If you are ‘lucky’ enough to get accepted by a so-called traditional publisher (less than four per-cent of new writers are), then your difficult journey as a writer may be about to become even more bewildering. Of course, it’s always wonderful to make this breakthrough as a writer and nothing can take away from the moment you receive that dream letter. It is something to be immensely proud of. What follows next, however, can be, and for most usually is, something of an anti-climax. What authors receive when a traditional publisher buys their book is far from the dream of the unpublished author. The simple, hard reality for many of them is they receive little, or nothing at all. They may get an advance (against royalties, which are usually less than 10%), but the amount you receive for a lot of hard work (usually several months or even years work) often works out at pennies per hour: not the kind of return on investment a hard working writer deserves. And it gets worse. The sales and marketing support you thought you would receive, is negligible (the author of this article spent several frustrating years chasing his then publisher (one of the most well known in the whole world) to do more to promote his books). And then, even more disheartening, are the royalties that follow; the scraps after the publisher has taken the lion’s share (usually 92.5 % on a paperback). Of course, most writers never even get to the stage where they can be shortchanged in such a shocking way. Because most traditional publishers demand you get an agent before they will even look at your work, and it’s arguably more difficult to get a decent agent than to get accepted by a traditional publisher: a circle of frustration. Yes, it can be incredibly frustrating indeed having your beloved book (months or years of hard work) rejected by traditional publishers, or not even given a chance to be rejected. And so… what happens next, for a writer beset by despondency, is that people will tell you that what you really need to do is self-publish: take the other (well-travelled) road to the land of (Amazon KDP) dreams; (they don’t mention that what you are about to do is cast your work, like a pebble, into a vast ocean of work). Despite (Amazon) royalty rates of 70%, I think self-publishing is a terrible idea for serious fiction writers. For starters, if you self-publish your book, you are not going to be writing for a living. You are going to be marketing for a living. Self-published authors should expect to spend only 10% of their time writing and 90% of their time marketing. Secondly, good writers need even better editors. They need brilliant cover designers. They need imaginative marketers and well-connected publicists. All these things that are not provided by Amazon. Of course, one can publish for ‘free’ on Amazon, but you usually get what you pay for. Paying some cheap freelance £25 or knocking up a DIY design on Canva will not result in a distinctive, professional-looking cover. And don’t get me started on the value of good editors, copyeditors, and proof-readers; they are the difference between professional and amateur books. Editing, proofreading, cover design, ISBN, printing, publishing, and marketing costs money. Why not do it all under one roof with a ‘one stop shop’ to save time, energy, and risk, instead of searching for separate service providers? At Foreshore Publishing we do all this and more and try to make it as easy as possible for good writers to get good novels into print and into bookshops. We offer instalments to help spread the cost and we even offer a full refund if your book is not physically on shelves in bookstores within 12 months. We also have the same, if not greater reach than traditional publishers and agents. With access to proper distribution networks, we can get physical books into real bookshops. We can also represent you at the major book fairs and sell your books to international markets. For those who value their work, who want to go beyond Amazon KDP, get into bookstores and build fanbases, and would rather write novels than social media posts, self-publishing is not the answer. Contact us today and chat about how we can help you to make a positive impact as an author. 0800 099 6689 or contact@foreshorepublishing.com.
There is no denying how daunting the world of publishing can be, especially if you have not had a story published before and you are submitting a manuscript for the very first time. At Foreshore Publishing, we only work with new and emerging authors. This means we are regularly faced with individuals who are unfamiliar with the submissions process. A lot of new and emerging authors do not know what information to include, how to format their manuscript and where exactly to submit their work. Luckily, we have made the process as easy as possible. Our Short Fiction Manuscript Guidelines Though short fiction stories vary hugely in regards to genre and target audience, it’s important that all submissions follow a similar style and that certain criteria are met. Your manuscript should meet our simple guidelines before you submit it, as this will give our editors a clear idea of what you have to offer as an aspiring author. You will need to send a synopsis of your work and the complete manuscript, which should be written using 12pt Times New Roman font. Everything should be in one file, not separate files for each chapter. Your manuscript should be between 10,000 and 40,000 words, which is typically between 50 and 200 pages. As we publish short fiction, works longer than this will not be considered. Please include the word count, genre and target audience for your submission. Include your name, contact details and any relevant author information about you that we should know. Please send your short fiction manuscript as a Microsoft Word document or a PDF file. Once you have ensured your manuscript meets the above criteria, it’s ready to send to the Foreshore Publishing editorial team at submissions@foreshorepublishing.com. If an editor considers your work to be a good fit for us, we will be in touch with a publishing offer. Submitting Your Short Fiction Work If you are interested in publishing a short fiction book, you have come to the right place. At Foreshore Publishing, we focus our attention on short fiction stories by new and emerging authors. Once you have read the submission guidelines and you know how to prepare your short fiction manuscript, submit your work to our editors. If the editor considers the work to be appropriate for Foreshore Publishing, we will put forward an offer of publication. To find out more, get in touch with the Foreshore Publishing team.
There are few feelings greater than finally finishing your short fiction manuscript, but this can be quickly overshadowed by the confusion of how to get it published. As a new author, having your work published is the goal but knowing how to go about things can be difficult. There are a lot of options, such as choosing between traditional publishing and self-publishing, and there is no shortage of publishing companies who are currently accepting manuscripts. However, in order to successfully get your book on the shelves, you need to get published successfully and by the right people. Find the Right Publisher There are a lot of different publishers out there and finding the right one is key. Otherwise, you run the risk of submitting your work to companies that are highly unlikely to be interested in what you have to offer. Researching a publisher will let you know if they are a good fit for your and your book. For example, researching Foreshore Publishing will highlight that we are looking for short fiction books and so submitting anything other than this will not be successful. It’s a good idea to check out what other books a company has published, to see if yours lines up. Once you have found a publisher, it’s time to show them that there is a market for your book. Prepare Your Manuscript for Submission Before submitting your manuscript, take the time to find out if the publisher is accepting submissions and where you should send it. You also need to pay attention to the format they are looking for, as different publishers have slightly different manuscript guidelines that you will need to meet. For example, they may specifically ask for a manuscript as a Microsoft Word format or they may have a maximum word count. You also need to pay attention to what information an editor wants from you such as word count, genre and target audience. The majority of publishers will also require you to send a synopsis and covering letter, which is where you explain why your book is the ideal match for them. At Foreshore Publishing, we accept submissions via submissions@foreshorepublishing.com and we do have some manuscript guidelines to bear in mind. Once you have submitted your short fiction story to us, our editors will consider if it’s a good match and put forward a publishing offer.
