Writer seeks publisher with GSOH. Must love animals.

I wish it were as simple as the title of this blog to find a publisher.
I started 2010 thinking I would send my novel off to hundreds of publishers, hoping that one would be interested. I identified no less than 30 publishers from the Writers and Artists Year book, but on researching each one, I found that I was only left with four who would look at unsolicited manuscripts. Many of them refer you straight back to the excellent 'Artist and Writers Year book, and others state they only want work via an Agent.

This is not intended to be a doomy post, but it does show how hard it is for a writer to even get their work looked at. I am thrilled that I have those four publishers that will be getting a copy of 'Red Kite' very soon. I will also be sending it off to Agents. My list of agents is more than double than that of the publishers, and if I secured one, it may help me get a step further to publication.

I have also found that the Writers' News magazine which is available if you subscribe to 'Writing Magazine', is a wonderful source of information. I found two large publishers that were now accepting manuscripts from un-known writers, so I have already sent Red Kite off to both of those.

It gives up-to-date information on the market at the moment which is crucial. As you can see by the photograph, my Artists and Writers Year book is 2009. Many of the entries in there could have changed dramatically since it going into print so well worth checking websites before sending of material.

Snowed under

Well here I am again. This morning the snow was very bad in South Shropshire. Most of the main roads were blocked due to accidents and heavy snow, making it impossible to get to work. However, I have used the time at home well.

I was really becoming snowed under with several years worth of writing magazines. I hate throwing any of them away, so decided to go through each issue and pick out the bits I need. I was amazed how useful this was. I divided them up into subjects such as dialogue, pitching, writing for children and general hints and tips. I also kept the letters to the editor as these provide a quick source of help and advice.

It was wonderful to see how many times members of Wrekin Writers have contributed in some way or another in Writing Magazine, Writers Forum, Link Magazine and Writers News, with numerous articles and letters from Simon Whaley, Julie Phillips, Sue Ross and Fee Smith. I also found an excellent leaflet on dialogue that Mike White had produced for a workshop he presented a few years ago, and Simon's booklet on article writing.

These items are a wonderful source of information, so thank you all for adding to my now bursting file which is packed with the information I need in a place I can find it.

On looking through all the copies of the writing mags, I also found how often the same topics were published over time, which is great as it means as long as we do our research, there is no reason that we can't submit similar articles after a suitable period, even if the subject has been tackled before.

Still snowing here, but at least my house is de-cluttered and I have room to collect even more writing stuff!