GETTING PUBLISHED IS EASY

GETTING PUBLISHED IS EASY

With a title as outrageous as this I think I should first start with a disclaimer. I’m in my twenties. I’m an engineer who writes fiction in his spare time. And, as yet, I have not one published book to my name. So if you are looking for an expert opinion from a publishing veteran, this is your opportunity to walk away.

Now, I hear you asking, what qualifies me to make such preposterous claims? I was a writer before I was an engineer and I will always be writer. I went into engineering because once every month, when they can get time off their busy schedules, my mum hosts a get-together for like minded women where all they ever do is tell stories. I didn’t want my mother to have to explain to her friends that her eldest son wants to tell stories for a living. So I went on to do a real degree, and continued to pursue my love for writing through some part-time work for local magazines. In my bit time roles as a journalist, I’ve always found myself tailoring my projects, whenever I can, to allow me to rub shoulders with players in the publishing industry. More importantly, I have recently had the chance to be involved in a groundbreaking publishing programme called BWA which some British readers will be aware of. This programme has put together a group of 15 very talented writers, who for some reason have not achieved the holy grail of traditional publication, and promised to get them there before the end of this year.

As a journalist I can’t help looking at this project from the outside, and it fascinates me. You probe deep enough and you realise that all these writers, just like you, know the truth about why they haven’t been published. We’ve all dealt with agents’ criticisms, attended publishing clinics and conferences, read writing magazines and blogs, studied the Amazon and New York Times bestsellers lists… the answers are right there staring at us.

You are more likely to get published if you write a non-fiction book that tells people how to do something and I can not bemoan this. People need to know how to do stuff. Even if they’ve been doing the same thing since they were born, it is nice to have a text on the table that puts formality to their craft. So where does that leave fiction writers? Well, it is not all doom and gloom if you can include some vampires and wizards in your work of fiction. If you really can’t do this then at least try and cut out some of the profanities from the serial axe murderer in your thriller and give him a sweet name like Josh, so you can stick a YA badge on the cover. That might give you a fighting chance. This is what publishers want at this moment in time. And they have good reasons; they have secret charts in their drawers that tell them what the market is saying from the comfort of their leather swivel recliners.

Most of us know all this. We just can’t bear the thought of going back to the beginning after years of polishing our literary epics. But why not? After all, it is a lot easier starting a book with the promise of publication. And we don’t always need to make stuff up; everyone knows something about something out there that would interest a publisher. We can all knock up a self-help manual of some sort. For instance, my brother keeps pigeons (a bit unusual for a young black man but we’ll save that discussion for another day), so I know a bit about pigeons. I could write a beginners’ guide to keeping pigeons, racing pigeons, racing pigeons without harming them, or killing pigeons (you can’t go wrong with controversy). Some publisher out there would be interested in this kind of niche subject.

So why the hell I’m I still writing political thrillers? Well, for me, this is why: getting my book about pigeons published and seeing it on the high-street bookshelves would no doubt give me a sense of satisfaction, but this feeling would last no more than a couple of weeks. If the book does really well and they ask me to do a follow-up, I’d pop champagne and celebrate. Somewhere along the line, I might even become a genuine expert on pigeons. But deep down, I would always know that I’m slowly driving myself to depression. Because I really am not that passionate about pigeons.

Success is when you wake up every morning to do something you are passionate about. Whether this brings you money or status or publication is a bonus.

Well done to those of you who have stuck to your guns. You might well be the last soldiers left fighting your corner. And this, in itself, is a great achievement. Success will find you.

For more about me and my projects visit www.michaeloren.co.uk