The road to publishing a novel is long and winding … and difficult. In this case I’m talking about what we refer to as traditional publishing. Self-publishing is an entirely different story with its own share of problems, but here at Game of Books, Cathi and I are attempting to get our novels published the traditional way (for now), so that is the part of the industry we are learning and sharing about.  This is no easy task as the rules change often, depending on everything from the market to technology. Today, I’m going to discuss the current guidelines that I’ve gleaned from the past ten or so months of trying to get my novel published. Before I start you may want to join me in listening to Long and Winding Road by the Beatles, just for a little cultural snack and to know we are not alone in this process.

I like to remain optimistic and open-minded. Although publishing is hard it is not impossible. Lots of authors did it before me and many were in the exact same position as me at one time. In fact, knowing this can really help with the biggest obstacles to getting published … lack of persistence and lack of patience.

To get a novel published, the first step is to find an agent. Wait, stop! The first step is to finish writing the novel. Then you can find an agent. Wait, stop! In today’s age of email submissions, the volume of books that are pitched to agents is astronomical. The agents have so many new novels to choose from that they can be very picky. Before you send out your newly typed novel, you need to edit it for any possible errors … then edit it again. Okay, so now that you have a completed and highly edited novel it is time to find an agent. Easier said than done! The process of pitching and finding a literary agent is called querying. To query a novel in today’s market can be exhausting and discouraging. I’ve talked a little about this process in my blog, Finding the Perfect Match, so I won’t go into detail today. Just know that persistence is key, from what I’ve heard.

After you find an agent (something I haven’t done yet) then the next step is very similar, only now it is your agent who is trying to find a publisher. Publishers can also be picky with where they want to spend their money and on what. So many factors play a part in which books get what deals. They are trying to predict what readers will want to read, and we all know how subjective and ever changing that is. Once you get a publisher then you can have cause to celebrate, I think. But in my case, I will wait on the big party until the physical book is in my hand.

Here I need to reiterate the long part of the road. Each of these steps are sometimes measured in years. If you are lucky then months. Never days. In order to keep reminding myself that I need to stay the course, I think of all the stories about people who never gave up. I particularly like this cartoon that goes with a great article by David McElroy, “Never give up; you might be closer to reaching your goal than you think”  

I also research how other authors got published because their unique stories can often be inspirational. In fact, Cathi and I are so interested in author stories that we have started author interviews (our GOB form of A.I.). Tomorrow we kick it off with newbie author, Debbie Levison whose recently published true-crime memoir, The Crate, has already won awards. We can’t wait to pick her brain on her writing and publishing process.