Product Description

This is the insider's guide to getting published sucessfully. The secret to making money from your fiction writing is not only in the quality of your work but your approach to the publishing process: in this book an industry professional shows how to make the system work for you. Advice is here from almost the moment you pick up the pen - identifying the market for your work - to working constuctively with your author or agent, safeguarding your rights, negotiating and understanding contracts, and understanding how you book will actually be sold. "From Pitch to Publication" is the complete guide to presenting yourself effectively to publishers, and navigating the periods before and after publication for continuing success.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9272 in Books
• Published on: 1999-08-27
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Customer Reviews

Valuable guide, occasionally too prescriptive
This authoritative guide, by an experienced literary agent, contains advice for would-be authors on how to get books published. This is good, nitty-gritty stuff, including what to include in a submission, how to present your work and how to write a synopsis. There is also much about the book trade, including an excellent section entitled "Does an agent need you?"

I'd give the book top marks except for the fact that the author is rather over-prescriptive. For example, she advocates very lengthy synopses, whereas many other agents prefer them shorter.

Summary: a fine book, but take a second opinion before sending off your precious manuscript.

Only 75-year-old single parent stock traders need apply
It's undoubtedly a very informative book, but readers should be clear that its sole target is commercial fiction, where you let marketability guide your writing from the word go. As such, I found it depressing in its affirmation of all about the conventional publishing game that makes unpublished authors despair. Go back a space if you're a dentist or a civil engineer: not glamorous or exciting enough. Go back 3 spaces if you have just one novel, however brilliant; publishers are only interested if you show promise of being a cash-cow. Go back 5 spaces if you smoke: Carole Blake will be offended by the smell of your manuscript. Go forward 2 spaces if you have a marketing angle like being 17 or 75, or a single mother, or a stock market trader. If you have the qualities that allow you to play this game, the book will be helpful. Otherwise its only message is that you may be unpublishable not because of what you write, but because of who you are.

If you are serious about writing, this is a must
OK - so she scared me just a little, and would probably render me speechless if I met her face to face, but Carole Blake has written an essential guide to what agents are looking for, as well as what a writer should be looking at, once they are accepted for publication. She makes no excuses for this text being directed solely at commercial fiction, nor does she sugar coat any of the facts about the difficulty any new author faces when trying to secure the services of either agent or publisher.

Much of the book is taken up with information regarding contracts, royalties and auctions - which, as I am not in the fortunate position of having had any work accepted for publication, I skimmed over.
The initial third of the book covers the nuts and bolts regarding presentation, approach and attitude of the author. It's direct, concise and honest and although it can be read as saying 'you have more chance of becoming immortal, than becoming published' I actually found it refreshing and stimulating.
She notes throughout that some 'selling power' from the author is helpful i.e. they're a 70 year old dyslexic; and if I intend to submit anything to her agency I will have to stop smoking - otherwise my mss is likely to be returned unread.
But if you are serious about your writing and want to become a published writer I would strongly suggest you read from Pitch to Publication. After all, once accepted, you can dip into it again to read up about the auctions, contracts and royalties.