Expert: Susan Rand - 2/19/2007

Question
I have a novel ready, it is a satire on many things in the form of a science fiction adventure. Many of my friends and complete strangers whom I've showed the manuscript say it's really good. The problem is I have no way of getting published. How do I contact agents and publishers and get them to take me seriously?

Answer
Hello Joseph:

Agents and publishers will take you as seriously as you take yourself, as reflected in your writing. Friends and even complete strangers may tell you what you want to hear; publishers and agents will not. They will judge your work on the basis of its potential commercial value.

Now for the good news. Agents are amenable to unsolicited material. I know of no better way to approach them than to just ship a few chapters to one, and then another, until someone takes them. This can be a long process, but if you persevere, the odds are in your favor.

You might consider self-publishing - having it printed and bound at your own expense. Or put up a website and sell it from there, perhaps on a "print on demand" basis.

For some free, honest advice on whether your work has appeal, go to worddistillery.com (You will have to cut and paste as this site does not support hyperlinks). You'll get honest advice from the accomplished folks there.

I hope this helps. If it does, a nice rating would be greatly appreciated. I am proud of my high score over 900 questions.

And good luck with your writing!