contracts or in getting them literary agents last year. And I’m hoping to do the same again this year.

Publishers aren’t charities. They are in the business to make money. And never more so than today. Now, the question you need to ask again: Who are you writing for? Yourself? Or your readers? If you are writing primarily for yourself, why not just write a private journal? Why not print a few copies and just show them to your friends?

If I had to identify the single biggest reason why writers fail to get contracts with mainstream publishers this is it. They don’t put themselves in the position of the publisher or reader. It’s as simple as that.

I fully respect artistic integrity if you are prepared to self-publish. I have utmost admiration for those enterprising souls who do, and indeed many of them are my clients. But even self-publishers can’t afford to ignore the question: what it is that the reader wants? However, in my experience, if a writer is entrepreneurial enough to self-publish, they are also intelligent and energetic enough to ask themselves this very question.

So let’s ask again: Are you prepared to do what it takes to get published this year?

Finest Moments

I had a new client phone me at Oxford Literary Consultancy a couple of months ago. He was chauffeur to a world-famous celebrity and had written a non-fiction book about his experiences. I'm not talking B-list celebrity either. This celebrity is up there with Paul McCartney, Elton John and Mick Jagger.

The book was full of exclusive photos never seen before. Better still, Channel 4 was interested in the story and a pilot was being produced for a prime time TV slot in 2007.

Now, this author had just sold his book to a publisher for £50. Can you believe that? Not £500 or even £5000. Or £50K. No - I made him repeat it back to me too!

Signed photos of this same celebrity are currently selling on EBay for over £200 each! And this man had dozens of them, complete with inside secrets about his lifestyle and beliefs. Yet he'd just sold them for the price of a restaurant meal!

Was this, this author's worst hour or was it his finest? I happen to think it was his finest. When he phoned me, he was confused. He had accepted the offer because that's what the publisher told him his book was worth.

Together, we spent several hours brainstorming. I advised him to get out of his publishing contract and then cut down his 15-page synopsis to 2 pages that flagged up the book's selling points. I then made recommendations to several literary agents on this writer's behalf.

This author, started off the week in despair. But by the end of it, he was on top of the world.

Consider these sayings for a moment: 'There is no such thing as a mistake, only an opportunity to learn to do something better.' 'Your worst moments are often your greatest.' and 'Just as you are about to quit, you are about to succeed.'

If you're a writer hitting a wall, ask yourself: What can I learn from this? Is this an opportunity to do something better? Am I about to succeed?

Because you know what? If you rise to the challenge, you may find this is your finest hour.