Calling All Unpublished Writers!

Thus far, you have completed your literary masterpiece and sent it out to every possible publisher and agent that may be interested in signing unpublished writers. Ideally, since several months have passed, you should be receiving some sort of feedback. Or, in a perfect world, a contract to publish your work could come and make your dreams come true!

Unfortunately, for many of us unpublished writers, although we probably do get feedback, we do not typically receive contracts to publish our works. As a matter of fact, according to Writer’s Digest, less than 5% of the estimated total number of manuscript submissions are published at all. Of that 5%, only 15% accepted are for debut books.

I know that these statistics can be very discouraging. Don’t give up!

Typically, despite popular belief, many publishing houses and literary agencies like to find new authors. The problem that you find is that when you are looking at traditional publishing companies, the sheer volume of submissions is a stumbling block to any new author. Many companies will not accept manuscripts from unpublished authors; many companies will not accept unsolicited manuscripts; and, several others refuse to accept manuscripts that are submitted by authors that are not represented by literary agents. Reading through the various requirements of the publishing companies can be both frustrating and very time consuming. That is why it is good to find a publishing company that is truly interested in publishing good writing, regardless of where it is coming from.

Make sure that your writing is grammatically correct. Make sure that it flows well and will be marketable. The last thing that you want is to submit a manuscript to someone that is just going to look at it as a mess.