tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post6509483979700782080..comments2024-03-28T06:16:39.508+00:00Comments on Help! I Need a Publisher!: HOW TO MAKE A PUBLISHER SAY YESNicola Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189894289540344094noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-7147618791762140322009-08-25T12:57:21.845+01:002009-08-25T12:57:21.845+01:00SamB - you'll seee I've now done a post ...SamB - you'll seee I've now done a post on conflicting advice. Hope it helps.<br><br>Chrystal, Debs and Storyqueen - hello and thank you!<br><br>Juliet - not a stupid question at all. The 3 chapters thing is a guideline. If you think your chapters are unusually short or unusually long, then another guidles is roughly 10,000 words. But if it's a kids' picture book you send Nicola Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189894289540344094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-14504771195571078672009-08-21T20:13:20.887+01:002009-08-21T20:13:20.887+01:00Douglas - I am coming to Hawaii right away. You ...Douglas - I am coming to Hawaii right away. You must have the best flip-flops. Good to see you!<br><br>Rocco - thank you!<br><br>And now I have to go and check out this bubblecow person who keeps recommending me.<br><br>But first I need sparkly wine, as it's been a long week, and tomorrow I really will answer the other comments above.Nicola Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189894289540344094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-56730651116744336122009-08-21T13:49:29.706+01:002009-08-21T13:49:29.706+01:00Thanks for this post. After nearly 20 years of tea...Thanks for this post. After nearly 20 years of teaching writing I've finally decided to write a novel. I can't believe the accessibility of great advice in cyberspace such as yours; thanks again.<br>- roccoRocco Maiolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213652580118108230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-33853777451864914772009-08-21T10:17:27.604+01:002009-08-21T10:17:27.604+01:00Dear Ms. Bat.Found your blog via BubbleCow and spe...Dear Ms. Bat.<br><br>Found your blog via BubbleCow and spent the last hour reading. I thoroughly enjoyed your writing and will return often.<br><br>If you ever find yourself in Hawaii I will buy you a beautiful pair of flip flops for you to look marvelous in.<br><br>Thank you very much for taking the time to distill and disseminate your hard won knowledge. I count myself fortunate to have been Douglas MacIlroyhttp://ironwoodwind.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-72137441150726832122009-08-20T23:40:54.799+01:002009-08-20T23:40:54.799+01:00Yes of course different readers have different tas...Yes of course different readers have different tastes - just as well too. I just wonder sometimes about the 'best-selling' tag. Hawking's first book "A short history of the universe" was apparently a 'best-seller'. Now that has to be marketing. As a physicist said to me, it has to be 'one of the most bought and least read' books. Blog post for the day I catdownunderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06959328192182156574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-59601298525179426562009-08-20T23:25:37.459+01:002009-08-20T23:25:37.459+01:00Will answer recent comments tomorrow - knackered n...Will answer recent comments tomorrow - knackered now!Nicola Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189894289540344094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-91052246926212091502009-08-20T18:19:23.982+01:002009-08-20T18:19:23.982+01:00R.A. - I don't presume to answer for Nicola, b...R.A. - I don't presume to answer for Nicola, but in my experience it can mean all of those things and more. Stories which take too long to tell you something (anything!), which actually start after 9 pages of character description, which tell you the same thing twice... One thing a lot of my students do is to show something through dialogue then tell it again, unnecessarily, afterwards, e.g.:DanielBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07487799866651688342noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-39244755353283245232009-08-20T18:03:26.717+01:002009-08-20T18:03:26.717+01:00I really do wish I could have been there!Of all th...I really do wish I could have been there!<br><br>Of all the points you've made, I identify most with the one about getting on and writing another novel. I've done that - twice - and, although letting go of the second novel (after around thirty submissions) was hard, I don't feel I have wasted time on it or the one preceding it. It's all learning... <br><br>Maybe the one I am Catherine Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17540552933192453722noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-9642483699774650242009-08-20T17:58:52.072+01:002009-08-20T17:58:52.072+01:00Thank you for such an amazing blog and sharing you...Thank you for such an amazing blog and sharing your wisdom! In this post you mention "over-writing" as one of the central problems with books that don't get published. Can you elaborate on what "over-writing" means. Do you mean sentences that are too wordy? Back story that is too distracting? Sub-plots that are too involved? Thanks for any clarification you can offer!R.A.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-90170715796121523282009-08-20T17:10:51.028+01:002009-08-20T17:10:51.028+01:00Hi Nicola,I'm so happy to have found your blog...Hi Nicola,<br><br>I'm so happy to have found your blog, and I wish I could have heard you speak.<br><br>Very enlightening post, and humorous, too. You are the coolest Crabbit Old Bat ever!<br><br><br>Shelleystoryqueenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07039684494823420722noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-57048502205898015042009-08-20T15:45:38.850+01:002009-08-20T15:45:38.850+01:00OK, I'm going to ask a really stupid question ...OK, I'm going to ask a really stupid question here - not that I'm anywhere near to submitting anything to anybody - but it's been bugging me.<br><br>We all know that the length of chapters in books is somewhat variable. So, what would you say is the maximum number of pages/words that should be sent with a submission? And if your chapters are very short, would it be wrong to send more Juliet Boydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04388850310197925066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-42859825261898025962009-08-20T15:14:15.580+01:002009-08-20T15:14:15.580+01:00Sorry I couldn't make it in the end. I wouldn&...Sorry I couldn't make it in the end. I wouldn't have dared heckle - well, not unless that Smith started it. A few disconnected points follow...<br><br>I was oblivious to all of this during the first five years or so of being published. Lots of people start with bad luck and get luckier - I started being very lucky and had all the bad stuff a few years later, which was why it all seemed DanielBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07487799866651688342noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-79240292719827834572009-08-20T14:30:59.871+01:002009-08-20T14:30:59.871+01:00A Twit by BubbleCow brought me to your post, readi...A Twit by BubbleCow brought me to your post, reading your post made me add your blog to those I'm following, and I even gave your post a Stumble Upon Thumbs up.<br><br>Thanks for the post.<br>Wonderfully,<br>ChrystalChrystal's Cornerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06348268370669592562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-74197436937370002402009-08-20T11:51:45.026+01:002009-08-20T11:51:45.026+01:00Conflicting advice is one of the big problems I’ve...Conflicting advice is one of the big problems I’ve found during this process. <br><br>I’ve read some submission guidelines that want the first and last chapters of a book, and regarding the marketing thing – again, there’s plenty of advice out there which says you should include anything about how the author might help promote the book in the proposal. (BTW: I’m talking about non-fiction here).<Sam Bhttp://www.snowsphere.com/pfnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-5991859272180932992009-08-20T09:42:44.440+01:002009-08-20T09:42:44.440+01:00Just to pick up a small point that's been made...Just to pick up a small point that's been made: while around 70% of books fail to earn out for their authors (that is, they fail to earn further royalties in addition to the advance already paid), they don't necessarily lose money for the publishers, who will have made their money back quite a while before. <br><br>That doesn't necessarily mean that the publishers aren't taking aJane Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03411253302725735470noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-4815992179603244592009-08-20T09:33:54.807+01:002009-08-20T09:33:54.807+01:00Nicola, I was at your talk - I had to come to se...Nicola, I was at your talk - I had to come to see the crabbit old bat in action! You were amazing. (And so were your shoes, but I think you knew that!) I was gripped and I heard so many people raving about it afterwards. Thank you so much. I don't know how you managed to speak so long and so clearly and hardly seemed to use your notes. I am now going to look at my book in a new light.Debsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-54331205659434046212009-08-20T09:29:08.815+01:002009-08-20T09:29:08.815+01:00Suzanne - see you on Saturday!Teresa - it must...Suzanne - see you on Saturday!<br><br>Teresa - it must absolutely have been a sign and it's very important to follow signs.<br><br>SamB - I don't think your research can have been very extensive if you hadn't discovered something as basic as sending the first chapters! Aghh, the guy with the "question" that was actually his life story! It was the first time in my life Nicola Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189894289540344094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-76715472963760188062009-08-20T07:11:37.438+01:002009-08-20T07:11:37.438+01:00Thanks Nicola - I found your talk clear and helpfu...Thanks Nicola - I found your talk clear and helpful, just as your blog always is. Great to see you're a real person!<br>Just as well you've written all this down as my notes will no doubt look as if they've been written by a dyslexic slug.Sheilanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-51840372865329888512009-08-20T06:24:19.131+01:002009-08-20T06:24:19.131+01:00Perfect post Nicola, I have been looking for guide...Perfect post Nicola, I have been looking for guidelines on submitting to Scottish Publishers for a Personal Development book and came across your blog. Just what I needed for guidance on proposals and submitting. Wished I'd been at your event.Steven Aitchisonhttp://www.stevenaitchison.co.uk/blognoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-35285143409012267792009-08-20T02:47:11.793+01:002009-08-20T02:47:11.793+01:00I'm so glad to find you have posted this!I had...I'm so glad to find you have posted this!<br><br>I had a ticket to tonight's show but I had to work at late notice. (I'm consoling myself with the sound of a distant ker-ching going into my bank account).<br><br>Damn, I missed the crabbit, boot wearing bat.Barbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11972925629235261913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-58774254106691742392009-08-20T00:27:15.137+01:002009-08-20T00:27:15.137+01:00I was the person who came up to you in the signing...I was the person who came up to you in the signing queue and said what a briliant speaker you are. I felt I should say it here too. Incredibly impressed. <br>Mark P.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-1062147155478434252009-08-20T00:24:49.149+01:002009-08-20T00:24:49.149+01:00That was a fabulous talk - so clear, so articulate...That was a fabulous talk - so clear, so articulate! And you handled the questions brilliantly! Best talk on the subject I've ever been to.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-3060233786058022702009-08-20T00:03:22.164+01:002009-08-20T00:03:22.164+01:00Thank you Nicola.Recently I've had two friends...Thank you Nicola.<br>Recently I've had two friends tell me they are writing a book and 'do I have any tips or general advice'.<br>I'm sending them your way :-)Ebony McKenna.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02724727996270658767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-3714461431101371292009-08-19T23:28:22.893+01:002009-08-19T23:28:22.893+01:00I know you love shoes. Which ones did you end up w...I know you love shoes. Which ones did you end up wearing? =)Solvang Sherriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11670339498152684137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-3706709638546115432009-08-19T23:13:15.462+01:002009-08-19T23:13:15.462+01:00I get to read this first in the morning and not la...I get to read this first in the morning and not late at night. It is probably just as well. I would stay awake wondering why the bad stuff sells. I am not tempted to try and write romantic slush or bodice rippers or violent crime. I know I could not. Why? It bores me to read it. I do not understand why people want to read it...or do they just pretend to read it because of the marketing hype?catdownunderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06959328192182156574noreply@blogger.com