15 Harsh Realities You Must Overcome When Writing Your First Novel

9. Ideas Can Change Over Time €“ Things Go In And Out Of Fashion

Twilight Kristen Stewart Gif If, for example, your novel is about young teenage vampires in the northwestern United States, your idea probably does not have its own leg to stand on in a saturated market of similar novels. It is a game of chance in many ways that people don€™t steal your ideas just because they are fairly large and generic. Make your text different in ways that others cannot mimic. Your writing can be like your signature with regards to the style as well as the content. This means that your writing can never go out of fashion. That being said you have to know your market and know what kinds of areas are going in and out of style.

8. Timing

tumblrtumblrThis is similar to the previous post on the list. Most independent publishers will have a quota of books that they publish every year. When their calendar for titles starts and finishes is usually on their website. Don€™t submit work towards the end of this cycle otherwise you will be among thousands of potential submissions that are all fighting for the last space. If you can scope out the publisher before you submit, you can give yourself an edge over the competition.

7. You Probably Need A Literary Agent

literaryrejections.comliteraryrejections.comIf you want your work to be picked up by a major publisher (I.e Penguin Books Ltd.) you will need the backing of a literary agent to make sure that your manuscript finds its way to the right desk. Even then you are still battling against an astronomically high amount of submissions. If you don€™t have a literary agent, these companies will almost definitely delete your email or recycle your manuscript before reading it €“ it€™s a cruel market but they have to thin out submissions one way or another. Literary agents can help you throughout the process but you will likely be spending more money than you want.If you want to make it on your own steam, independent publishers are usually much more open to reading unsolicited manuscripts.
 
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Thomas is currently a postgraduate student of literature at the University of St. Andrews. He enjoys music and golf in his spare time when he isn't writing. Tom completed his first novel in the summer of 2013 which was published at the start of this year. Next year he is going to be working as a teacher in Dubai, continuing his research, and writing as much as possible. Follow on Twitter @Tom_Andrews91