When You're Published They Think You Really Know

[Peg Herring]

Of course the real line is "When you're RICH..." but it still works. As I travel around, hawking my book and talking about anything people want me to talk about, I get lots of questions from people who'd like to be published. "How do you write a query?" "Do I need an agent?" "How long does it take to write a book?" "How do you know what will sell?"

I have no answers. I have an experience, and I have lots of author acquaintances who have had experiences. None was exactly like mine, so although there are some generalities that are helpful (make your MS as perfect as you can make it, work as hard on your query as you did on the MS itself), answers will vary. You may not want an agent; I did. Your query may not look like mine, and that's okay.

It's a little scary to see the looks on some people's faces as they listen to my answers. Their avid attention, even note-taking, indicates that they may be putting way too much stock in what I think. I repeat: I have no answers. But we all have to start somewhere, and someone who's a little farther onward in the process is a better source of truth than, say, some internet site that promises to publish your novel in record time or register the copyright for "only" a hundred bucks plus. At least my audiences know I'm not lying. I have nothing to gain from their success or failure.

I, too, listened to published authors as they talked about the nuts and bolts of the business. I still do. Sometimes what they say makes sense for me; other times not so much. I guess my advice in general would be to remember that it's good to ask questions of authors who've sold their work, listen to what they say, and then think, "It worked for Peg Herring, but what does that mean to me?"