A.F.E. Smith
  • Home
  • Books
    • Marked series >
      • Dawn Rising
      • The Dark Knife
    • Darkhaven novels >
      • Darkhaven
      • Goldenfire
      • Windsinger
  • Shorts
  • Gallery
  • Contact

Professionalism is mightier than the sword

8/4/2012

3 Comments

 
You've spent a year working on the masterpiece that's going to catapult you to success as a published author. You've read every sentence five times. You've tweaked and rewritten, corrected the typos and filled a minor plot hole you didn't notice before. If you polished it any more then you'd only be changing, not improving.

The book is ready for submission.

So what do you do with this piece of your soul that you've spent so much time and care on? You print it off any old how, stick it in an envelope and post it to your favourite publisher without even bothering to find out the name of the editor in charge. Why not? Submission guidelines are for wimps. The quality of the writing will speak for itself.

It sounds crazy, yet it seems to be what many writers do. I've heard countless publishers and agents say, over and over again, that a large proportion of the submissions they receive don't follow the guidelines they set out. And what happens to those submissions? They go in the bin. There's no point even considering working with a writer who doesn't have the courtesy to follow simple instructions.

I'm always amazed by these stories. I can't understand why someone would spend so many hours of their life writing a book, then not be willing to spend just one more hour making sure they're supplying it in the format required. And it doesn't stop there. People write covering letters with spelling mistakes in them. They produce synopses that are stilted and confusing. They don't even bother to find out which agencies and publishers are interested in their genre.

All this is a mystery to me. It's like baking the world's best cake, then covering it in sloppy icing and presenting it in a battered old cardboard box. Why wouldn't you give your book the best possible chance to shine? Your chances of being picked up by a publisher are slim enough already, without giving them ready-made reasons to reject you.

I've been talking about the traditional publishing route, but the same principles apply to self-publishing. Taking the time to create (or have created) a polished-looking cover, writing a blurb without errors, formatting your text so that it looks right on Kindle and epub as well as in print - all these things are part of showing yourself to be a professional author.

Because that's the point. Whatever route we're taking with our books, or hoping to take, none of us like being thought of as amateurs who dabble in literature in our spare time. We're professional writers, and that means we ought to act accordingly. From how we behave in chat rooms to how we deal with rejection, we're presenting ourselves to the world in a certain way. And if we want other people to take what we do seriously, it's time we started taking it seriously ourselves.

The A to Z Challenge continues tomorrow.
3 Comments
Katrina Jack
8/4/2012 12:58:10 pm

Couldn't agree more. What's strange is I've just done a piece on my own blog, about how some writers think bad grammar and punctuation are acceptable. Their excuse? That the story is king. That may well be, but how is a reader, agent or publisher supposed to read a badly constructed manuscript, indeed why should they bother?

Reply
Rhia Roberts link
8/4/2012 01:12:40 pm

You are so correct. I think some people are just so exhausted by the end that they can't be bothered. This is where taking a break from it comes in handy, don't you think?
Rhia from Five Minute Piece for Inspiration (around # 802 in A to Z list today)

Reply
Katrina Jack
9/4/2012 01:05:41 am

Exhaustion might be an answer and yes, taking a break before a final edit is a good idea. That said, a lot of those I've come across still think the agent/publisher will do the corrections. That's simply not true. They may point out the odd typo, but nowadays it's the writer who has to put them right. As Afe says, professionalism is the key.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

      Enter your email address and click on Submit to receive notifications of new posts.
      Enter your email address here!
    Submit

    Archives

    July 2016
    June 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011

    Categories

    All
    About Me
    Artwork
    A To Z Challenge
    Barren Island Books
    Books
    Character Interviews
    Characterisation
    Darkhaven
    Editing
    Events
    Excerpts
    Fantasy
    Flash Fiction
    Giveaways
    Guest Posts
    Marketing
    Maths
    Pedantry
    Point Of View
    Prophecy
    Publishing
    Reading
    Recommended Reads
    Reviews
    Rules Of Fiction
    Science Fiction
    Serious Stuff
    Sunday Showcase
    Tentacles
    Ugh
    Worldbuilding
    Write Every Day
    Writing

    Or subscribe to my mailing list here!

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Books
    • Marked series >
      • Dawn Rising
      • The Dark Knife
    • Darkhaven novels >
      • Darkhaven
      • Goldenfire
      • Windsinger
  • Shorts
  • Gallery
  • Contact