Finding An Agent/Publisher.

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Finding An Agent/Publisher.

What are the do's and dont's in contacting an agent? Does one say that you've been published on this site or is that a no no? Do I write on any work that this is copywrite or will this put agents or publishers off?

Be open and honest about wherever your work has appeared.  As for copyright, if you submit something to an agent or publisher that has appeared on-line (here on ABCtales for example) then your intellectual rights are already safeguarded so there is no need to write 'copyright' on what you send in.  

I hope that helps and good luck!

 

Thanks scratch that does help.

 

First time in a while I've been on here as I've been finishing my own novel. Today I'm sending to an agent so I'm taking this forum post as a good sign. I just went through the artist and writers yearbook then picked an agent that deals with my genre. They tell you what to send. 

I followed their guidelines and wrote a brief cover letter. I've only had one short story published so I just mentioned that and how this is my first completed novel. I wouldn't bother mentioning non paid published stuff on here as anyone can post freely. Agree with scratch about being honest. Who doesn't want to discover a brand new potential best selling author?

What genre is your novel? 

 

Thanks for the comment, but there's no genre or novel. I write comedy mainly but the one that's liked the most on this site is My Life Oy Vey (Diary Of A Mad Drunk Bastard) the bracketed title says it all. It's a spoof blog and partly autobiographical, I see this charactor as a 21st century Alfie. If it has a pulse he'll fuck it; and if it doesn't - even better! I have written drama but these are mainly short stories. Now I've been told many times that publishers aren't interested in short stories, but I constantly see on TV at the end of a film 'from a short story by'.......... I think script writing might be my forte' so in a sense I'm trying to find my feet here. Again, thank you for your comments.

 

How does it work? Do you just submit to one agent at a time?

I'm only halfway through my novel so haven't really looked into this yet. I used to think that getting an agent was really good, but I suppose that doesn't guarantee that you'll get published. It seems to be getting harder and harder.

Do any of you have a blog? I'm on twitter/facebook etc but am thinking of starting one if anyone has any advice. I know there are so many out there already but it seems to be part of getting published these days, especially as marketing budgets etc are getting smaller.

I'm trying to decide between going with wordpress, blogger and this kind of thing http://website.1and1.com/make-your-own-website if anyone can point me in the right direction.

I could also do with pointers about how often to post etc.

Right, that's enough procrastination for one day, back to it :) Thank you.

Why not start by giving a couple of short excerpts of your writing some exposure on here Hummingbird85?

 

Ok, I'll have a htink about what to post. Like i said, I'm halfway through my first novel so could post somethign from there, or I used to write short stories and flash fiction so maybe one of those would be more suitable.

The novel writing after flash fiction is a Huge learning curve but I'm more comfortable with people seeing that than I am with the novel, it's still very new to me :)

Lots of writers feel anxious about posting for the first time.  I really implore you to take the plunge.  Just go for it.