# I'm a writer, not a Business Man



## Nicky (May 27, 2011)

Hi, I've noticed that there's a lot more to getting your novel published than just writing a story you enjoy and hoping that others will enjoy it too. It looks like there's this whole other business end where you have to hire an editor (Optionally, of course), and follow submission guidelines down to the utmost detail, and even submit a synopsis or an outline, or even a structured outline of the whole book in some cases. 

I know there are people called 'agents' who can shop your book around for you but it even seems like you have to write a query letter just to be considered by an agent.

My question is: 
Is there a service that covers all these business aspects and formalities for you so that all you have to do is produce a legible manuscript and nothing else? Because quite frankly, I'm not interested in all the industry workings and what not.

All I want to do is write my story and nothing else. I'm not a starving artist who needs to sell his work to feed his children and pay bills. I'm just a simple  guy in his early 30's with a passion for writing and would love nothing more than to see one of his children pick up a paperback copy of something he'd written at their local book store. 

Forgive me if I'm coming off as severely ignorant of how the process is really supposed to work. And if so,  please feel free to explain it to me if you're able to.  And thanks for your time.


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## Gumby (May 27, 2011)

Hi Nicky, I don't know if you've considered publishing your own work, but it's a fairly simple process these days. Smashwords and kindle are two options that I've checked into, which are very doable. Amazon has Createspace, which will print out your book when ordered. Just a thought. Hopefully someone will have more information for you than I do.


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## The Backward OX (May 27, 2011)

This is an excellent post. 

The problem as I see it is that a great many people have delusions of grandeur regarding their writing and that something is needed to stem the flood of garbage that would otherwise overrun the publishing companies.

Enter the agents.

But the agents in turn then have to bear the brunt of all the rubbish. So someone had the bright idea of the synopsis and the query letter. These concepts sift through the mountains of mud and shale and clay and rock, looking for the diamonds.

If there were such a service as the one about which you ask, that service would still have to do all that sifting. Put yourself in the shoes of the operator of that service. You’d last a week, before running screaming for the hills. 

If your standards as a writer are unexacting, you could of course always self-publish. That’s the way to go for all those who, present company excepted, know their work will never meet quality writing standards or who are so far up their own fundamental orifice that they think it does.


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## garza (May 27, 2011)

A good agent does more than shop your book around. A good agent, once you find one and get him or her on board with you, takes care of all the business end of the writing business, and writing is a business. No matter whether its blockbuster fiction or simple news reporting, writing is a business. If you are going to deal with traditional publishers you need an agent. The Catch-22 is, you'll have a hard time getting a good agent until you're published. 

One note of caution if you go hunting an agent. If someone claims to be an agent and wants you to pay any money up front for anything, do not deal with that person. Agents make money when you make money. They take a percentage, typically 15 percent, off the top. That's why a good agent works hard for you - your success is also your agent's success. 

You may as well face the fact that you will need to put effort into finding either a publisher or an agent, but once you've found one, it's easier to find the other.


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