Submit a Book for Review to the New York Review of Books

I am the author of three middle-grade children'southward books, and I blog on the side. My favorite topics are movies, writing, and pop civilization.

How to submit your book to a publishing company

Laura Smith via Canva

Volume Submission Instruction

Writers spend several years learning their craft. From basic spelling, punctuation, and grammar to writing techniques, vocalism, and structure, every author receives loads of training before they sit down to write their first novel.

When it comes to getting published, nevertheless, that's commonly where the training stops, and writers are left with a ton of questions such as:

Where do I submit my book?
How do I submit my volume?
What are their guidelines?
Practise I need an agent?

Merely as learning how to write takes study and practice, it also takes a long time to acquire almost the submission procedure. When I began to submit my poesy and short stories to publications, the publishing world was still mainly requesting difficult copy submissions. Gradually, though, most publications moved to a paperless process that is faster, cheaper, and more convenient.

Over the years, I have worked out a system of researching, compiling, submitting, and organizing my novel submissions. Below I go over the basic steps of this procedure and offer in-depth tips that are typically glossed over in writing classes. Hopefully, these tips will cutting down on the fourth dimension you spend submitting to publications.

One of the first literary journals that published my work — One of the showtime literary journals that published my work

Laura Smith

Query Letters

Before you start to submit to publishers, you need to prepare several documents in advance. The showtime is a query letter of the alphabet. This is a cover letter that you will include with all submissions to a person, company, or publication.

Continue this certificate in letter form on your computer, and make certain that this letter no longer than ane page, even though near of the time you volition be pasting this letter into the body of an email, a format where word count and page length disappears. However, if you diameter submission editors with a lengthy embrace letter, you're going to lose points right away.

The Pitch

The kickoff paragraph should be your pitch. You need to explicate why you wrote it, describe its major themes, and name your target audience. Include the title and give-and-take count within the text. Make it interesting, and prove your conviction in the piece, but don't get as well showy or braggy. Also, think that this is only the first paragraph. Exit room for the balance of the information required in the query alphabetic character.

Query Letter Paragraph 1 Example

To: John Smith, Little Readers Inc.:

I wrote my book, Piddling Red Riding Hood, as a morality tale for young children to teach them not to talk to strangers. This is a lesson that all kids should learn. My story does not talk downwardly to them but rather uses fantasy to brand a compelling risk story with a relatable young, impressionable girl at the center of my twenty,000 word novel.

The Summary

The second paragraph should be a quick summary of your book. Piece of work in as much as you can within three or four sentences. Fifty-fifty if your plot is complicated and your characters are complex, just write the bare minimum required to get the indicate beyond.

If you can't tell the story in a few sentences, you may want to go back and edit some more than earlier submitting your book. If a publisher tin't be sold in your pitch, a potential reader isn't going to be sold when reading the summary on the back cover of your novel in the book store. Your story needs to exist clear and so that people will want to read information technology. Make sure it is the best that it can be.

Likewise, don't spoil your volume'southward catastrophe in the query letter. Leave that for when your full manuscript is requested. Keep the submission editor curious so that they will want to read more than.

Scroll to Go along

Publication History

The third paragraph should include your publication history. Include the names of any publications where your work has previously appeared including: literary journals, magazines, websites, book collections, self-published piece of work, etc. Include any schoolhouse publications that you wrote for in college (or fifty-fifty high school if you need to) or any church or community newsletters that y'all help out with.

If you have a web log, provide a link to that site. If you've won whatever writing awards or contests, be certain to mention these also. Also, hint at any future plans for this novel or others, such every bit a series featuring your primary grapheme.

Ultimately, evidence them that you are qualified to write this book and that you have put a lot of idea and effort into your expectations for this volume and its time to come.

If you have admittedly no publication history, you lot might desire to call up about starting a web log, writing some guest posts, or posting your shorter works, such every bit poetry and short stories online, fifty-fifty if you receive no payment for these posts. Become a few publication credits under your belt earlier you lot showtime to submit.

If your book is autobiographical or is near your skillful noesis on a detail topic, include those credentials. Prove them that y'all know what you're talking about.

Don't be afraid to put your manuscript away for a few years in order to build upwardly this department of your query letter. Believe me, it won't spoil.

Query Letter Paragraph three Example

From 2011-2015, I wrote for Immature Readers Magazine, writing articles about children's literature. I've also had several other fairy tales appear on The Children's Volume Weblog between 2015-2016. I am now looking for a traditional publisher for this story and have several more story ideas planned for Scarlet.

Enclosed

The concluding paragraph should explain what materials, if any, you are enclosing, based on the guidelines they have provided (sample chapters, plot summary, etc.). Offer to provide the full manuscript upon request, since almost publishers will not inquire for the ull manuscript with the query letter. Thank them for their time, and sign the letter with your contact information beneath your proper noun (address, phone number, e-mail, social media accounts, blog, and website, if applicative).

You may need to change your query letter to include item information for a specific company. I typically need to alter the final sentence of my query alphabetic character, depending on whether or not I am submitting the full manuscript with my submission. On the rare occasion that I do, I have to remember to delete the line offering to submit the full manuscript at their request. I also take to alter the number of capacity or pages that I'm sending based on their guidelines.

Sometimes, they may ask a personal question that they desire you to reply in your query alphabetic character. When this happens, information technology sometimes causes some boosted edits in social club to proceed the length at i page and include all of the relevant information that they request.

Query Letter Paragraph 4 Example

Per your submission guidelines, attached delight find the first two chapters of my novel for your consideration. I will gladly provide the total manuscript upon request. Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you lot.

Sincerely,

(Your Name and contact information)

Sample Chapters

Adjacent, you want to set up some sample chapters of your book. Most publishers want to come across up to the first 3 chapters of your volume. Others will want to read a certain number of pages. I similar to prepare several versions of these sample chapter requirements, all double-spaced and in their ain separate documents ready to submit depending on the publisher's guidelines. These are common lengths of sample pages/chapters requested past volume publishers. They include:

The first v pages.

The first 10 pages.

The get-go iii chapters.

The first fifty pages.

If a publisher asks for the first five pages fastened to the email, you have it set to go. If they enquire for the commencement x pages pasted into the torso of the email, you can pull this upward and paste information technology very easily. If they ask for an unorthodox length, such as the kickoff 20 pages, you can pull these from the 50 folio document.

Regardless, the sample capacity are all formatted into the double-spaced document, and you don't accept to continue messing with your manuscript document in order to pull the pages they desire.

Besides, call up to use a normal-sized, readable font. Don't try to squeeze in a few extra words by shrinking the size of your text or widening the margins. Don't cut off the page in the middle of a sentence. Cutting a paragraph off if you lot take to. Apply the restriction to your advantage, and try to cut on a bewilderment. If you're pasting into an email, make sure the paragraphs and dialogue are nonetheless formatted professionally.

Also, do not transport three middle capacity of your book considering you call up they are the best, especially if a publisher specifically asked for the first three chapters. Even if they okay this, try to stick with the first three chapters. After all, y'all don't recommend a Telly evidence to a friend and tell them to start at season 3. Even if season iii is the best season, they accept to start from the beginning, and if they determine to watch more, they will. The same goes for reading.

Volume Summaries

Some publications may also want you to include one of the post-obit:

A ane-paragraph summary
A one-page summary
A affiliate-by-chapter summary

Create all three. This will exist practiced practice in describing your book to others, and it provides details that you don't accept in your sample pages or query alphabetic character. If all a publisher asks for is a one paragraph summary and no sample pages, just submit the query letter of the alphabet since it already includes a i paragraph summary of the book in your letter. Expand it if y'all want, simply don't go over the one page query letter of the alphabet dominion.

If a publisher or agent asks for a chapter-by-affiliate summary, don't plough information technology into a Cliff's Notes book. Go far no more than four pages with two to three sentences per chapter. Do not insert quotes or intricate details. Merely get to the signal of each chapter every bit if information technology is its own separate story. Also, feel free to spoil the ending in the ane page or chapter-by-chapter summaries. They patently desire to know the details if they are asking for this type of summary.

Research Places to Submit

Once you take all of your materials ready, it's fourth dimension to first submitting, simply where to? When I beginning started submitting my piece of work, I used a book chosen The Writer's Market, to detect calls for submissions for my piece of work, most of whom required difficult copy sample pages and query letters.

Now, the bulk of publishers take online submissions only, and it is ever gratis to submit to legitimate publications. Then, don't pay to submit your book for publication.

You as well don't need to have an agent to submit a book to many publishers, just some publishers will merely take submissions from agents. The majority, though, will accept them from the writer direct. Just brand certain that under the publisher'southward guidelines they say that they accept unsolicited submissions.

Google

A Google search, as usual, besides works. Try to exist specific equally to what you are looking for. Some publishers simply have certain genres or ages. So, include the blazon of book that you lot take written in your search. Make certain that the publishing company publishes in your genre and that they are currently accepting submissions.

Contests

Contests are some other method you tin can effort, but these unremarkably require a reading fee and are very competitive. Free ones practice exist, merely it takes a lot of enquiry, and many nonetheless crave snail post submissions which costs extra in stamp and the inconvenience of having to wait in line at the mail service office.

They may too desire y'all to purchase a subscription to a literary journal or magazine as part of the submission guidelines, which tin can exist nice, just these subscriptions add upwardly in terms of cost.

Guidelines

Once you lot find a publisher that y'all feel is a good fit, follow their submission guidelines, including:

Their submissions electronic mail or web address for their email submissions director.
The name of the person you are submitting to (if applicable).
Response time (if given). They may say whether or not they answer at all to rejected queries.
Documents required (query letter, sample chapters, summary, etc.)
Other specific instructions.

Literary Agents

If yous have run out of publishing companies to submit to, try to query literary agents. Their submission guidelines are nearly identical to publishers, and then you already accept your materials prepare to go. If you are accustomed for representation, you lot will qualify to submit to more publishing companies than you can query yourself, and your agent will do all the work of pitching your volume to them. However, it is said that it is harder to go a literary amanuensis than it is to get published, only you always desire to keep your options open up.

One very helpful source is Twitter. Using the hashtag #MSWL (Manuscript Wish List), y'all will find agents looking for submissions on specific topics and in specific genres. You can curlicue through the responses to see which submissions match up for you. Then, visit their company'southward website to get their email address and submission guidelines. See my commodity well-nigh Using the Manuscript Wish List to Detect a Literary Agent.

If you practise make up one's mind to pursue literary agencies, some companies desire you lot to query one agent in their company at a specific address.

Sometimes there is an amanuensis for each genre that they take.
Some may currently exist closed to submissions.
Some may accept specific guidelines to follow other than the generic ones posted on the company's website.
Some may allow you to submit to some other agent at the company if the commencement ane rejects your piece of work.
Some accept i email that goes to all agents to review and take or refuse the query.

Enquiry this thoroughly. If there is a specific person you are sending to, include their name in your query letter of the alphabet.

Gather as much information that you tin, and submit to them all at the same time. Well-nigh all companies let simultaneous submissions. Submitting is part lottery, and you want to take your name in the chapeau as many times and in as many ways possible.

Keep Track of Your Submissions

Subsequently you send out a submission, rails information technology on a spreadsheet, either difficult re-create or electronic. I do both. Keep runway of the following:

The name of the publication.
The name of the person you lot submitted to (if applicable).
The proper name of the volume.
The date submitted.
Response fourth dimension (if given).
The date a response was given and the effect (accepted or rejected).

I also like to proceed track of the publishing companies and agencies I take submitted to and their details. In a separate document, I write:

The proper name of the publication/agency.
The proper noun(southward) of the agent(due south) who read in my genre.
General submission guidelines/contact info.
Names of the book(due south) I have submitted to them previously.
Do they answer?

This style, when I want to starting time submitting a new book, I already have a list of places to submit. I but need to go to their website to see if any guidelines or contact data has changed and to confirm that they are still accepting submissions.

Don't expect an explanation equally to why they rejected your piece. If annihilation, they will just say it isn't for them which is vague just understandable.

If yous go any feedback or advice, take it. Most responses will exist cursory and will encourage you to submit elsewhere or even to submit another piece to them in the hereafter. They know how discouraging a rejection tin can be, and they try to remain positive, knowing that the mixture of effort, talent, and determination is the best recipe for success.

Rejection letters tin cascade in fast. Some come within a 24-hour interval. Some come within a month. Some never come at all.

The competition is vehement, no thing how dandy your work is or what genre you write. If you submit to 100 places, look 99 rejections, and hope for that last one to be an acceptance. It is every bit much about luck as it is virtually talent. Everything must line up perfectly with the right volume, the right company, and the right person reading your piece of work.

Stay organized to avoid doing the same work twice. — Stay organized to avert doing the aforementioned work twice.

Flickr

Proceed Trying

While you're waiting for your submission responses to come in, keep writing. Grow your skills and experience, and keep submitting.

Writing is a revolving door of drafting, editing, and submitting. If you keep at it, yous could one day have a volume sitting on bookstore and library shelves all over the world.

Take you lot ever submitted a book to a publisher or agent? What is your process? Leave your tips, questions, and comments below! Expert luck!

This commodity is accurate and truthful to the all-time of the writer'south knowledge. Content is for informational or entertainment purposes simply and does not substitute for personal counsel or professional advice in business, financial, legal, or technical matters.

Questions & Answers

Question: how practice I mail a book-length manuscript via USPS to a publisher?

Answer: I think that would depend on the number of pages. Don't effort to stuff information technology into a manila or cardboard envelope if information technology's too thick. Have it to the post office to take it weighed. The clerk will give you advice equally to the best and cheapest way to send the manuscript. Also, don't forget to add a self-address stamped envelope so that the publisher tin send dorsum a response.

Dora Weithers from The Caribbean on July 10, 2017:

Volition keep these helpful reminders for use when I demand the instructions. Thank you for a very relevant article.

leehingere.blogspot.com

Source: https://toughnickel.com/self-employment/How-To-Submit-Your-Book-to-Publishers