by Nancy I. Sanders, Contributing Editor
Want to hear a success story?
Arriving in my e-mail inbox one day was a very, very nice acceptance letter from an editor for a manuscript I submitted to them.
Want to hear more of the story?
This was a manuscript I wrote a number of years ago.
I worked on it and polished until I felt it was perfect.
And then I sent it on its rounds of submissions, only to get a pile of rejections.
Want to hear the rest of the story?
After getting those initial rejections some years back, I came up with a goal.
A long-term goal: Try to experience breakthrough with a publisher…and THEN submit my manuscript to that publisher.
So that’s what I did.
Want to hear the journey I took and the strategy I tried?
I found a publisher who does both work-for-hire and royalty-based contracts for books.
First I experienced breakthrough with the publisher in the work-for-hire department.
And then, after three work-for-hire books were under my belt with that publisher, I asked my editor if she’d be interested in my manuscript.
The one I’d written several years ago that had been lying dormant in my files and waiting for the right opportunity to come to life.
And she said yes.
Do you have a manuscript that you just KNOW is ready to get published?
Have you worked on it and perfected it and polished it until it shines?
Has your critique group offered rave comments on it?
Has it won contests at your local writing events?
Then make it your top priority goal this year to implement a new strategy for getting it published.
Make it your goal to first experience breakthrough with a publisher in the work-for-hire department or other area in their publishing house that is more open to working with new writers.
And then…after you’ve worked on several projects with the editor and learned the ins and outs of their publishing perspective…then pitch your other manuscript to them that is waiting and ready to go.
This is the strategy that worked for me.
But not just this time.
It also worked for me when I was a brand new author starting out!
At my very first writer’s conference, I stood next to an editor in the lunch line.
I asked her what sort of projects she worked on (editors LOVE to talk about their own projects, too) and she explained a work-for-hire line of books she managed.
She also worked on royalty-based contracts as well.
I asked her if I could try to get picked up for her work-for-hire books.
She said sure, so after the conference I corresponded with her and worked with her on half a dozen work-for-hire books.
And then I pitched her the idea for one of my manuscripts.
And she said yes.
The result?
Two chapter book series over the next few years!
So what have you got to lose?
Go ahead and give this a try.
Make it your long-term goal to get that fantastic manuscript published that you worked your heart out on.
Here are practical steps you can take:
Step 1: Look through your market guides or investigate the editors who will be coming to the next conference you’ll be going to.
Look for publishers who have BOTH work-for-hire lists AND royalty-based contracts.
(How can you know for sure? If your market guide doesn’t specify, just go online to Amazon.com. Search for several of their titles. Check out the copyright page in the “Look Inside” the book feature. If the copyright is listed under the publisher’s name, it’s probably a work-for-hire contract. If it’s listed under the author’s name, it’s probably a royalty contract.)
Step 2: Follow that publisher’s submissions guidelines for landing a work-for-hire assignment.
If you don’t land one, move on to another publisher.
Keep casting your net until you land a work-for-hire assignment to write a book.
Step 3: Get one, two, or three work-for-hire projects for that publisher written and under your belt.
Step 4: Then ask your editor if she would be interested in your manuscript.
If not, pitch her a new idea.
Or another.
And this time try to land a royalty-based contract.
So go for it!
Make it your priority goal!
You’ve got nothing to lose.
And along the way, you’ll build up published credits, earn income, work with editors at a publishing house, and be miles ahead experiencing success on your writer’s journey than you are today.
About Nancy I. Sanders
Bestselling and award-winning children’s author of over 80 books, Nancy I. Sanders wants to help you experience success writing for kids!
It’s hard work, yes, but it’s also lots of fun and very, very rewarding.
Learn more about Nancy’s books, including tips of the trade and secrets of success in her Yes! You Can series of how-to books for children’s writers, at amazon.com.
