If you want to be a published writer, this is the post you ABSOLUTELY NEED to read before you send your manuscript out to publishers.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO SPEND A DIME IF YOUR BOOK IS TRADITIONALLY PUBLISHED- that's what a lie looks like in the writing world. YES. 🙂
First of all, most of the traditional publishers (with a few exceptions like Harper Collins and Penguin) do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.
So, what's the difference between a SOLICITED manuscript and an UNSOLICITED manuscript?
- a solicited manuscript is basically a manuscript that is presented to a traditional publisher ONLY by a literary agent (on your behalf). An unsolicited manuscript is one that you can directly mail as a 'submission' to the traditional publisher.
When I tried to go the traditional way with the manuscript of a memoir that I was working on last year (yeah, you can call me delusional), I checked the FAQs on the websites of probably 25+ traditional publishers only to discover that they DO NOT ACCEPT unsolicited manuscripts. Some of them even had a list of literary agents that writers could approach, and through them, get their work placed before the publisher. The reason stated was that since these traditional houses receive hundreds of manuscripts every year, they do not have the time to go through each one of them, and that is precisely what the literary agents do. They basically sift through the slush pile to find those rare manuscripts that are really worthy of being published. So, you first send your work to them and they agree to present your work to the big-shots only if they believe it has got the potential.
So, naturally, I emailed my manuscript, cover letter, synopsis, sample chapters and professional bio to fifteen different literary agents and got positive replies from around 2-3 of them, (and mind you, they were the most famous literary agents in the country.) They mailed me saying that they wanted to read my entire manuscript! I was on cloud nine! Because it was clearly mentioned on their website that they will ask for my complete manuscript ONLY if they are interested in my work.
Hence, I sent them my complete manuscript as fast as I could. I had already started visualizing myself receiving my first royalty cheque. But something that struck me as rather odd was when they replied to me in less than 24 hours, saying that they were interested to go ahead with my work (like how? How did they finish reading a 250 page manuscript in less than 24 hours?) but that it needed a touch of 'EDITING' which was one of the services that they offered.
So what would an author, who's always dreamed of having her work traditionally published by a reputed publishing house, do in such a situation? I naturally jumped at the offer and asked them what their rates for editing were and what all I was supposed to do in order to acquire their services. I was so happy that my work was finally getting the attention I thought it deserved. The months of hard work had finally paid off. I was so sure that my work was worthy of being published, because it was the first time I had worked on a such serious theme and that too after months of extensive research.
Well, they then asked me to send my entire manuscript to them once again. I did. After perhaps an hour, having applied the right font, line spacing and everything, they wrote to me saying that my 250 pages turned out to be a gigantic 420-page memoir. Their rates were around 280 rupees per page for only one round of editing (exclusive of GST). So, they would be charging me around 1,30,000 rupees for ONLY ONE ROUND of editing, and based on how I reworked my manuscript, multiple rounds of editing might be required before they would present it to a publisher. And even after all that the publisher might not agree to publish my work. but that was not something they could help.
That's when I realized that the publishing industry was called an 'industry' for a reason. Being an undergraduate with almost NO income of my own, I couldn't think of paying over 3 lakhs for several rounds of editing, depending on the whims of my literary agent. And yes, they might be reputed for their first class services but I wouldn't want to be placed in a situation where I would have to break the bank or waste my parents' hard earned money on a cause that was totally uncertain. And even after spending all of that money, what if the publishers didn't think my work was good enough? What if they rejected my manuscript? What then? How would I face my parents? What would I say to them?
So, what I realized was that, unless one was a prolific writer of considerable repute or someone who wouldn't really mind losing 3-5 lakhs to a gamble, approaching traditions publishers through literary agents was not someone one could safely opt for. There are several reviews online from writers who have gone ahead with it and suffered major losses for nothing.
You can both self-publish and market your work for way lesser than the amount of money that you might have to pay a literary agent only to have your manuscript rejected at last. And if you decide to opt for Kindle Direct Publishing, you might not have to pay anything at all.
Having said all that, I would like to add that it was not my intention to hurt anyone's sentiment through this post. This was purely a personal experience which I thought I owed my readers and other budding writers out there.
Stay Home!
Stay Safe!
Peace!
❤
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