10 Tips on Becoming Published

I've had several people messaging me asking on how to become published. My experience is only with erotica, but some of these tips will work, regardless of genre.

1) You've only got one shot to catch that editors interest, so make sure (and I can't stress this enough) that your story is as error free as possible.

2) Critique partners are your friend. However, friends don't always make the best crit partners. It is best to join a crit group, or ask someone in a writing profession to look over your stuff.

3) Head hopping in the same scene is BAD. Very, very bad. It is so bad, I can't even describe the depths of how bad it is.

4) Start small. Don't think you are going to hit up Big Publishing Company of Many Books and make it in one shot. E-publishers are really picking up and a great way to get in the door.

5) Start smaller. Many publishers have calls for anthologies or certain submission types out. It is a great way to get your foot in the door and a reputation to help bring about bigger things.

6) Show, not tell. A big indicator that you are telling instead of showing is if you use words that end in 'ly' Example: softly, quickly, thoughtfully, etc

7) Social networking is a must. If you want to take writing seriously, you need to be taken seriously. Blogs, twitter accounts, and other social network sites are a must for getting known.

8) Believe it or not, if a publishing house is interested in you, they are going to Google (or some other search site) your butt. If you spend all your time complaining or bashing on above mentioned social sites, you are going to get passed over. Moral: Always be professional.

9) Research your desired publishing house before you submit. Stick to their guidelines on their submission page. Get a feel for what their authors have to say about them. Like any company, some are better than others.

10) DON'T EVER GIVE UP. Rejections happen. They are a part of life. Look at your work objectively and try to see it through their eyes. Was your prose a little funky? Was your submission something they don't accept. Don't get angry. Get motivated.

I hope the above tips help. If anyone would like me to give more details on a certain tip, let me know and I'll work up another post on that particular tip. I wish you all the best of luck! ~ D. F. Krieger

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!!!!! for this. Very helpful indeed. Do you have any tips on the writing front as well? Meaning, what sorts of things do you do to help keep yourself motivated to write, how do you deal with deadlines and does that affect how you write or the quality in which you typically write? What sorts of things inspire you? Do you find it hard to finish up a story especially if other ideas pop into your head and/or if you hit a spot in the story that might be harder (or, yes, somewhat boring) to write? How do you cope with that? XD

Yes.... I have lots of questions. >.<

darkangel76 said:

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!!!!! for this. Very helpful indeed. Do you have any tips on the writing front as well? Meaning, what sorts of things do you do to help keep yourself motivated to write, how do you deal with deadlines and does that affect how you write or the quality in which you typically write? What sorts of things inspire you? Do you find it hard to finish up a story especially if other ideas pop into your head and/or if you hit a spot in the story that might be harder (or, yes, somewhat boring) to write? How do you cope with that? XD

Yes.... I have lots of questions. >.<

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LOL, I'll see if I can answer all your questions. If I miss one, remind me and I'll be sure to answer that one too.

What keeps me motivated to write?

I suppose, right now, it's being able to pull up my book on my publishers website. Knowing I've achieved it helps me want to do more. Before I was published? The knowledge that if I don't write all these book ideas in my head down, no one will. I guess I approached it like an assigned duty from the realm of dreams and fantasies.

How do I deal with deadlines and does that affect how I write or the quality in which I typically write?

Fortunately, most of my deadlines have been self imposed. If I take on an anthology, I only write for ones which I feel comfortable. The one time I've actually had a deadline was for my edits, and my publisher gave me a week to rewrite the ending of my book and change a couple of words. Plenty of time.

As for quality, I try to assure each piece is the best I can honestly do. I know I'm judged by even my shorter pieces. When someone reads my story in an anthology, I need to make sure they like it enough that they are interested in reading a whole book by me.

What sorts of things inspire me?

Its cliche, but the best answer I can give is 'everything'. A line from a song, a dream, my urge to be different. Yeah, I spend a lot of time thinking "What has no one else done or, at least, done to death?"

Do I find it hard to finish up a story especially if other ideas pop into my head

I have so many stories in my little black book of ideas that it's almost sickening to look at. I try to set a two story limit. One novel, one short. Take, for instance, right now: I'm currently working on a novel titled Wings of Obsidian. I've written four chapters in four days. Time to change things out before I get burnt out. So this morning I started on a short story (10k words max) called Maybe, Baby. Anything else that pops into my head gets wrote down in the black book with a title/light description of plot and has to take a number.


And/or if I hit a spot in the story that might be harder (or, yes, somewhat boring) to write? How do I cope with that?

So far I haven't had to deal with boring sections. If I'm bored, the reader is probably bored too. I'm sad to admit that writing sex scenes is the hardest for me. I need to be certain I'm not writing the same old 'insert tab A into slot B' stuff that has been read so many times its skim-over material to you all. So I do *ahem* research...until I find a position, setting, etc that works with my book and characters and, hopefully, turns my readers on.

Did I cover everything?

Were there any tips I've given that need to be further explained, such as showing versus telling? Head hopping? Don't be shy!

Great advice!
I have been out of the writing loop for sometime and want to get back into it, it seems I'm cranky when I'm not being creative!!!

Have u ever gone through a slump like that? Where you realize you haven't written in dsys or even months? If so how did you get rid of the pesky writersblock-itis?

GiaNoir said:

Great advice!
I have been out of the writing loop for sometime and want to get back into it, it seems I'm cranky when I'm not being creative!!!

Have u ever gone through a slump like that? Where you realize you haven't written in dsys or even months? If so how did you get rid of the pesky writersblock-itis?

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I hope your find your way back into the writing loop. Yes, I have gone through such a slump. I wrote a 21k novel in 8 days and it gave me major burn out. When I submitted it, I was still full of the need to write, but simply couldn't focus on what to do next. My husband literally rolled a die and used it to choose my next work from a list of ideas I'd made.

Now, to get past writer's block is a different subject. I've found that writing something, anything, helps. Even if it's paraphrasing events in a journal, a lengthy e-mail to a friend, or an RP reply. It helps kick start my brain. Try reading a book while thinking what you would do differently. If nothing seems to help, then stop even trying for a day or two. You may need to take a step back and let your mind de-clutter. Different things work for different people.

Thanks so much for the tips, I will give it a try. Rp-ing is a good start!
The last project I had definitely burned me out, and was kinda lost as to what to write next, just came back from the basement where I had a notebook (hidden in a box which I should have had easily accessible!) with a bunch of ideas written in it, gonna see if I can make some sense of my chicken scratch and work it out from there!

Thanks again!

WriteMood said:

GiaNoir said:

Great advice!
I have been out of the writing loop for sometime and want to get back into it, it seems I'm cranky when I'm not being creative!!!

Have u ever gone through a slump like that? Where you realize you haven't written in dsys or even months? If so how did you get rid of the pesky writersblock-itis?

Click to expand...

I hope your find your way back into the writing loop. Yes, I have gone through such a slump. I wrote a 21k novel in 8 days and it gave me major burn out. When I submitted it, I was still full of the need to write, but simply couldn't focus on what to do next. My husband literally rolled a die and used it to choose my next work from a list of ideas I'd made.

Now, to get past writer's block is a different subject. I've found that writing something, anything, helps. Even if it's paraphrasing events in a journal, a lengthy e-mail to a friend, or an RP reply. It helps kick start my brain. Try reading a book while thinking what you would do differently. If nothing seems to help, then stop even trying for a day or two. You may need to take a step back and let your mind de-clutter. Different things work for different people.

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I been wanting to start writing a story I have in mind. Being a big horror fan its good and all but english not being my main language can get in my way sometimes. I understand english compleatly and I can have a conversation with a native speaker anyday . However there are sometimes that I get stuck on how to say a sentence and cannot find the right words for it, any suggestions for those times?

BlackRose said:

I been wanting to start writing a story I have in mind. Being a big horror fan its good and all but english not being my main language can get in my way sometimes. I understand english compleatly and I can have a conversation with a native speaker anyday . However there are sometimes that I get stuck on how to say a sentence and cannot find the right words for it, any suggestions for those times?

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I promise you that with English being my only language, this happens to me as well. Sometimes its hard to find the right words to say exactly what you are trying to say. Writing it for readers is harder. I have a couple of things I do to help.

1) A thesaurus is my best friend. If I need a different term and that's hanging me up, I'll look up other words that can fill in for it. Or, do a synonym search through your internet search engine.

2) Play with it! Yeah, that's right. PLAY. Write the sentence down on a separate piece of paper in different ways. It helps.

She stared at the blood-stained wall with a gasp. <--Not good

With a gasp, she stared at the blood-stained wall. <--Meh

A slow moan of terror emitted from her throat when the wall came into view. Blood, still wet and sleek in it's vivid shades of red, stood out in stark contrast against the white surface. <---YAY

By writing something down various times, you break out of the mold that your mind has locked itself in. You start looking for new possibilities. I hope this helps. ~ D. F. Krieger

Thank you it does

3) Head hopping in the same scene is BAD. Very, very bad. It is so bad, I can't even describe the depths of how bad it is.

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God, yes! I love Bernard Cornwell's historical fiction but he does this all he time, and it drives me up the wall.

10) DON'T EVER GIVE UP. Rejections happen. They are a part of life. Look at your work objectively and try to see it through their eyes. Was your prose a little funky? Was your submission something they don't accept. Don't get angry. Get motivated.

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I don't know about you, but I find getting a personalized rejection (as opposed for a form) almost as encouraging as getting a piece accepted. I say this because I know some aspiring writers who get discouraged over personalized rejections because they don't realize that nearly every submission gets a form rejection or ignored outright.

Barghest - I'm glad you seem to approve of the tips. I have whose work I'm fond of, and she also head hops like crazy. Before I started writing myself, I didn't realize how bad she was at it. Now, I writhe when I read her writing. Terrible, isn't it?

Unfortunately, I've never received a personalized rejection. From what I've heard through the grapevine, getting a personalized rejection (in some cases) can allow for a revise and resend with a chance of acceptance. If I ever meet an aspiring writer who's getting discouraged, I point out Stephen King's history of rejections..... And now look at him.

I've been published several times in conventional fiction magazines, and I do agree, personal rejections are usually couched with a "try this and resubmit." And honestly, it's been my experience that such advice is dead-on accurate. Editors have their jobs for a reason.

However, the days of a personal rejection are waning, because of how more and more places are moving to electronic submissions, and thus there's a great increase in submission volume, in part because the "bozo filter" of having to actually print it out in format and cough up a stamp is no longer in place. Nowadays, there's so much input to filter through, it's harder to find time to personally write a note on any given rejection. So treasure the ones that DO come in!

You and I must talk. For these are very helpful.

Mistress Legacy said:

You and I must talk. For these are very helpful.

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Feel free to either pm me with any questions you might have or to ask them here. I promise, I will answer. And I'm glad you found these helpful.