The next step

So you have a few chapters completed? Now's the time for big decisions. Where do you really want your story to go and who is your audience?

Do you want to be a best seller?
Do you want to make a few sales on the side of your regular job?
Do you want to have something to pass along to children and friends but aren't interested in
appealing to the general population?

These are very important questions to ask yourself because this is where you make choices to determine the future of your book.

I want to be very clear on this next statement. You will only be a best seller is a MAJOR publishing house chooses to print your book under their traditional imprint.

This next statement is very important as well. Major publishing houses' traditional imprints will only look at manuscripts submitted by reputable agents.

If you want to be a best seller, right now you need to take the 3 chapters you have hammered out and make the chapters perfect. Edit, edit, edit! Once you are done editing, take it to your friends and have them make suggestions. After you gather all their suggestions, edit some more! Then, find a writing group and have the people in your writing group make suggestions and edit your chapters again. Once you think it's perfect, hire a top-notch copy editor (I'll discuss different editors and how to find them in a future post) to go over your work and make more suggestions. Then, edit your book again. Are you sensing a theme here?

I am jumping on my soap box for a minute here. I'll do this from time to time in my posts, so please bear with me. I work with many authors with all ranges of books. My biggest pet peeve in this industry is when an author says to me, "There's typos but they don't matter."

They DO matter especially to the people who you want to put their reputations on the line for you. This on top of the rudest thing I think a writer can do it care so LITTLE about their book but still expect some hard working Joe to spend money to read it or expect a member of the media to care enough to print something.

OK, stepping off the soap box...

My point is make sure you have the cleanest, most engaging 3 chapters you can possibly manage to write ready. I mentioned before you need an agent. I'll write another post on what I have learned about finding a reputable agent in a minute. Right now, you need to prepare a package to submit to agents. Agents get many submission and I am not an expert on what literary agents look for since I am not one. I only have a general rule.

The general rule is to have a well prepared cover letter with an outline of the book's story, why it is unique and your contact information. (Don't forget to tell them how they can get a hold of you!) Add that to your perfected first three chapters and send it off. Please don't forget details like printed submissions only and make sure each page is clean.

There are many services that will help you prepare a package, find agents and give addresses to top agents nationwide. I don't have those contacts to give to you but you can find them on this world wide web. I would do a google search for "literary agent" to get started.

Maybe you don't want to be a best seller but maybe sell some books or simply have something to pass on to posterity. Those are options as well.

Tune in soon for more information!