Tips for Aspiring Writers
What was your experience getting published?
The time I spent waiting to get published was mercifully brief compared to some. I’ll be the first to admit I was lucky. However, the process I went through was the same as it is for many writers.
Once I had a completed manuscript, I queried agents. Many said no. One said yes. The only advantage I had at this stage was that a Bay Area creative writing teacher/author had done a line edit for me. She really helped me clean up the final draft, and then let me use her name in my query letter, “So-and-so, author of _____, suggested I contact you.” Any foot in the door is good. Even if the agent doesn’t know the author, she knows that someone in the business has endorsed your work. For this reason, I do think it can be helpful to pay someone for a line edit, if you have someone reputable in your area. A good place to look for freelance editors would be writing institutes at your local colleges.
Once I had an agent, she began shopping the manuscript around. Many publishers said no, all for different reasons. Some loved the story and disliked the characters. Some loved the characters and disliked the story. There didn’t seem to be any consensus. Finally, however, we got an offer from Bantam Doubleday Dell, and the series was published.
I finished the manuscript just before my thirtieth birthday, June, 1994. It was published in June of 1997. So from first query letter to pub date took three years. About a year of that was after I’d signed the contract and Bantam was preparing the book for publication.
