# just finished my first book. what now?



## rookieauthor (Nov 12, 2016)

Just finished my first book and had some questions about what to do next.

 I did some online research a few years ago about publishing and learned the difference between I guess I would call "normal publishing" verses self publishing. I self published a short story several years ago as an experiment just to see what that was like and due to things I learned from that little experiment I want to go the normal route with this book of mine that I just finished writing.

From what I understand so far, the normal route is that you find a literary agent that likes your book, then that agent is the one who presents your book to various publishers until one of them likes it and offers you a deal, but they contact your agent and then your agent contacts you. But of course, I'm only regurgitating information that I've learned through forums and google searches several months ago. 

Queston#1: Is my thinking correct on what I said about agents and publishers?

Question#2: If yes, how do I search for agents?

Question#3: Should I get my book edited by an editor before presenting it to an agent?

Question#4: Should I be getting a copy write for my book before sharing it? I don't think my book is the best book out there but I hate for someone to rip off my idea. I don't think that would actually happen, lol but I think it is at least worth asking.



To help ya'all answer this inquiry of mine on "what to do next"after I finished my first book, here's some information about mybook:

*The story is 44,912 words.* -I've read somewhere that the average novel size is 80,000+ words. Should I then be calling this story a"Novelette" or another "Short Story" or should I be calling it a Novel?

*This story is a fiction novel.* Genre-wise, I'm not sure how to classify it. I basically took aspects of different Genres that I love and threw them all on a proverbial blender to write a kind of story that I would like. The simplest way so far I have come to describe my fiction novel is that it's a Christian-Goth-Horror-Thriller-Biblical Allegory(I think Biblical Allegory is the correct term. Basically the reader would learn Biblical principles as the main Character of the story learns them.)

*It's meant to be a prequel to a whole series of stories that I'm writing*.I'm already writing the sequel and having fun with it. I wanted, I could combine the first story and sequel and it would then be what I think as full size novel. I would just end up making it a split novel. But as a writer, I really want to publish the other stories that will be sequels to this one separately. 

*The target audience is Christians, and those interested in demonic type fiction such as that classic movie, the exorcist* because the story involves a lot of demonology, Witchcraft, spiritual warfare. It's kind of an oddball kind of Christian story because the main character is a type of Wiccan called a "Collective Witch."


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## Ptolemy (Nov 12, 2016)

Definitely get it edited no questions. Unless you are an extremely gifted or talent writer (which hell, you could be) most publishers will not even consider a novel that is unedited. The reason why is that their name is on the book with yours, if they push out an unedited, unfinished, uncut book and it flops (look at _Go set a Watchman_ by Harper Lee, I recently read it and it felt like an unedited piece of garbage, which technically it was.) then they are liable for printing such a bad book. 

The trouble with producing a prequel before you produce the main book is that its not a prequel. It would be considered the main start book with your "sequel" being a sequel to your prequel and it would just be a mess. I would consider finishing the "sequel" then releasing the prequel. 

Copyright claims can be expensive so it is up to you if you think your idea is good enough. The price is nothing to scoff at really, the U.S copyright has the price at $35 dollars. While that doesn't sound like much, it's just an application fee for approval and it can get messy. 

"Christian-Goth-Horror-Thriller-Biblical Allegory" Sweet Jesus.

I also wouldn't market/limit yourself just at plainly Christians and adventure seekers. Many people read out of their comfort zones for some action. Many people read thrillers or horrors for the story, not about what is being preached or action. 

I honestly don't know much about getting an agent or a publisher since my friend is my publisher so I didn't need to go out an contact anyone. Sorry about that. 

Also the typical triple A novel is around 100k words. A double A novel is around 80k. The thing is; the more words = higher cost to edit/publish. I would call it a novella since it is a short novel and a long story. A novelette is a short novel with sappy undertones btw.

Hope this helps.


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## TKent (Nov 12, 2016)

Hello rookie author, 

First, huge congratulations on finishing your book! The hard part is over (in my opinion). Here are some thoughts:

There are actually multiple avenues to approach finding a publisher. First would be by finding an agent first. And the second would be to target small to mid-sized publishers who accept queries from unagented authors. 

- Agents - here is a very good article by Victoria Strauss on finding an agent: http://www.victoriastrauss.com/advice/safest/  She also has very good pointers on finding a publisher and actually manages a predatory publisher/agent list (http://www.victoriastrauss.com/writer-beware/) So the bottom line is that first you create a list of agents who you think would be a good match for you and your book. Then prioritize the ones who would be the closest match at the top. Then go to each agents website and see if they are currently accepting queries and if so, follow their query procedures carefully to submit your manuscript. If you go the agent route, they are going to want to be your exclusive agent and will take some percentage of everything you make. 15% is what I've heard is typical but I'm sure it varies. In return a good agent will do a lot of things for you: Pitch your novel to publishers, negotiate your advance and contract and make sure that there are no clauses in the contract that will be extremely bad for you. By way of example, they will almost always insist that there is a clear path for an author's rights to revert to them based on quantifiable book sales. Such as, after X years, the author will have the right to require rights reversion if combined book sales from all editions fall below X per year. Further, they often will insist on you keeping things like movie rights as many small publishers aren't actively selling your subsidiary rights so there are missed opportunities that the agent will actually pursue. And you don't have to talk to the publisher at all during all of this. Also, a good agent will have many, many contacts. So if you do get a deal, they are going to be able to help you get reviews and endorsements sometimes because they represent other authors who they can ask and/or have contacts and places like Publishers Weekly, etc. They can also get your manuscript moved up in the queue if they have contacts. They will also give you advice on what kind of changes/editing needs to be done on the manuscript in order to put your best foot forward to a publisher.

- Without an agent - many very good small to mid-sized publishers accept unagented submissions. So here again, make a list of publishers that you would like to approach and prioritize. There are lists all over the place on the internet. Further, you can go to amazon and search for books that are similar to yours and find out who published them and put that publisher on your list. You will have to look carefully at the submission requirements. Some will take a book that is 40,000 words. Just read carefully and follow the instructions to the T. Often if you don't, a publisher isn't going to get back to you and tell you what you did wrong. They have hundreds of other manuscripts coming in, they don't have time. You should do your homework carefully. And actually, I personally suggest that if you aren't good at doing the research on the contract, pay the hourly fee for a literary lawyer to look at the contract before you sign. There are some funky terms out there and you don't realize it until after the fact. Do you homework on the publisher if you do get an offer as well. Try contacting authors who have books with them and find out what their experience has been.

Either way, I recommend you hire an editor to review your work before you submit it to give yourself the best chance of moving forward  There are some reasonably priced editors at $2.00 to $2.50 per page who can offer feedback that will really help. (And, I hate to cut corners but if you are really tight on cash, have the first 10,000 words edited and then go through and make those similar changes throughout since most authors make the same mistakes pretty consistently. Those first 10,000 pages are all that will be read by most publishers and agents in order to determine whether the book is worth giving a full read. 

Anyway, good luck! I'm really envious that you have finished your manuscript!!


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## TKent (Nov 12, 2016)

My only comment on editing is that I agree with Ptolemy to get it edited ahead of time so that you can catch the interest. But any decent publisher is going to have it go through at least 1 round of editing and a round of proofing before actually publishing. If they don't then you should think twice about using them. Just my opinion of course.


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## Olly Buckle (Nov 12, 2016)

I don't know about agents and publishers, sorry , no help there.

Editing I know more about, firstly I would say get someone to at least read through, there are enough minor errors in your post to suggest you may well have missed a few in your ms. Secondly I would say I have known several people who paid quite large sums for very bad editing services, beware. You could probably do a lot worse than joining the beta readers' group or putting a section in one of the protected forums.

Copyright (Your right to the copy, not to do with writing and copying), as far as I am aware, is established by first copy. In the old days people used to post themselves a copy of the ms so they had a dated copy, nowadays if you put it up  here there is a timed and dated copy, even if it is in a protected part of the forum, that is my understanding. Stopping people pinching your ideas might be harder, there is such a thing as 'intellectual property rights', it gets used for things like TV show concepts, protecting something like a fictional plot idea is probably pretty impossible. On the other hand if you come upwith something first class no publisher worth his salt would rip you for it and get a ghost writer to re-write it, he would ask you for the next book because you are the man that does that, and if it is not first class, why bother?

Best of luck, if you make your introductory first ten posts and put something up here send me a pm, I willl be glad to  give it a look over, though I amno Christian


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## Olly Buckle (Nov 12, 2016)

I don't know about agents and publishers, sorry , no help there.

Editing I know more about, firstly I would say get someone to at least read through, there are enough minor errors in your post to suggest you may well have missed a few in your ms. Secondly I would say I have known several people who paid quite large sums for very bad editing services, beware. You could probably do a lot worse than joining the beta readers' group or putting a section in one of the protected forums.

Copyright (Your right to the copy, not to do with writing and copying), as far as I am aware, is established by first copy. In the old days people used to post themselves a copy of the ms so they had a dated copy, nowadays if you put it up  here there is a timed and dated copy, even if it is in a protected part of the forum, that is my understanding. Stopping people pinching your ideas might be harder, there is such a thing as 'intellectual property rights', it gets used for things like TV show concepts, protecting something like a fictional plot idea is probably pretty impossible. On the other hand if you come upwith something first class no publisher worth his salt would rip you for it and get a ghost writer to re-write it, he would ask you for the next book because you are the man that does that, and if it is not first class, why bother?

Best of luck, if you make your introductory first ten posts and put something up here send me a pm, I willl be glad to  give it a look over, though I amno Christian 

The 'Published and publishers' section towards the bottom of the forum page may well have some useful hints.


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## Tulip (Nov 12, 2016)

TKent said:


> Anyway, good luck! I'm really envious that you have finished your manuscript!!



Me too


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## aj47 (Nov 12, 2016)

rookieauthor said:


> Question#4: Should I be getting a copy write for my book before sharing it? I don't think my book is the best book out there but I hate for someone to rip off my idea. I don't think that would actually happen, lol but I think it is at least worth asking.



The word is "copyright" and it's actually a bundle of rights: the right to control the reproduction of your work (i.e. publication), the right to control preparation of derivative works (such as sequels), the right to distribute copies of the work to the public by sale, rental, or lease, the right to perform the works publicly, and the right to display the works publicly (this applies more to visual media).[SUP]1[/SUP] You get them automatically by creating your book, although you can choose to register your copyright (in the US, you can do this online at www.copyright.gov) for a fee.  

Ideas can't be copyrighted--books can. See this post about copyrighting ideas.  Unless they plagiarize you, you're not being ripped off if they use the same idea. 

 We actually have a challenge here called Colors of Fiction where the challenge is to riff off someone's story (not *rip*, *riff*).  We're currently voting on the November prompt.
[SUP]1[/SUP]Litwak, Mark. _Dealmaking in the Film & Television Industry: From Negotiations to Final Contracts_. Los Angeles: Silman-James, 2009. Print. p. 310


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## Jay Greenstein (Nov 13, 2016)

Okay, a small dose of reality:

• The average author, before selling a word, writes, edits, and polishes, then puts aside, between a half million to a million words.

• At 45k words, you've written a novella, and there's little market for them, other than as part of an anthology. Agents would have to work just as hard selling a novella as a novel, and make less money. A novel begins at about 65k words.

• You don't copyright the book, the publisher does, since they're the ones who would lose the most money were it stolen (which seldom happens)

• All novels are fiction. Your calling it a fiction novel tells me, along with the kind of questions being asked, that you've not done your homework, so far as learning how to write for publication. That's true of most hopeful writers, though, because no one ever tells us we need to. This matters a great deal, though, because the style of writing we all learn in school is unrelated to fiction. Its purpose is to inform, while fiction's goal is to entertain. This matters a great deal, because while having a book edited before submission is a good idea, an editor does _not_ turn sows ears into silk purses. Were an editor able to take unprofessional prose and fix it to sell, they would be making a_ lot_ more money writing and selling their own. An editor is an educated pair of eyes, who will catch what you're too close to see. While they correct grammar, and point out problems, in general, it's your job to fix them. But if you were told a given section was too passive, the POV isn't strong enough, that it needs tightening, or that you're head hopping, would you know how to fix the problem? 

Here's the deal: If your submission was  mixed with that of ten authors who currently have books in the local bookstore, the editor who reads must not be able to tell the submission of the unpublished writer from that of the pros, because to compete with the pros you must write like one. In general, of 100 submissions, 75% are rejected before the end of page one. Of the rest, all but three of the rest will be rejected as unprofessional. Are you ready to compete in that market?  Making it worse, since you have no fan base you have to better then the others to garner good reviews. Remember, you're asking a publisher to invest a lot of money to edit, polish, and produce your book. They must convince the bookstores to carry it, too, so they're picky.

If that sounds tough, it is. Writing fiction is a difficult to master profession. That's not to say you can't do it, of course. In fact, in nearly every case of rejection, it's not a matter of talent, it's that the one submitting has not taken the time to prepare for the task—usually because they're unaware that we don't learn to write, as publishers view that act, in our schooldays. So by chewing through the fiction writing section in the local library you place yourself ahead of the 75%. Getting to the head of the line is harder. But success in any field takes work, study, mentoring, and of course training what talent you may have.

Not good news, I know. And I wish there was a more gentle way of putting it. But it is the world we live and work in. So put a bit of time aside to acquire the tricks of the trade. You can always put aside the tool you don't need. But you cannot use the tool, you don't know exists.

Hang in there, and keep on writing.


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## aj47 (Nov 13, 2016)

Rookie, Jay hit on something when he mentioned your use of *fiction novel* and it got me thinking.  Pardon me if I'm making a misstep, but you have a major homophone issue.  Are you, perhaps, a non-native English speaker?


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## Sam (Nov 14, 2016)

Jay's given you some really good advice here, rookie, to which I'll add: 

You've just finished? Okay, print the novel, get it bound in some way for easy reading (if you wish), and then put it in a drawer for a couple of months. Get started on something new while you're waiting. 

After a few months, go back and edit your first novel. You'll have left it alone long enough for it to be somewhat unfamiliar, which will allow you to edit it with a more unbiased eye. Editing it will teach you how to pick up on errors, things you missed while writing, etcetera. 

Finished editing? Great, put the novel back in the same drawer and go back to work on the next one. Why? Because as brutal as this may seem, that novel is not good enough (yet) to approach a publisher with. That isn't because you're a bad writer, or because you can't hack it in this profession, but it is reality for 99% of writers. First attempts at anything are rarely good enough to make it. It takes hours and hours of practise. 

But if you're willing to accept that, and you stick around to get advice off people who've been where you are now, you'll be a much better writer when it counts.


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## kpierce (Nov 28, 2016)

Well, of course, you need to have it edited. It is better to have an editor to have better and good results. Then you need to find a publisher to have it published. Good luck! :salut:


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