How to Improve Your Chances of Getting Published

If only there was a magic formula, a secret trick that would improve your chances of getting published. Well, there is—but it isn’t magic or secret, and in the end, it can’t guarantee publication. But it’s still the best formula I know of for getting a shot at a contract. Some of this might not sound like good news, but I think it is, because in my opinion, talent is not the deciding factor in getting published. Instead, it’s hard work, patience, and an openness to feedback—things that are accessible to everyone.

Beginner’s Mind

This is a term that comes from Buddhism. What it means is to approach things with the attitude that you might not know everything, which allows for a willingness to learn new ways of seeing and doing. That’s what creativity is all about—seeing and doing things differently.

One of the best ways to keep an open mind is by reading. Studying novels. Taking them apart. Applying what you learn to your own work and practicing it. Another way is to take classes and workshops, go to conferences, listen to podcasts. Find out how others have done things. What works for them might not work for you, but there are many ways to approach the act of writing a novel. Try them on. See what fits.

Beginner’s mind also means being open to feedback. Honest critique. While feel-good feedback is nice, it won’t land you a publisher. You need to be resilient enough to hear that maybe this thing you’ve created could be better. Maybe there’s a kernel of a good idea there, but the rest of it is, well, compost, and you need to start over.

Does that sound harsh? It’s definitely unpleasant. But I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had to start a novel over from scratch with only the shred of the idea left on the page. Two of my published novels were created that way, and I’m just putting the finishing touches on another that also came into being by way of the garbage can.

Bestselling YA author John Green talks about how 90% of his first drafts end up in the round file. Another bestselling author, Barbara Kingsolver, throws out hundreds of pages in the process of finding a novel’s voice. I used to think it was just beginners who threw out work (well, beginners, and me). But now I know this is the process.

Writing is rewriting. It was probably the first thing our novel-writing instructor said to us in the MFA program, and it’s the truest thing I know about writing. The great lines, the poetry, the character development—most of that gets created in revision. 

Steep Grade Ahead

Writing plays a nasty trick on us. Because we learn how to write essays in school—and maybe the odd short story—we assume we know how to write a novel. Writing is writing, after all. It’s words on a page. But that’s like saying that because a person knows how to play the piano, they will automatically be proficient at the saxophone. True, they’ll know how to read music—but that’s the only advantage they’ll have.

The learning curve for writing a novel is steep. I’m talking years. Maybe ten years. That was how long it took me, and I’d been writing for years before I tackled my first novel. And I’m still learning. Every novel I read or edit or write has something to teach me. There will never come a time where I’ll feel I know all I need to know about writing a novel. That shouldn’t depress you. I think it’s exciting, a testament to the genre’s potential.

The Querying Process

All right. You’ve put in the years, you’ve gotten the tough feedback and revised until you’re cross-eyed. It’s time for the rubber to meet the road.

When it comes to querying, improving your chances of landing a publisher is both simpler and more complicated than you might think. Follow the submission guidelines. Widen your scope to include small publishers. Write a decent query letter. Easy.

Your letter won’t make or break your submission. But there are a few things that will: your synopsis and your opening pages.

Your synopsis shows a publisher that you understand structure and can execute the great idea you described in the pitch of your query letter. If the structure is broken, the novel will be broken. They won’t want to read it. That’s why synopses are so hard to write. And it’s why publishers and agents ask for one.

Then come your opening pages, the true showcase of your novel’s awesomeness. You can write the best query letter in the world, but if your opening pages don’t land, if they don’t grip the reader by the throat and insist that they turn the page, the publisher won’t ask for more.

How do you understand structure and write fabulous opening pages? By working hard. By taking apart the structure of novels you’ve read and trying to understand how the author created their magic. By writing and revising and writing and revising. This is what Steven Pressfield meant by turning pro: taking your craft seriously, developing the necessary discipline to see a project through to the end, not being crushed by feedback but instead using it as a learning tool. There will be setbacks and rejections, but a pro keeps showing up day after day and putting in the work. A pro doesn’t give up.

That’s the magic formula. That’s what will give you the best chance of getting there.

Writers Helping Writers holds a monthly critique contest that can help make your opening gleam. Come back to our blog Thursday, February 20 for a chance to win a 1st page critique from Becca Puglisi!