Sunday 8 February 2009

All tips welcome

I was just sitting at my kitchen table (it doubles as an office on Sunday mornings) editing another chapter of BTL and I started to think about how, hopefully this time next year it will be out there trying to find a home. So I then started thinking(okay there may not have been a lot of editing going on at this time) that want to do it properly. I don't want to waste my time by sending it out to the wrong people in the wrong way. So what I would like from you learned folk is any tips that you may be willing to share on the art of preparing a manuscript and choosing the right agent to send it to.
I am currently about 60% of the way through my first re-write so I have way to go yet but one of my writing aims for 2009 is to have it ready for submission by the end of the year.

4 comments:

Karen said...

If you have a look in the acknowledgements of published novels that are similar in style and content to yours, there's usually an agent's name in there :o)

Colette McCormick said...

Good tip Karen. I rarely read the acknowledgements so I didn't realise that. Cheers

Anonymous said...

I'm in the same boat as you. This is the year I think I'll be sending out manuscripts.

I don't have any expert advice, though I gather that getting an agent is the best way forward. The Writers and Artists Yearbook lists agents and has a few paragraphs on each one. An obvious trick would be to weed out the ones that don't handle the categories you're writing in. For example, some agents don't do children's fiction. Other than that, I'm about as much in the dark as you are.

As to formatting; wide margins, large fonts and double line-spacing seems to be the standard. Good quality (white) paper and black ink are also standard.

Hope this helps.

Colette McCormick said...

Everything helps captain. Good luck with your submissions.