Frequently Asked Questions From Writers
Q. I have this great idea for a romance novel and I've already written the first three
chapters. Should I start sending out query letters now?
A. No. Not yet. Finish that whole novel first, then finish any rewriting and polishing it needs. After it's the
very best you can make it--still don't send it out. Instead, do some good market research, making sure it's
the right length and style for which publisher you have in mind, and picking out a specific editor to address
it to. You might even decide to send out query letters to agents instead--don't forget that research first. You
can also enter a few writing contests, like the ones that many of the RWA chapters have.
Why wait? It's not a good idea to send out query letters on unfinished work because so many writers start
manuscripts that they never finish. Editors, nor agents, like to get burned by putting in the time and effort of
reading a query, or chapters, and sending a request only to have to learn the work isn't done. It's a good
way to burn a bridge that isn't even behind you yet. Don't count on the request being slow in coming either,
or just keeping the editor or agent waiting. Most requests take forever it seems, but just as sure as you
don't have that story ready to go, it'll come in record time, sometimes in less than two weeks. You don't
want to be caught in the spot of having to send a letter saying that the manuscript won't be ready for
months, or even weeks. And you don't want
to rush to turn it in, giving it less that your best effort in the hurry.
The truth is that many editors don't want to see anything from a manuscript that isn't finished unless you
have already had a book published by one of the bigger print houses. Many don't want to see unfinished
work until you have sold that second manuscript. And if the work you are trying to sell is a romance novel,
then that means the already published work should also be a romance novel.
Q. Can I send out query letters to lots of publishers at once?
A. Most publishers ask that you not submit work to them that other publishers are considering. That's why
it can be so important to get to work on that next manuscript as soon as you send a query off. If you are
going to offer the manuscript to more than one publisher, then you should say so in your query letter.
Q. I was wondering if I could send your a few pages or maybe even a couple of chapters of
my manuscript for you to critique or to just give me your thoughts on?
A. Sorry, but I no longer do critiques for others. I did for years, all for free, most for people I didn't even
know who just found my site and wrote me, but it began to take up too much time. Plus, some people don't
take critiques well, and there's always the legal tangles. The good news is that there are lots of great
critique groups out there for every genre of writing. All should be free. Some on line, some face to face.
Find one that will work for you, and jump in. If the first one, or even the first few, you try don't work out, try
some more. It can take a while to find the right fit. It's worth it though. Most new writers are amazed at
what they learn just from reading the critiques that others do in such groups. If you write romance, I do have
a large on line critique group anyone is welcome to join. You can find out about it here.
Q. I've seen a lot of books that are over 400 pages long, some double that. Is longer
better?
A. Not with what the cost of ink, paper, and postage is in today's world. Stick to whatever word count the
publisher listed in it's guidelines. It's better to come in under the count by a few words, than to go over.
(And make sure that manuscript if formatted in standard novel formatting, and that you are using the right
form of word counting. I have details on both on my Manuscript Preparation page.)
Q. I queried an agent and she rejected the MS, recommending an editing service that she
felt could really help me. She said she would look at the MS again afterwards, but I can't
really afford the editing service. What should I do?
A. Toss that letter in the trash where it belongs and mark that agent off of your list. Any agent that works
with an editing service, recommending work to them, isn't one you want to deal with. Check out some of
the articles and agent info here.
Q. What are the chances of my work be stolen?
A. Between my website and the critique group I run, I get this question all of the time from new writers.
Some fear entering any contest, joining any critique group, even doing one on one critiques...because
they just know someone is going to take their work. I've even gotten messages from some who are afraid
to send work out to an agent or publisher, because they fear that agent or editor will copy it too.
First, I've never heard of a story being bought that hasn't ever been seen by someone else. (Smile)
Second, plots and ideas aren't under a copyright, and I don't think there is one left out there that hasn't
been done a million times at least. We just all do them a little differently. And lastly, actually taking a novel
from someone and passing it off as your own, or passing it on to another writer to then pass off as her
own, is as one of my characters says...about as rare as hens teeth. (Smile) After all, nothing ventured,
nothing gained.
Q. I noticed when I look at sample query letters, that they all include stuff about the author's
writing training, writing contests' wins, are some other kinds of writing credits. What should I
add if I don't have anything like that to add?
A. Then just skip it. Don't lie for sure. There are important things you can add, like that your story is
complete, everyone needs to be able to add that. Maybe you've taken part in a critique group, or have a
skilled critique partner, maybe you've completed three other novels, yes, even if they aren't published.
Maybe the hero in your story is a policeman, and so is your husband, or maybe the heroine is a firefighter,
and so are you. Maybe your story is a paranormal, and you've taking some on line classes on the subject.
Add what you can that connects to your story and your skills, and then don't worry about the rest.
Q. I noticed that print publisher pay small royalty rates, like less than 10%, but I've found
listings that say e-pubs offer their authors 50% royalty. Why such a big difference?
A. Those small royalty percentages from a print pub usually adds up to thousands of dollars. On the other
side of the coin...the huge royalty percentages from e-pubs usually adds up to less than a hundred bucks.
Those larger percentages might look great on paper, but a little bit of thousands is better than a whole lot
of a couple of hundred. How much of a royalty percentage a publisher offers is only one of the things you
need to look out when picking a publisher you wish to send work to. Read some of the articles and go
through some of the info I have on my Publishers & Agents page to help you make up your mind which
kind of publisher is right for you. There is no one-size-fits-all answer.
Q. Can I send out query letters to a number of agents at once?
A. As long as it's only a query, yes. Once an agent request to see the manuscript, then you need to send it
to them alone, or let them know up front that other agents are also considering the work.
Q. Is it better to try and get an agent before I send out work to publishers?
A. That can be a catch twenty-two. Many of the better agents want you to have sold a manuscript first.
Maybe of the better publishers want you to have an agent first. I know lots of writers that tried both at the
same time. Note that once a manuscript has been around to the publishers though, many agents don't
want to see it. They say it's already been "shopped around". The correct answer to this depends on each
writer and where they are in their career, and where they want to go.
Q. I've heard a lot of bad stuff about e-publishing and how good authors stay away from it.
Is that true?
A. A number of years back e-pubs really had a bad name--that they created. An e-pub author was lucky to
earn fifty bucks for her novel, and wasn't warned of this, so was kind of blind sided when it was time for
their first checks to come in. E-pubs also put out a lot of books that were way below standard.
It has been a hard battle for the better e-pubs to slowly rise and start to turn things around. But some of
them are, they are publishing great authors, paying them better, and a couple have even sold enough to
earn RWA recognition.
Small press has often walked along some of the same troubled paths, many of them flirting a little too
much toward vanity though. You just have to find out who the good guys are and who the bad ones are.
There are even larger NY print pubs that have some skeletons in their closet. (Smile) Just like with
everything in this world if you look at any type of publishing you will find some of the good, the bad, and the
ugly, all mixed in. Nothing is ever all good or all bad.
The key to being happy with any publisher is really simply though. It does take a little effort from the author.
First, know what you want. What your goals are. What you expect, what your dreams are. These can be
tough questions, so make sure you are honest with yourself. It's not like you have to tell anyone else.
This is really important. There is no bad decision here as long as you, the author, are happy with the end
results. Maybe you have extra money and you just want to see your book published and you don't care
how. Then vanity press might be right for you. Maybe you don't have the money or just don't want to pay to
get your work published, but you really would like to see it published, but in print, and you'd like to have the
chance to earn a little something. So then maybe a really small press is just what you want. Maybe you
want others to be able to read your story and you want the chance to earn at least a little, and you don't
want to pay to see it happen, and don't really care if that story is in print or on CD, or just in the computer,
as long as others can read it. Then maybe e-pub is just right for you. Maybe you want to see your writing in
print, sitting on the bookshelf on a big book store and you want to earn enough to pay you for some of the
hours you've spent writing it, and you don't care if it takes you ten years to get to that point, then maybe the
big print pubs are for you. Maybe it's even a mixture of two or more of the above types, or something that
falls some where between some of them.
Once you know all of that about yourself, then you do lots of homework. You ask around, like you did here,
you go to a few big search sites and type in the publisher's name and the editors name. You look at the
publisher's website and see which authors write for them, then go to Amazon or some other big online
store and look up those authors. Find out if their books are offered at places like Amazon...what the price
is. Is it way more than most other romance novels? Is it offered other places too?
Don't stop digging. Check out the Show Me The Money report and see if there's some info there on what
the publisher pays. I have a link to that report and a couple of others like it on my Articles page and my
Publishers & Agents page. There are also some links there to other sites to check out publishers and to
some articles that tell you what to look out for and what to expect. See if you can contact at least a couple
of authors who have published with the house, and see what they feel about them. Some will tell you and
some won't. When you think you've checked all you can, check a few more things. This is your homework.
Your peace of mind and happiness depends on you getting all the facts and then mixing them together
with your wants, and coming up with a happy ending.
Only when all of your homework is done is it time to make up your mind for sure about where you would
like to submit to and where you wouldn't. (Oh, part of that homework is also finding out what kind of work
each publisher wants and if yours will even fit there.)
There is no right or wrong to any of this, no better or worse, no you against them. As long as you know
what you want and get what you want and walk away happy, then you made the right choice for you. In that
case, it doesn't really matter what anyone else thinks. This one is all up to.
Q: I actually have two questions. I’m getting ready to enter my first contest. The rules give
formatting details to follow, like font and size and even margin width. Does it really matter if
I don’t follow all of the formatting suggested? Also, the contest says I can enter the first
twenty-five pages, but my first chapter is only twenty-one pages long, and the twenty-fifth
page would end at kind of boring spot. Do I have to send in the whole twenty-five pages?
Or, along the line of my first question, can I use a smaller font and margin so I can get more
of my story on those twenty-five pages?
A: If a contest says to use standard MS formatting--that’s really the best formatting to use anyway--that’s
what you should use. It shows you know what standard formatting is. If you don’t know what standard is, I
have plenty of info on that on my Manuscript Preparation page.
If the contest’s rules give you a choice of a couple of different types of formatting, but list a font and size
they prefer or a margin width they expect, make sure you stick to what they ask for. By doing so it proves
you can follow rules. You would be surprised at how many people seem unable to.
As for using a smaller font or some other trick to try to get by the rules and get more writing into your
submission. Don’t. First, judges don't get paid for their time, so if they agreed to judge twenty-five pages,
they expect to judge twenty-five MS formatted pages or less...not more because someone used a smaller
font or more lines per page or a smaller margin. Judges are usually writers and readers as well. They
already have tired eyes. (Smile) Do you really want them to have to struggle to read your entry? Or do you
want them wishing it would end all ready because they know—and they will know—that you either didn’t
know what you were doing or you deliberately stuck them with crowded text just so you could get a few
more words in?
Lastly, where to end your entry is up to you—as long as you don’t go over the page limit. You don't have to
end your entry at exactly the last page allowed. In fact, it's better to end a few pages short and leave the
judge wanting more, than to push it. It doesn't take twenty-five pages to know good writing when you see
it. And yes, you should have a good story way before page twenty-five because few readers, much less
agents or editors, are going to read that far waiting to get to the good stuff. I've heard many say they give
a story three pages or less to decide if it's worth reading more. If a good agent or editor can make up her
mind about a manuscript in three pages or less, I think a judge can do the same about most of your writing
weaknesses and strengths in twenty or less. (Smile)
chapters. Should I start sending out query letters now?
A. No. Not yet. Finish that whole novel first, then finish any rewriting and polishing it needs. After it's the
very best you can make it--still don't send it out. Instead, do some good market research, making sure it's
the right length and style for which publisher you have in mind, and picking out a specific editor to address
it to. You might even decide to send out query letters to agents instead--don't forget that research first. You
can also enter a few writing contests, like the ones that many of the RWA chapters have.
Why wait? It's not a good idea to send out query letters on unfinished work because so many writers start
manuscripts that they never finish. Editors, nor agents, like to get burned by putting in the time and effort of
reading a query, or chapters, and sending a request only to have to learn the work isn't done. It's a good
way to burn a bridge that isn't even behind you yet. Don't count on the request being slow in coming either,
or just keeping the editor or agent waiting. Most requests take forever it seems, but just as sure as you
don't have that story ready to go, it'll come in record time, sometimes in less than two weeks. You don't
want to be caught in the spot of having to send a letter saying that the manuscript won't be ready for
months, or even weeks. And you don't want
to rush to turn it in, giving it less that your best effort in the hurry.
The truth is that many editors don't want to see anything from a manuscript that isn't finished unless you
have already had a book published by one of the bigger print houses. Many don't want to see unfinished
work until you have sold that second manuscript. And if the work you are trying to sell is a romance novel,
then that means the already published work should also be a romance novel.
Q. Can I send out query letters to lots of publishers at once?
A. Most publishers ask that you not submit work to them that other publishers are considering. That's why
it can be so important to get to work on that next manuscript as soon as you send a query off. If you are
going to offer the manuscript to more than one publisher, then you should say so in your query letter.
Q. I was wondering if I could send your a few pages or maybe even a couple of chapters of
my manuscript for you to critique or to just give me your thoughts on?
A. Sorry, but I no longer do critiques for others. I did for years, all for free, most for people I didn't even
know who just found my site and wrote me, but it began to take up too much time. Plus, some people don't
take critiques well, and there's always the legal tangles. The good news is that there are lots of great
critique groups out there for every genre of writing. All should be free. Some on line, some face to face.
Find one that will work for you, and jump in. If the first one, or even the first few, you try don't work out, try
some more. It can take a while to find the right fit. It's worth it though. Most new writers are amazed at
what they learn just from reading the critiques that others do in such groups. If you write romance, I do have
a large on line critique group anyone is welcome to join. You can find out about it here.
Q. I've seen a lot of books that are over 400 pages long, some double that. Is longer
better?
A. Not with what the cost of ink, paper, and postage is in today's world. Stick to whatever word count the
publisher listed in it's guidelines. It's better to come in under the count by a few words, than to go over.
(And make sure that manuscript if formatted in standard novel formatting, and that you are using the right
form of word counting. I have details on both on my Manuscript Preparation page.)
Q. I queried an agent and she rejected the MS, recommending an editing service that she
felt could really help me. She said she would look at the MS again afterwards, but I can't
really afford the editing service. What should I do?
A. Toss that letter in the trash where it belongs and mark that agent off of your list. Any agent that works
with an editing service, recommending work to them, isn't one you want to deal with. Check out some of
the articles and agent info here.
Q. What are the chances of my work be stolen?
A. Between my website and the critique group I run, I get this question all of the time from new writers.
Some fear entering any contest, joining any critique group, even doing one on one critiques...because
they just know someone is going to take their work. I've even gotten messages from some who are afraid
to send work out to an agent or publisher, because they fear that agent or editor will copy it too.
First, I've never heard of a story being bought that hasn't ever been seen by someone else. (Smile)
Second, plots and ideas aren't under a copyright, and I don't think there is one left out there that hasn't
been done a million times at least. We just all do them a little differently. And lastly, actually taking a novel
from someone and passing it off as your own, or passing it on to another writer to then pass off as her
own, is as one of my characters says...about as rare as hens teeth. (Smile) After all, nothing ventured,
nothing gained.
Q. I noticed when I look at sample query letters, that they all include stuff about the author's
writing training, writing contests' wins, are some other kinds of writing credits. What should I
add if I don't have anything like that to add?
A. Then just skip it. Don't lie for sure. There are important things you can add, like that your story is
complete, everyone needs to be able to add that. Maybe you've taken part in a critique group, or have a
skilled critique partner, maybe you've completed three other novels, yes, even if they aren't published.
Maybe the hero in your story is a policeman, and so is your husband, or maybe the heroine is a firefighter,
and so are you. Maybe your story is a paranormal, and you've taking some on line classes on the subject.
Add what you can that connects to your story and your skills, and then don't worry about the rest.
Q. I noticed that print publisher pay small royalty rates, like less than 10%, but I've found
listings that say e-pubs offer their authors 50% royalty. Why such a big difference?
A. Those small royalty percentages from a print pub usually adds up to thousands of dollars. On the other
side of the coin...the huge royalty percentages from e-pubs usually adds up to less than a hundred bucks.
Those larger percentages might look great on paper, but a little bit of thousands is better than a whole lot
of a couple of hundred. How much of a royalty percentage a publisher offers is only one of the things you
need to look out when picking a publisher you wish to send work to. Read some of the articles and go
through some of the info I have on my Publishers & Agents page to help you make up your mind which
kind of publisher is right for you. There is no one-size-fits-all answer.
Q. Can I send out query letters to a number of agents at once?
A. As long as it's only a query, yes. Once an agent request to see the manuscript, then you need to send it
to them alone, or let them know up front that other agents are also considering the work.
Q. Is it better to try and get an agent before I send out work to publishers?
A. That can be a catch twenty-two. Many of the better agents want you to have sold a manuscript first.
Maybe of the better publishers want you to have an agent first. I know lots of writers that tried both at the
same time. Note that once a manuscript has been around to the publishers though, many agents don't
want to see it. They say it's already been "shopped around". The correct answer to this depends on each
writer and where they are in their career, and where they want to go.
Q. I've heard a lot of bad stuff about e-publishing and how good authors stay away from it.
Is that true?
A. A number of years back e-pubs really had a bad name--that they created. An e-pub author was lucky to
earn fifty bucks for her novel, and wasn't warned of this, so was kind of blind sided when it was time for
their first checks to come in. E-pubs also put out a lot of books that were way below standard.
It has been a hard battle for the better e-pubs to slowly rise and start to turn things around. But some of
them are, they are publishing great authors, paying them better, and a couple have even sold enough to
earn RWA recognition.
Small press has often walked along some of the same troubled paths, many of them flirting a little too
much toward vanity though. You just have to find out who the good guys are and who the bad ones are.
There are even larger NY print pubs that have some skeletons in their closet. (Smile) Just like with
everything in this world if you look at any type of publishing you will find some of the good, the bad, and the
ugly, all mixed in. Nothing is ever all good or all bad.
The key to being happy with any publisher is really simply though. It does take a little effort from the author.
First, know what you want. What your goals are. What you expect, what your dreams are. These can be
tough questions, so make sure you are honest with yourself. It's not like you have to tell anyone else.
This is really important. There is no bad decision here as long as you, the author, are happy with the end
results. Maybe you have extra money and you just want to see your book published and you don't care
how. Then vanity press might be right for you. Maybe you don't have the money or just don't want to pay to
get your work published, but you really would like to see it published, but in print, and you'd like to have the
chance to earn a little something. So then maybe a really small press is just what you want. Maybe you
want others to be able to read your story and you want the chance to earn at least a little, and you don't
want to pay to see it happen, and don't really care if that story is in print or on CD, or just in the computer,
as long as others can read it. Then maybe e-pub is just right for you. Maybe you want to see your writing in
print, sitting on the bookshelf on a big book store and you want to earn enough to pay you for some of the
hours you've spent writing it, and you don't care if it takes you ten years to get to that point, then maybe the
big print pubs are for you. Maybe it's even a mixture of two or more of the above types, or something that
falls some where between some of them.
Once you know all of that about yourself, then you do lots of homework. You ask around, like you did here,
you go to a few big search sites and type in the publisher's name and the editors name. You look at the
publisher's website and see which authors write for them, then go to Amazon or some other big online
store and look up those authors. Find out if their books are offered at places like Amazon...what the price
is. Is it way more than most other romance novels? Is it offered other places too?
Don't stop digging. Check out the Show Me The Money report and see if there's some info there on what
the publisher pays. I have a link to that report and a couple of others like it on my Articles page and my
Publishers & Agents page. There are also some links there to other sites to check out publishers and to
some articles that tell you what to look out for and what to expect. See if you can contact at least a couple
of authors who have published with the house, and see what they feel about them. Some will tell you and
some won't. When you think you've checked all you can, check a few more things. This is your homework.
Your peace of mind and happiness depends on you getting all the facts and then mixing them together
with your wants, and coming up with a happy ending.
Only when all of your homework is done is it time to make up your mind for sure about where you would
like to submit to and where you wouldn't. (Oh, part of that homework is also finding out what kind of work
each publisher wants and if yours will even fit there.)
There is no right or wrong to any of this, no better or worse, no you against them. As long as you know
what you want and get what you want and walk away happy, then you made the right choice for you. In that
case, it doesn't really matter what anyone else thinks. This one is all up to.
Q: I actually have two questions. I’m getting ready to enter my first contest. The rules give
formatting details to follow, like font and size and even margin width. Does it really matter if
I don’t follow all of the formatting suggested? Also, the contest says I can enter the first
twenty-five pages, but my first chapter is only twenty-one pages long, and the twenty-fifth
page would end at kind of boring spot. Do I have to send in the whole twenty-five pages?
Or, along the line of my first question, can I use a smaller font and margin so I can get more
of my story on those twenty-five pages?
A: If a contest says to use standard MS formatting--that’s really the best formatting to use anyway--that’s
what you should use. It shows you know what standard formatting is. If you don’t know what standard is, I
have plenty of info on that on my Manuscript Preparation page.
If the contest’s rules give you a choice of a couple of different types of formatting, but list a font and size
they prefer or a margin width they expect, make sure you stick to what they ask for. By doing so it proves
you can follow rules. You would be surprised at how many people seem unable to.
As for using a smaller font or some other trick to try to get by the rules and get more writing into your
submission. Don’t. First, judges don't get paid for their time, so if they agreed to judge twenty-five pages,
they expect to judge twenty-five MS formatted pages or less...not more because someone used a smaller
font or more lines per page or a smaller margin. Judges are usually writers and readers as well. They
already have tired eyes. (Smile) Do you really want them to have to struggle to read your entry? Or do you
want them wishing it would end all ready because they know—and they will know—that you either didn’t
know what you were doing or you deliberately stuck them with crowded text just so you could get a few
more words in?
Lastly, where to end your entry is up to you—as long as you don’t go over the page limit. You don't have to
end your entry at exactly the last page allowed. In fact, it's better to end a few pages short and leave the
judge wanting more, than to push it. It doesn't take twenty-five pages to know good writing when you see
it. And yes, you should have a good story way before page twenty-five because few readers, much less
agents or editors, are going to read that far waiting to get to the good stuff. I've heard many say they give
a story three pages or less to decide if it's worth reading more. If a good agent or editor can make up her
mind about a manuscript in three pages or less, I think a judge can do the same about most of your writing
weaknesses and strengths in twenty or less. (Smile)
Copyright © by Charlotte Dillon.
All rights reserved.
All rights reserved.
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