farawayeyes4

Last time I simply put out an ask for help. I want to know the publishing secret handshake so I can get my book out to the world. So today, I sat down and started the research process.

A follower on Twitter linked me to an article about how publishers go about choosing books for publication. It was a fascinating read, discussing the meeting that takes place between the various people in the publishing house. Marketing, editors, accountants, and more gather to discuss the profitability of various manuscripts on the table. I'm not surprised that the primary focus is on money and sales projections. Working retail as long as I have, that's about the only thing that seems to matter on many levels.

Which makes me think about my literary paranormal novel and it's chances. Since I don't know yet how to make the pitch to sell it to the big group at the publishing house or a literary agent, that brought me to my next step: researching the query letter.

It seems that everyone has their opinion on how a query letter should be written. I don't know how to do that, yet, so I am looking for any advice anyone is willing to give me on this subject. How do you start one? What does it entail? Where should I send it? To how many different agents and agencies should I query at a time? Are there any recommended books anyone can suggest that discuss this in a manner that doesn't just make my head explode?

The more I researched, the more my head started to swim and be overwhelmed. Some said not to start with a hook that jumps into describing the story itself. Others said it's a must. Some said to not give it all away in short synopsis paragraph. Others said you must include the ending or risk being passed on.

Which is right? It would seem that I have a lot more digging to do today and through the week if I'm going to nail down the next piece in the puzzle.

Meanwhile, I'm also debating starting that long overdue fifth draft. I am proud of the current form of my book, don't get me wrong, but I worry that I haven't done enough to make my manuscript as polished as it could be. What needs to be rewritten, cut, or added? What needs better description or dilaogue? I'm a bit lost on that, too.

All in all, this first day trying to figure out what to do now with the publishing goal in mind is a lot of “I don't know what I'm doing. Help!”

So again, I ask for everyone's help and guidance. I do know one thing about publishing---or the world in general. You can't get anything done without asking for help sometimes.

Until next week!