The Book In The Closet: An Article For Writers

Hi everyone,

I’m writing this article to tell you a little of my story, honestly and hopefully inspirationally, to those of you out there with a book of your own in the closet.

The field of writing and publishing is not one that is friendly to a new author. It’s so easy to get frustrated and give up when you feel like you’ve done everything and nothing seems to be working. You may have read all the books on the subject of getting published, sent out queries, and waited patiently for someone to request your manuscript. Some of you may have fallen victim to the many unscrupulous people out there promising to help, while lining their pockets at your expense.

This article is to encourage all of you not to give up. Your book might be the gem that everyone would love, but would never see because it’s gathering dust in your closet.

I had an idea, and decided over time to put it into words. At the beginning I had no idea what I was getting myself into. After all, I had written a great book that would appeal to a lot of fun loving people. How hard could it be to get it into the marketplace? I had a finished product, and no idea what to do with it.

I bought and read books about publishing and quickly realized that I needed an agent who would accept a submission from a new author to represent my book, or a publisher who was willing to accept submissions from a new author without an agent. That’s easy enough, right? I also learned that I would need some outside, objective confirmation that my book had merit and was worth pursuing. Relatives and friends had read it with great reviews, but what else could they say? They were my friends and family.

I found an editor to critique my book, for a fee of course. (Let me tell you now that if you decide to pursue this course, it’s going to cost you time and money, so work hard, build up your savings, and be very careful about who you choose to hire.) To my relief, she said it was a great idea for a book, and that it had a lot of potential for marketability to people looking for a new and different approach to a standard gift giving party.

I bought a Writers Digest with listings of agents and publishers that would consider work from a new author. I dived in and sent out query letters, one by one, to the listings interested in my genre. This is a time consuming process. I received back a lot of nicely worded, No thank yous! Not one requested my manuscript.

I put my book in the closet, and there it sat for a long time. I thought about it once in a while, but my life was busy and I had a whatever will be, will be attitude.

Eventually I decided to give it another shot. I bought more books on publishing and started trying some online queries. I found an online literary agency that would accept a submission of the manuscript. Eureka! At last someone would actually look at my book. I did the submission and almost immediately received a congratulation e-mail. They had accepted my manuscript for representation. I was happy and excited. They wanted some money, not a lot, just enough to cover costs for mailings, paperwork, that sort of thing. It wasn’t much to ask if they could help me achieve my dream. I bet by now you know the end of that story, and some of you may even know who I’m talking about. They were crooks, preying on author hopes and dreams. They never sent my manuscript anywhere and have since been prosecuted.

My book went back into the closet again. I was angry, hurt, and frankly sick of the whole process. I was beginning to understand how difficult it is for a new author to get their work into the marketplace.

More time passed, and even though I felt like a glutton for punishment, I retrieved it from the closet, dusted it off, and decided to try again.

This time I found a book about self publishing. It listed all the self publishing companies and rated them by detailing how they work, their prices, and contracts. All of the companies had a similar way of operating, but a wide range of contracts, royalties, and pricing. They ALL wanted a marketing plan. I learned that even traditional publishers want you to have a marketing plan and play an active role in your own marketing. Another road block! I had no marketing experience. How could I possibly come up with a marketing plan?

My book almost went back into the closet forever, but I was convinced not to give up. I chose http://Booklocker.com to self publish my book. I now have a published book, a great cover, and have hired some marketing help.

I don’t know what the future holds, but I didn’t give up and I hope you won’t either. If you believe in your dream, do the research and invest some time and money in making it come true. I hope to someday be reading your book in the closet and would love to hear your story. Here’s wishing you success!

(Originally published at GoArticles and reprinted with permission from the author, Nancy Kruse).