The Journey to Getting Published

So you finally finish your book, and then the hard part begins. What lies next for your unread novel and the hundreds of hours that you've dedicated to it. The research, the late hours, lost weekends, the sacrifices you made - will anyone ever read it?

It's especially difficult if this is your debut book; nobody has any idea who you are, or what your book is even about. Unless you decide to self-publish, there's a good chance that your book will never come to fruition. There are hundreds of thousands of authors aiming for success in the literary world - it's a dog-eat-dog world out there.

So the uphill slog commences; entering competitions, contacting publishing companies, requesting feedback from editors, submitting letters to literary agents. And every submission to different publishing houses demand a certain style and size of font, certain line spacing and paragraphs. Then there's the question of align left or justify, and mis-spelling is a definite misdemeanour so don't forget Spellcheck! The requirements can be very specific, and if it's not right, it may not even be considered.

So then it's a waiting game. There are a few rejections and you're feeling despondent. But hey, you have to expect that, it happens - James Patterson's first book was rejected thirty-one times, but eventually went on to win an Edgar Award! Keep your chin up! And then a few months later if you're lucky enough, you receive an email that a publishing company is actually interested in your work! It's a surreal moment, and in my case I read the email several times to make sure that it was true.

If you're very lucky, you may even get more than one offer, so the moral of the story is hang in there, it can happen to anyone!

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