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  • Home+About
    • About Us
    • Sarah Bullen
    • Terms&Conditions
    • Ghostwriting
    • Get Published
    • What Graduates Say
  • Writers Retreats
    • Greece Retreats >
      • About the Island
      • What writers say
      • Itinerary
    • South Africa Writing Retreats
    • Writing Retreat Morocco
    • Writing Retreat Tuscany
    • Write and Walk in Spain
  • Online Courses
    • Write your Book in 100 Days Online Mentorship >
      • Mentorship Apply
      • How to Pay for the Mentorship
    • Pitch to Published Bootcamp >
      • Apply Pitch to Published Bootcamp
      • payforpitchtopublished
    • Stop Mucking About! Author Accountability Group >
      • stopmuckingaboutpayments
    • Manuscript Appraisals
  • Book a Session
  • LESSONS
  • Video Lessons

Sending off your book - How many publishers should you approach?

18/10/2016

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​Sending off a manuscript is terrifying. It is adrenalin inducing, heart-stopping stuff for any writer. But so many writers bail or fail at this critical point. They send their book off to a publisher and get a rejection letter. Then they put it in a bottom drawer and don’t send it again. This is not called submitting a book! Submitting a book is a long process that requires work and persistence.
 
This is NOT the time to be shy or hold back.

Do you believe in this book? 
Did you invest your time in it?

 Now change gear from a writer into a sales person and get this book SOLD! And remember that selling a book is a process of securing a deal in which a publisher agrees to print your book, carry the printing, distribution and marketing costs and share some of the profit with you.

​Here are a few essential steps you need to take and some advice from an agent who does this a lot. 

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Should you write about yourself? And how?

18/10/2016

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When I started teaching writing over a decade ago I always used to tell writers NOT to write about themselves. This was in the interests of cultivating good fiction authors. Why? Because if you write about yourself in fiction, you really only have one story to tell. It is also a totally misunderstood maxim of writing that you must ‘write what you know.’ All this has changed! 

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Who are the writers who get published?

18/10/2016

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​Starting a book? That is the (relatively) easy bit. Keeping going is a bit harder. Who wants to sit alone in front of a keyboard while everyone else is out playing. Facebook is waiting.  Maybe a blog would be more achievable than a whole BOOK? So here’s my take on why many writers stop before the end. This is not any professional research, just my observations from experience.

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How to finish, not just start

18/10/2016

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One of the most common complaints I always hear from writers is that they can’t 'find the time' to write. They may start their books but then, three months into the process, a pressing project at work is taking up all their time. Or the kids are too demanding. Or (on the other side of the spectrum) I get writers who tell me they are going to quit their jobs to finally write that book. Now go easy on both sides of this extreme. There are better ways to tackle this. 

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Writers are moving from novels to memoirs

18/10/2016

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​​I started the first writing course and agency ten years ago and focused only on novels. Almost all the writers who found me saw 'writing a book' as 'writing a novel' so my work was to get writers to plot, plan and craft their novels. Publishing and writers have changed dramatically. Not many writers send queries about wanting to write a novel any more. Most writers who find me want to write their own story - either as a memoir or a non-fiction book.

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Should I plan or just write?

18/10/2016

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​I get asked this so often. There is only one answer to this question (in my view). YES of course you should plan a book!
 
I believe in writing with intent if you want to get published.

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How many books get sold in SA every year?

16/10/2016

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​E​ver wonder how many books get sold in SA every year? What SA publishing looks like from the inside? How many books the average South African author sells? Ever wonder how many books get sold in SA every year? What SA publishing looks like from the inside? How many books the average South African author sells?

Pour yourself a drink, this is going to hurt like hell. By Paige Nick


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How to write a sellable non-fiction book proposal

16/10/2016

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​
You may want to write a non-fiction book that is based on your professional expertise. Or perhaps it's an illustrated children’s book, a cookbook or a photographic travel book. The good news is that you don’t have to write your entire book first. You can submit a proposal. In fact these books are generally commissioned by publishers on a proposal basis. (I am going to use the terms publisher / agent interchangeably).
 
This means that writing a proposal is actually a Pretty Big Deal. They are long and they take a whole lotta work. But they will easily weed out the serious writer (that’s you) from the ‘don’t care enough’ to an experienced publisher. Don’t rush the process of the book proposal and don’t underestimate how carefully crafted this needs to be.

​This is what is going to get your book sold.
 


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    About Sarah

    Sarah Bullen is a writing coach, literary agent and book editor. She coaches writers on how to become authors and how to write to get published.
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