It is a woeful tale, known the world over by every budding author out there who has ever experienced the pain of rejection, yet still retains some semblance of hope. There are thousands, if not millions of us out there who have already tasted that soul-destroying sting, yet still hunt down literary agents regardless, with a rosary bead in one hand, and a crucifix in … Continue reading Finding a literary agent in Australia
A few months ago I pitched face to face with a mid-tier publisher in NSW, Australia. The publisher in question was Allen & Unwin, an independent publisher that I have always dreamed of getting published by. I used to get butterflies just thinking about them. I mentioned about getting ready for the pitch in an earlier post, so I thought it was about time that I share the ‘9 things … Continue reading Pitching face to face with a publisher
I was initially going to call this blog ‘How it feels to be rejected by literary agents’, but that’s super depressing, why not focus on the positive this time? My novel, Mesmerise, has been officially rejected (since last friday) by the grand total of five literary agents I was able to query it with. Most of my initial queries were actually successful, and (another bonus) I learned heaps of … Continue reading How to successfully query a literary agent
If you aspire to the lofty heights of ‘published’ writer, no doubt you’ve faced rejection time and time again – as I have. I am currently querying my novel, Mesmerise, with agents and considering there are only 15 Literary Agents in Australia, and I can only submit to about seven, self-publishing is starting to look damn attractive right about now!
Continue reading “The nine stages of facing rejection as a writer”
I recently wrote a self-publishing guest post for indie author, Theresa Sopoko. I wrote the article in a bid to convince myself that self-publishing is the way to go. While everyone secretly wants to be published by one of the Big 5, I’ve finally begun to see that the advantages to self-publishing are actually pretty great (if you put in the hard yaka that is) – and what better way to demonstrate that than with a few cats thrown in for good measure!
This past weekend I attended my first ever writing related workshop called ‘Pitch Perfect’, run by the New England Writer’s Centre (in Australia). The workshops include talks by many successful, local authors and will be held over three weekends, ending in a face to face, private 10 minute pitch with a real, big name Australian publisher!
I have a confession to make, I have kept some exciting publishing news to myself, waiting for just the right moment to blog about it. And now I think it’s about time. I received an offer to have my book Under a Different Sky published by a small traditional press called RRPI in the US! Yes!! Hooray!! Party!! But before I get carried away with myself, I have to let you know:
The contract never went ahead.
Why you ask?
Continue reading “When your publishing contract falls through”
You’ve done it. 630 hours later and you’re ready to send your perfectly polished masterpiece off to the Big 5 (or the Small 254). But what happens next isn’t pretty…
Continue reading “The nine stages of waiting to hear back from a publisher – with cats”
Here’s a list of the Big 5 US Publishing Houses, their submission requirements and links to submission details. I’ve also included at the end of the list two smaller US Publishers that I have submitted to in the past (received real feedback!) I thought they would serve as good examples of what’s out there if you decide to try the smaller publishers.
Continue reading “Submitting Your Manuscript to the Big 5 US Publishers”
While I decided a few months ago that I would be self-publishing my work, I feel like it’s a compulsory #riteofpassage to submit your novel to one of the big publishing houses that accept unsolicited manuscripts.
I’ve researched enough to accept the reality that I have zero to no chance of being picked from the slush pile of a big publisher, let alone a smaller press. But one thing I believe ardently is if we don’t try we’ll always wonder and you never know, you might be that .01% that does get their unsolicited manuscript published!
Continue reading “Submitting your manuscript to the big Aussie publishers”
