Paranormal Publishers (asking for publishing help)

[PhoenixAngel]

Hello to all. I am interested in becoming published. Most of the things I write have a paranormal tone to them and I was wondering if anyone had any advice for me. I know there are published authors here, I have been researching this on my own. It's just so confusing not knowing which sites can actually help me and which ones can't. Anything anyone can tell me would be great. Thanks.

[paulgoatallen]

Phoenix:
Well, I've talked to hundreds of authors and, contary to popular belief, there doesn't seem to be one simple way to get published. All writers travel different paths when it comes to getting published – some get published right off the bat while others send out hundreds of queries and endless sample chapters and get rejected over and over again. Here's my opinion: it's all a frigging crap-shoot – and you can quote me on that. I've seen really mediocre writers get published quickly – and often! – and fantastic writers suffer through rejection after rejection. I edited a mainstream fiction novel years ago for an unpublished writer in Wisconsin – an elderly man who wrote the entire manuscript on a typewriter and didn't own a computer – and this story just kicked ass! It was like the next coming of Steinbeck and was like no other story I've ever read (it dealt with two wild pro football players in the '50s and eventual wreckage of their lives) and after I had finished editing it, I had no doubts that it would be published to national critical acclaim. Almost a decade has passed and whenever I try to google him and/or the title – nothing. It's very sad, especially considering some of the stuff that's getting published nowadays...

There's so many variables – I'm really curious to see what some of the paranormal authors say to your question...
Paul

[Jeaniene_Frost]

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PhoenixAngel wrote:
Hello to all. I am interested in becoming published. Most of the things I write have a paranormal tone to them and I was wondering if anyone had any advice for me. I know there are published authors here, I have been researching this on my own. It's just so confusing not knowing which sites can actually help me and which ones can't. Anything anyone can tell me would be great. Thanks.

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Hi PhoenixAngel,

This is just my two cents, and I will also ditto Paul with saying it really IS a crapshoot. If there was an easy formula to follow, we'd all be JK Rowling, and the movie industry would be broke.

I'm first going to assume that you've finished and repeatedly polished a novel, plus already gotten feedback on it from a trusted friend or two. Because if not, you shouldn't worry about where to shop it yet. Finish, polish, revise, repeat. The battle is won or lost there most of the time. But if you have...I recommend getting a Writer's Market book (found at your local B&N, among other stores) and highlighting all the agents that rep your genre, which, from your description, sounds like it could be urban fantasy or possibly paranormal romance, if you have romance in your novel. Then cross-check that list against Predators and Editors (http://anotherealm.com/prededitors/pubagent.htm) You'll have to highlight and paste this link into your browser, since it doesn't automatically form a link here. P&E is a great site that shows which agents are fee-scammers and which ones are legit. Then, once you've gotten your narrowed list, check out the agency submission guidelines online to see if anything's changed. Things can between the time Writer's Market compiles their information and you get it in your hands. Agents come and go, agencies open or close submissions, email addresses change, etc. A little research in advance goes a long way. Then, as Miss Snark (I miss her!) used to say, query widely. This business is SO subjective. Expect rejections, absolutely everyone gets them. Just keep your head down and keep chugging forward, but be open to any revision suggestions you might get along the way. And of course, good luck! That plays a role too, in my opinion.

If you're interested, I've gone into a little more detail about my take on submissions/queries/etc on my website, but I don't want to post it all here in the interest of space. So here is the link: http://www.jeanienefrost.com/q&a.html
and here's a link about how I snagged my particular agent and editor:
http://frost-light.livejournal.com/16905.html

Hope you find something useful in all of this ramble! Again, best of luck to you.

-Jeaniene

[Jeaniene_Frost]

Duh, guess it did form links in my previous post. Oh well. Spoke too soon!

[PhoenixAngel]

Thanks, I'm glad that you put the links. Thanks for the advice also.

[Paccio6]

Thank you for sharing your input, Jeaniene. I found your response helpful. I'm going to check out your site

Vince