In case you missed it, we recently had an exclusive literary event for zine league subscribers, in which established authors J.R. McConvey, Maria Cichosz, and Victoria Hetherington gave insight into writing advice and how to get published! Check out the short and sweet rundown of publishing advice that they shared down below:
What should we expect in the publishing process? (e.g. how to pitch)
Maria Cichosz notes that research is very important. Get to know what is out there that matches your style! As well, a very good resource on writing pitches and querying a book is www.janefriedman.com/query-letters/
In terms of creating a cover letter for submitting and pitching your book, it is important to keep it short and sweet.
“I’m interested in learning how to package a short story collection. I’ve published 11 short stories in lit mags and now I’m thinking about a collection. Any tips?” -Zine League Subscriber
Victoria Hetherington believes that short stories collections have a rep that they don’t sell, but if you can package it as a novel somehow, you might find footing. J.R. McConvey suggests to consider when packaging a short story collection is to include one unifying theme, character, and image to make it a ‘fractured novel’ or related vignettes, rather than a smattering of stories.
Important tips when pitching to a publisher:
- Have a strong hook and a compelling description of the book (concept, genre, words, basic info)
- Always follow the submissions page to the letter
- Look for the publishers’ website to see if they have posts and info on the do’s and dont’s
- Get in touch with an arts lawyer, its free 🙂
- Pay, termination, and copyright are the important things to consider before signing with a publisher
- Writers Union is helpful, consider joining
- To test a press distribution, go to an indie book store and try to buy one of their releases
If you would like to access exclusive events like this one as well as other monthly perks then consider becoming a zine league subscriber today!