Publishing Process: From the Beginning – Part 1
I love authors that pour over their words, making masterpieces that cause me to lose track of time and reality. The words on a page of a book are an author’s hard work and hours of labor that make it possible for all of us to read.
Along with the hard work of the author, you have the work of publishers, agents, and editors that help get that book out into the hands of readers. I thought it would be a good time to join in with one of our authors, J.R.R.R. (Jim) Hardison, and share a publisher’s side to the road of publication.
Jim started a diary about his journey in publishing his upcoming novel, Fish Wielder. You can find his posts HERE!
When Jim let me know about his idea for a diary and asked what my thoughts were, it got me thinking. I was happy to join him and tell my side of puzzle. Then every time I would sit down to start writing my first post for this little adventure, the words failed me. Imagine that, a lover of the written word and I was stumped. I didn’t stress over it, because I knew with a little time I would find exactly what I wanted to say in this first post.
Let’s get started!
A typical day for a publishing house is tons of emails and submissions to go through, among other things. The whole process begins with a query.
I have to say that the query letter with the sample chapters is the author’s chance to hook the reader (in every since of the word). When I receive a query, I’m looking for a few things.
I want to know the title, genre, and word count.
I want to know what the story is about. Don’t give me the whole story in the letter that is what the synopsis is for. All I want you to do is hook me with the premise of the story. Think back cover blurb. Make it stand out. Make it hook the reader. Have that reader wanting to open to chapter one right then.
A short bio about the author. Not a life story, just a short bio. If you are writing under a pen name, please include your real name as well. You can put John Doe – writing as JW Doe.
Close the letter let me know that the full manuscript is available upon request and that the synopsis and sample chapters are included.
If you have a website or social media that you want to share in your query. I would like to see it in your signature. Not everyone has these things when they are just starting out, but if you do. It wouldn’t hurt to include those. If you think that publishers don’t look, you are mistaken.
Yes, this is really all I’m looking for in the query letter. I know this is basis stuff, but this is where the process beginning and it is an important part of the process. If you don’t hook the reader (publisher, editor, or agent) then you don’t get to the next step in the process. The truth is that this is only one step in the submissions process. I will talk about the next step in my next post.
About the Publisher:
Misty Williams founded Fiery Seas Publishing in 2014. She has over ten years experience from writing to marketing and publicity to editorial. She now uses the things she has learned over the years to help build the companies growing number of authors.
Misty is always looking for a great book that will keep readers up all night. She is looking for mysteries, thrillers, horror, science fiction, fantasy, YA/middle grade, romance, and historical fiction.
You can find her on twitter at @misty_williams_
