First time novelist

[Leekwriter]

Does anyone please have any advice for a first time author seeking an agent and publisher?

[Mistopheles]

Yes, get a Writer's and Artists Yearbook and contact the agents through there. DON'T send things direct to a publisher - they don't even open them. They employ people purely to post them back or they bin them.

Be prepared for a long, hard struggle. My dad is a fairly successful author. It took him until his 12th book to get published, and he submitted that one to over 100 agents before he found one willing to take it. (He's now got about 30 titles in print).

Make sure your book is well set out - it should be typed, preferably double spaced. Watch the spelling too. Sounds like such a minor thing, but if you submit a cramped sheaf of papers with tiny type, most agents won't bother to read it.

Don't expect to make it overnight - you'll be lucky to get things published, and becoming an over-night best seller only happens to JK Rowling. If you succeed, you'll make a bit of money sure, but probably not enough to live on, at least until you are well- established.

Having said all that, if you succeed, it's the most amazing feeling in the world - you can touch thousands of people's lives.
Good luck.

[blinkyblinky]

Another piece of advice:

You may get a positive reply, the publisher may say they are really interested in your work, but as you are a first time author, it would be a big risk for them, maybe they could do it if you were prepared to contribute some of the costs involved....

This is known as vanity publishing. They will print off a small run, send you a few free copies and the rest will rot in cardboard boxes in a garage somewhere. I used to do some proof reading for such a company, and I got to know how they operate. Don't be taken in.

[K8eP]

Hey, I'm thinking of publishing a book!!!!

Whats your book all about? Mines a fantasy. There will be three books in the series.

I have already had my mum and sister read the draught copy, and I got three other people lined up to comment on my work.

Writers and Artists Yearbook 2006 is out now, and you can get it from all book stores. I already have a copy and it's bloody brilliant. Tells you EVERYTHING.