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Q&A I wrote a novel, now what?

Generally speaking, a new Fantasy author will have much higher chances of being published if their novel fits an existing book series the editor is publishing. This is because selling a totally new...

posted 7y ago by Dmitry Grigoryev‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T06:56:01Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/29874
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Dmitry Grigoryev‭ · 2019-12-08T06:56:01Z (almost 5 years ago)
Generally speaking, a new Fantasy author will have much higher chances of being published if their novel fits an existing book series the editor is publishing. This is because selling a totally new book requires marketing effort, and unless you're willing to pay for the marketing or your name is selling itself, the publisher won't take the risks.

E.g. if the publisher has several books about "goblins in space", you'll have a better chance being published if you novel also revolves around goblins and / or space, or can somehow be adapted to fit the series. So look around for publishers who have books similar to yours, and target them specifically.

Oh, and provide a short abstract of your novel, perhaps 1 page long, describing the plot. Make it as factual as possible, avoid describing your characters in detail, and state who did what and what happened to them. Something like

> A, a goblin who dreamed to go to space, hides in the cargo bay of a space ship and travels to Callisto, where he meets B, a space alien. B needs to return to their home planet but is stuck on Callisto due to a crash-landing. A helps B to steal a research vessel, and they both set off to B's homeworld, but because of a navigation error they land on a planet inhabited by super mutants. etc. etc.

Without the abstract, it's hard for publishers to judge whether your novel is suitable for them (they won't read the whole thing just to find out it doesn't fit), and your manuscript will almost certainly be rejected.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2017-08-23T08:50:45Z (about 7 years ago)
Original score: 1