If you ask most writers which publisher they'd like a contract with, they'll probably tell you one of the big five. They'll do the best job, right? Yes… and no. A few weeks ago, I attended the KidLitVic conference where a panel with Jane Pearson (Text Publishing), Suzanne O'Sullivan (Hachette Australia and Lothian Children's Books), …
Continue reading The One Thing That Matters When Looking For A Publisher
If you're wondering what makes the manuscript selected by a publisher so special, you're not the only one. I recently attended the KidLitVic conference where that question was put forward to publishers Susannah Chambers (Allen & Unwin), Clair Hume (Affirm Press), and Zoe Walton (Penguin Random House Australia). And a room packed full of writers …
Continue reading 6 Reasons Why A Publisher Says Yes And 6 Reasons They Say No
As mentioned in last week's blog (Preparing For A Writers Conference: What To Take), I attended a writers conference for the first time! The #KidLitVic2019 event covered writing and publishing for middle grade to YA (my genre), the chance to pitch to agents, and to have publishers assess a part of your completed MS. I …
Perhaps the most feared thing after a synopsis for writers is the query letter. Mostly because it has so much riding on it. It's your chance to make a good impression on an agent or publisher, and you only have a few paragraphs to do it. You want your query to lead to a request …
The hard work isn’t over when you type “The End” on your final draft, nor does it finish after months of editing. If you’re a writer who wants to see your manuscript published traditionally, you’ll need to work on a submission package for agents and publishers. If you want to give your MS the best …
A few weeks ago I received a rejection letter from a publisher. This wasn’t the first rejection letter I’d received (far from it), nor was it different from any of the other rejection letters I’ve been sent or seen posted by other writers. There was the usual, it’s not you, it’s me, and the non-committal …
No one likes to be rejected, but it comes with the territory when you're a writer. In fact, some would say you haven't earned your writer stripes until you've been on the receiving end of a rejection slip. While you might find it ideal to get the rejection over with as quickly as possible (kinda …
Continue reading The Quickest Ways To Have Your Writing Rejected
At the end of November in 2015, I sent off my very first agent query. When I was rejected a few months later, it was 2016, and I committed to spending that year sending out more queries. It was a big step, and a process that saw me question if my MS was ready, stop …
One of the most nerve-racking steps on the writing journey is submitting your book to agents and publishers. I've been there, done that, and have been rejected—multiple times. It's not fun, especially as you usually aren't told why. With nothing to go on, you're then left to think of your own reasons; was it not …
K.M. Allan 