I wrote a novel - i;m an amateur - what do i do now

[ipickedupapen]

Basically that. I love to read. All genres. I have had an idea in my head for years about a novel I would like to write, I have no experience in this, no formal qualifications. After putting like a thousand notes on my phone of ideas to go into the book, which I really thought was impossible, I have done it. A while back I opened up my laptop and started writing. I have just finished the first draft at just over 70,000 words. I need to go back through it, re read, add and take bits away, polish up the grammar and punctuation, etc and put it into chapters.

I just don't know what to do next. How to put it out there to people. Who to put it out there to or who to contact. I understand there are different avenues to try and get published but I was hoping to hear from someone who has experience of doing this?

I know it is hard to get published, and that my book may not be good enough but I won't know unless I try.

Congratulations. I work in publishing (quite low down, but I know a bit about how it works).
There's a book called The Writers' and Artists' Yearbook. It's expensive, but libraries have a copy. You can find out from it which publishers are publishing your type of book (ie. crime, historical fiction or whatever). Similarly, you can find out which agents are looking to add an author like you to their lists (they generally specialise).
(There's nothing to stop you submitting to a publisher directly, if a publisher states they accept unsolicited ms. -W & A will tell you this-Rare, but not impossible.)
Either way, you need a synopsis of your story, plus first three chapters polished to shining point. Plus a covering letter.
The covering letter: Show that you have chosen publisher/agency with intelligent consideration of their lists. Keep it short. Introduce yourself formally, or semi formally. Say why you wanted to write your book, how long it took, your writing hopes/plans for the future. Thank them for their time reading etc. Resist adding friendly remarks about dog, cat, kids, life in general- keep it professional.
Your aim is to come across as someone who knows books, and understands the writing process, which includes willingness to be edited (which might involve what look like harsh requirements such a brutal word length cutting, change of tense etc.)
Publishers and agents are looking to make money. If they think your book will sell, then you are in with a chance.
Wishing you lots of luck!

Are you a member of any writing groups, or have you had any independent feedback on your book? I’d start there, to get a sense of whether the story is working in its present form. Family and friends don’t count as they’ll just be nice and won’t give truly constructive feedback.

Once you’ve had reader feedback and have made the necessary edits and improvements, you should consider hiring a developmental editor to read your manuscript (or at least the first 50-100 pages) and give you professional feedback as well. The final stage after that is a line edit and proofread.

Once you’re completely satisfied with your manuscript, you’ll need to write a synopsis and query letter. These are arts unto themselves and will require some research and practice. You can then start querying agents or sending your MS direct to publishers if they accept them (rare). There is also self-publishing if you’re not successful with that route or want to get the book out there without waiting for the publishing industry to give you a book deal.

Good luck!

Massive congratulations on completing your first draft! I'm in a similar position having finished my draft in April.

I'd suggest getting an editor - polish it up to the best of your ability and then, if you can afford it, get some professional guidance. Have a look at The Literary Consultancy - they have lots of packages and guidance, as well as Jericho Writers.

If that's out of your budget, consider something like ProWritingAid...I've found it invaluable in picking up things like repeated phrases and words, waffling sentences, etc. I edited my novel to death then purchased a month of PWA to tidy it up and ran it through the manuscript analysis which reviews the whole story. After this I tweaked and changed things, then I sent it to my editor.

I've now had notes back from her on a structural edit and lines edits and am back to editing it again. Once I'm done with this it will go to some beta readers, and then after final adjustments I will start the querying process.

I'm really impatient to start this process but I hope the hard work will pay off!

Thanks for the comments, a lot to get my head around. I have never done anything like this before but once I got started I just couldn't stop. It maybe a load of waffle but I will take all of you above advise onboard and try and get the ball rolling

Gosh how exciting! 😍Well done you, on writing a novel!

Whilst I'm sure that your book is good - and you, as a writer are good, it can be almost impossible to get a book deal these days (unless you're a celebrity.) Too many book publishers these days are only keen on signing celebrities as their book sales are pretty much guaranteed to make them money. You will pretty much have 99% of the publishers just chucking your synopsis/sample chapters in the bin, or just sending them back to you. Unread. Even the very few who look at it/read a bit, are very unlikely to sign an unknown. Not in the 21st century. Sadly.

Have you thought about self publishing? It can be done for a reasonable price. You can get a master copy printed up, and say, 20-50 books and ask your local shops to display a few for a few weeks to see if you can sell any. Also you can publish it (online) on Amazon, for free! Then people can buy which version they want.

You could promote yourself on your social media, and other online places. Then if it sells some copies, a publisher will see that your book is selling, and some of the hard work has already been done (it will already have a master copy printed,) and they may take you a bit more seriously, and give you a small deal.

See if you can get a proof reader to go through it before you publish - if you do self publish. No matter how hard you look, you will miss a few errors! It will be money well spent.

Oh, and yes The Writers and Artists Yearbook is handy, but you can look online for publishers and their contacts, many will be there. Also, this is helpful from Penguin... Havin an agent will help you.

https://www.penguin.co.uk/about/work-with-us/getting-published/getting-an-agent

I hope no one minds me saying that what an agent/publisher is looking for is someone who can write, not someone who can employ a prepub. editor, for instance. Jericho Writers are ok and I did some work for them a long time ago, but again, it's really the author's voice that matters, and to be honest, it's quite easy to tell when a ms. has been edited to a large extent by such people. In the same way,
it is obvious when a ms. is the result of too much influence from creative writing courses. The text becomes a bit formulaic.
OP, publishers' slush piles do get looked at, maybe only by junior staff or interns, and not the whole ms. Same with agents. But in my experience, they are not invisible, or binned.
The best way to edit is to read your book aloud. You will be astonished at how quickly you pick up invisible stumbling points, repetition etc. And when you've corrected a sentence, read the whole paragraph aloud again, to make sure it 'flows' with the inclusion of the new edit.
Keep doing this. It's time consuming, but it's free and it works.

More than anything, you are selling your own voice, and your own story telling ability. I wouldn't employ anyone at this stage. I would edit to my own (very high) standards, and having submitted, expect to be edited in house.

You're just beginning. Self-publishing is ages down the line, if at all. Try the traditional route first. It does happen. I've spent a good part of my (30+ years) career supporting debut authors- there are such things, just talented, hardworking people, writing for the love of it. Usually with full time jobs as well. Celebrities are the ones who hit the news with their daft advances, but the bread and butter of publishing is still people like yourself.

Write number two, then come back and read novel one!
Keep going!

Yes, to reiterate what Carandache18 said don't get your manuscript professionally edited. A literary agent wants to see your voice. Editing is crucial and extremely important, but working with editors is a relationship you need to get absolutely right - it comes down the line, and you need to have aligned visions for the book and a mutual understanding.

Literary agents absolutely read the slush pile and are not looking for celebrities. Agents want to sign clients and they want to make money - they read submissions to pick out the ones with potential. Someone whose book has a great hook, is well written, accords with that agent's taste and is marketable.

Send your own work out to agents (find them in the Writer & Artist's Yearbook as recommended) - polish it to the absolute best of your ability and write a cover letter that positions your book in the marketplace: genre, comparison titles, elevator pitch (think about the blurb that would be on the inside cover when published).

If you consider the self publishing route, that's when you should invest in an editor. If you're great at marketing, it might suit you - but if you want to go traditional, edit the book yourself, expect to redraft it twice and to send a third draft out, do your research on agents and good luck!

Congratulations on finishing the first draft. That's impressive.

It's unlikely (but not impossible) that all your first draft needs is a quick tidy up.

The first thing to do is to get some beta readers. People who enjoy reading novels, particularly in the genre you have chosen. Not family or friends as they will only say nice or bland things. Friends of friends would be good. Ask for feedback such as:
Did it hold your interest? If so why?
If you got bored, around what page did you begin to lose interest and why?
Did you believe the story? What bits did you not believe?
And the characters - did they engage you? If not, why not?
How was the pace? Did it drag anywhere? or feel too rushed?
What did you want to know about that wasn't on the page?
What confused you that could have been clearer?
What was too obvious that could have been subtler

Etc. Make a little questionnaire with these sorts of questions. When you have feeback from at least three people, analyse it. If all three say the same thing - they are almost certainly right and you need to tackle that area (eg pace to slow/fast; this bit confused them) by rewriting, cutting etc. If two out of three have similar opinions, take a good look and if you think they are right, make changes. If only one person does, they could be right. Make any changes if you can see it will improve the book.

Then show sections to someone who knows about writing fiction - maybe join a creative writing group with some experienced members, or an evening class run by a published author. Or pay for an appraisal from a professional editor or novelist. Then more rewrites on the strength of that feedback.

Then the line edits and finally research agents and prepare the submission package.

It’s a world of conflicting information…I’ve spoken to two agents in the last year at events and they’ve recommended editor involvement before submission as time is money for them and as good as the writing is, if it is going to take too much work to fix huge plot holes or a story that doesn’t go anywhere then their profits are reduced and for a new author they’ll make very little anyway. That’s why they want to see a synopsis too. It’s not just about the writing.

There is a lot of conflicting information @trailblazer42 and a lot of advice to wade through. I completely agree with you that strong plotting and a clean, concise synopsis are really important.

Putting the manuscript away for a month or so and returning to it fresh can be very helpful.

I guess it depends on the new author as to whether they'll be profitable for an agent - this industry loves a shiny debut and a six-figure deal! I would say the agents I know don't like a professionally edited submission and prefer to see a more raw (but brilliant!) draft from the author to gauge potential; however, it is all subjective and it does vary.

I write my books online and put them on Wattpad, my books have had thousands of reads and hundreds of comments and I have a fair few followers. I write for fun so have no real interest in doing anything beyond this but my books are out there and being read.

What @Cinaferna said. You've written a first draft -- which is great, don't get me wrong, but is just a first draft. It will need considerably more work. Put it away for a while (get started on something new in the meantime, if you feel lost without writing), then take it out and read it all through, making notes but not stopping to change anything. It's highly unlikely all it needs is minor tweaks and a proofread. If you have a creative writing group locally, or can find one online, that's a good place to start, or if you have a friend who reads widely in your genre and will be honest with you.

The saying goes that the first draft is for you, the second is for your reader (which is why you put your draft away for a while, to try to put yourself in the position of the reader), the third is for your agent.

When you're confident the MS is absolutely as good as it can be, then start searching for agents with an open list, who represent the kind of thing you write, and send it out to a batch. Good luck!

Do people still bother with the Writers’ and Artists’ Handbook? I haven’t touched it. Everything is online these days.

Yearbook.
Yes, they do.

I don't agree, though I think most writers can get a long way without professional input simply by reading good books and analysing what works and how; by reading a few good books on how to structure and edit work, and by getting peer feedback.

But I know several professional authors, even well-known ones, who use reliable editors to go through their work before they send it to their agents, or before agents sub it to publishers. A good editor will spot where the pace flags and how to pick it up without losing key material; how to fill plot holes or untangle plot issues in a way that resonates with the story. they'll also spot accidental tendencies - over used phrases, characters who sound too like each other etc. Some very talented authors are not the best editors of their own work and as PP have said, these days agents and even in-house editors don't have much time to sort out these issues.

I think of it as a necessary expenditure for my hobby. Other people pay for cycling or kayaking kit or pay for singing lessons. I pay for feedback on my work if I can't see how to progress it. Not (yet) so I can sub it to agents. I'm not at that stage, but so I can learn and grow as a writer.

I didn't mean to make you feel that you had to justify your hobby! I was just discussing my own experience. I do hope you feel confident enough to send your work out when you are ready, and I wish you lots of luck.