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It would seem that producing a novel, a collection of short stories,
or even one good short story is work enough. A writer should be
able to move on to the next project rather than spend time looking
for an outlet for his or her work. Unfortunately, there’s no
way around it. If you have a novel or a short story collection,
you need to go through the process of finding an agent to represent
it. If you have a short story, it's your job to not only write it,
but circulate it. For that matter, you can send your novel to publishing
houses yourself, as well, but it's an agent's job to keep up with
constantly changing editors and the type of fiction they're looking
for. Without agent representation for your novel, your work is apt
to receive an indifferent reception or end up in the wrong hands.
Having had experience on both sides of the desk, we offer some information
that may make the process of Submitting your work a little less
difficult.
SUBMITTING
If it’s a Short Story you’re trying to place, start here.
We'll give you some guidelines and some guidance.
MARKETS
Our list of Markets tends toward the major markets only, but it’s
a good, helpful place to start. For a complete listing of all markets
go to Writer’s Market.
AGENTS
If you have a Collection of Short Stories or a Novel and you feel
it’s time to sink or swim with it, then you’re probably
looking for an Agent. Again, Writer’s
Market or Guide to Literary Agents
is the reference book you’ll need, plus you'll find some useful
tips on our Agents page.
Agent
Questionnaire
Unfortunately, unless an agent comes with a recommendation from
someone you know and trust, choosing one can only be compared to
tossing dice. If you’re lucky, you’ll get what you need.
If you’re not, you’ll have wasted a lot of time and, perhaps,
a lot of money. We think we’ve come up with a way to offer
writers some real help playing the agent game: create a data base
of information based on actual experience with agents. To do this,
we need lots of input from writers with agent experience, both good
and bad. So even if you don’t use The Writing
Site for any other purpose, go to our Agent
Questionnaire and take a few minutes to fill out the
form. And tell your writer friends to do the same!
CONTESTS
This is a good way to start thinking of yourself as a writer. Most
charge a small reading fee, but the deadline they provide and the
exhilaration of 'putting yourself out there' are invaluable.
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