BECOMING AN AUTHOR
THE CHALLENGES OF BECOMING A WRITER BY
BUILDING YOUR TALENT IN BOOK WRITINGS
Book writing requires practices and patience
What question do you have in mind? I said earlier that book writing requires practices and patience. How committed are you to start the writing process? Do you have some sort of sacrifice to make no matter the obstacle you will meet along the writing process? How are you going to be confident in the book project?
THE CHALLENGES OF BECOMING A WRITER
There are hundreds of agents or publishers in Cameroon alone and the world in general but their information’s are not conveniently collated on one or two websites that you can easily search to find the perfect one for your work. Wouldn’t that be nice if it were true? Because it isn’t, you need to be armed with the tools and resources to find and decode the information across the web that will lead you to the agents looking for work just like yours. Moreover and very important, when reading books you need to take keen interest of the publishers address. Here you might find a contact that will lead you directly to the agent that will enable you know in the first place if the agent is interested in your work or not and you can now forge ahead to look for another authors.
Finding an agent for your work is very important, but finding the ‘right agent’ is mandatory if you wish to achieve your traditional publishing goals. You should be able to know how and where to search for agents in your genre, how to tell if they are the right agent for you, how to plan your submission and how you determine whether your work is ready for submission in the first place. It is very important to know these things so you don’t ruin your chances before you even get started. There are many, many does and don’ts of sharing your work with agents. Finding the right agent is the first step after finishing the book on the road to meeting your publishing goals and should not be taken lightly.
In this POST, you’ll learn:
• How and where to look for agents hungry for new writing in your genre
• How, when, and in what format to submit work to different agents
• How to decipher the contradictory advice blogs about what you should and should not do when submitting your work
• Proposals, Cover Letters or Query Letters: What you need to know
• Submission Etiquette: The absolute does and don’ts
• How not to go crazy while your book is on submission
• What questions to ask agents when you get ‘The Call’
• What to do if no agent accepts the proposal you sent
At times, it seems writers are more interested in what comes after book publication than what needs to happen to get a book published. For instance, it's normal for me to receive questions about book signings and sequels before the initial book is sold and often before it's even written.
