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Three Powerful Keys to Success
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Getting "a foot in the door" and your work onto the desk of the right agent or publisher's editor is the biggest challenge a new author faces. To increase your odds of approaching agents and publishers successfully, you must have a quality manuscript, professionalism, and a winning proposal. These are the keys that will open the doors to publication.
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Key #1: A Quality Manuscript
Perfect your craft: take a writing course, read books and magazines on writing, and write, write, write . . .
If you're blocked, bogged down, or can't get started, try following some of the tips in the section on Memoir Writing.
Make sure that the form and content of your manuscript meet today's publication standards: read current books in your genre and book reviews in such publications as the New York Times Book Review, Publishers Weekly, and Quill & Quire.
Don't be satisfied with your first draft: remember that writing for publication typically means rewriting.
Edit your final draft to polish its style, structure, and readability. For a few guidelines, see the  Special Close-Up "Good Manuscript Housekeeping."
Proofread your edited draft for "typos" and errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
If self-editing and proofreading are beyond you, hire a professional editor before you submit your manuscript to agents or publishers.
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Hint!
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6 steps to effective proofreading:
1. Run spell-check
2. Check spell-check:
scroll & proofread
on screen
3. Proofread the
printed version
4. Read with deliberate
slowness; don't skim
& skip
5. When in doubt, look
up spelling, grammar, and punctuation
6. Repeat steps 3 to 5
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Error-proof your MS. |
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Key #2: Professionalism
Initially contact agents and publishers by mail or email (if they indicate that email is acceptable)--not by telephone.
Send query letter or full proposal as required, including SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope) for reply.
Submit double-spaced standard typescript, unbound on sheets of 81/2 X 11" white paper.
Target appropriate publishers and/or agents. Use the information sources listed under Guides to Agents and Publishers.
Build up your publication credentials. Find out where to place your articles and short stories by consulting Writer's Market and other market directories listed under Guides to Agents and Publishers. Our Links page also includes links to markets and to market information for writers.
Key #3: A Winning Proposal
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Approaching Agents & Publishers
Helping You Get Published