Getting Publisher’s Palate
By Pauline Cagayan
Reality is that, satisfying the taste of your target publisher must be second to none and unfortunately, there is neither an exact recipe nor a right amount of ingredients in achieving the ideal savor of your manuscript. It also goes beyond a perfect writing and magnificent story line.
Publishers now look beyond the hype around the blockchain and they are much more open in publishing any genre of a manuscript be it fiction or nonfiction, love stories, tragic, true to life, histories, oppressions or a happily ever after. Impressing them must be on your top priority and your writing degree won’t do everything. Yes, you do have a great knowledge and experiences that can serve as your great advantage over other aspirant published authors but still, there’s a lot to be considered.
You must have and be a good standard as a writer. Just the whole world tells, a good writer is a good reader but I somehow disagree on the next line saying that a good reader is a good writer because not everyone is entitled and privileged to have great writing skills. Writing is not just having a pen and filling your pad with any idea that goes in and out your mind. It is neither a talent nor a skill, it’s a gift that should be recognized.
Once a person shows a passion in writing, it should be practiced, encouraged and it must be honed because writers are not born possessing the ability to write, they are learned and getting better each step.
And when passion to write goes in his blood, it would be impossible to stop him being a voice of the unheard. He’ll drive the world through his words and ideas and no one can dare to slow his speed.
When you strongly have the passion to rule your mind in creating remarkable stories, second on the list is how can you be so sure that your story will reach the hearts and catch the attention of many? First things first is to know the power of publishing. Beyond any doubt, publishing is a great avenue to reach your best audiences. Time can tell that those stories which are well-published receive a high number of readers and attain better recognition.
A publisher plays a vital role in a manuscript. As an aspiring published author who has been through the experience of uplifting other aspiring writers know how grateful it is to witness an individual achieving their dreams and improving their capabilities. But are they ready to be in that situation of asking someone to help them make their dreams come through?
Well, there’s no wrong being in that place as long as you know why you started and what you wanted.
On that note isn't it really that hard to get a book published? Why do I need to work on that if I can assure that my book is at the peak of its quality?
There are many ways to impress a publisher and on top of it is to show them what you’ve got as a writer. Here are the top four recipes on how to achieve a "too good" to be accepted or "too bad" to be rejected manuscript.
Yourself. You are a professional writer. For them to believe that you are seriously working hard on your manuscript, you must act professional comfortably. It doesn't mean that you must be so formal like an agent or a boss. Adding humor as your spice is a good catch but never do anything bad that can reflect your art such as showing impolite behavior, shouting like an outburst old guy, berating others, verbal intimidation and dragging other books, authors or publishers just to lift your work.
It would be a great help to have a better self-introduction because it can literally tap the interest of the publishers. Having a wide experience in writing can help you build yourself. Use your ability to promote your book and never show them that you are underestimating your capabilities as a writer hence, express that you could give a substantial impact on their company.
Your Story. Academe keeps on teaching every learner the essential parts of a story which are the characters, the setting, the plot, the conflict, and the resolution. Education serves as the first step in having formal and technical knowledge in the field of writing. With or without a diploma in creative writing, language or literature you can still create a great story that can both progress and guide your readers towards a central moral. Just be organized by your genre because it will contextualize your book and serve as the foundation of your story that will guide your words in literary lineage. Having a constructive genre is much more essential than being technically constructive in writing.
Your Market. It would be easy for a writer to map his storyline, genres and twists if his target audience is clear. You don’t need to consider the universe and all you have to do is to stay on the line–focus. Focus provides a gateway to all thinking and it will distance you from writing a grim story. In point of fact, your market is the priority of a publisher to have a deal with your manuscript. They won’t settle for less so if you show them that you exactly know who your audience is, it will help them in all aspects and work as a publisher from copy editing, developing the story, promoting and building a strong referral base, having an effective marketing sell and running reviews from your manuscript. It would be easy for the publisher to manage their audiences and aside from that, it would be a challenge for them to market your book to those who you think are not part of your target readers.
Your Plans. As the main head of your book, your publisher has a high expectation on your definite plan and a clear vision of your work. When they asked where you can see your story a year from now, you must have an accurate scheme and objectives. Show them how high are your dreams and goals towards your manuscript and let them perceive the excitement, enthusiasm and the eagerness of yours. Aside from showcasing your extensive plans, publishers are much more interested in those authors who seek to write multiple-books. Well, of course they’ll make sure that their effort in investing will go on a higher level. In reality some publications create a contract agreement where an author promises to write a second part of his published book if a huge reader asked to.
Publishers do what’s best for our book and for our journey as a published author. Sometimes we lose our tracks because of continuous rejections without considering that there’s always an odd– perhaps our story doesn’t nest neatly for a certain publishing house and there’s nothing wrong with that. Maybe it’s not the right door for us but there’s something more fruitful that awaits our stories to be told.