There Are Only Three Possible Reasons Why You Have Not Yet Been Published

Filed under Get Published.

In my experience there are just three reasons why a writer has not been published. If you remain unpublished, still searching for an agent or publisher to read and love your work, then it is certain that one (or a combination) of the following three reasons is the culprit:

Your Book Isn’t Good Enough.

Let’s start with the biggy – your book isn’t up to scratch. I feel this is, by far, the biggest reason for writers remaining unpublished. Please don’t get me wrong here. It is not just technical issues that I am highlighting, it is all the other aspects that go into writing a publishable book. For an agent or publisher to feel your work has potential, they must see something special. By this I don’t mean exquisitely written prose, I mean that your book must be beyond the normal. It needs the x-factor, the unique angle, the special fit to the market, the hook that is new and exciting. If your book isn’t good enough, it is it just OK (or even good), then an agent will say no.

So what can you do to fix this problem?

The first step is to ensure your book IS technically sufficient. Spend time and effort on your writing beyond the first, second or even third drafts. Once this is done, the biggest single piece of advice I would offer is to know the marketplace. Do the research. Find out what books are selling (check amazon bestseller lists). Look at publishers and agents within your genre and know what they are commissioning (look at new deals on agent’s websites and up and coming titles on publisher websites). Spend time in bookshops. Get to know what books they are choosing to fill their shelves. Understand what readers are looking for (read genre specific blogs and read reviews on amazon) and have a solid knowledge of where your book fits in the landscape and be able to explain in detail, how your book is differently different. Why should agents and publishers be excited by your book?

Your Book proposal Isn’t Good Enough

Agents and publishers are businesses and your book is the product they sell. This is an important point. As a writer, you may see your book as a work of art, or an expression of emotion, or a big idea just waiting to be spread. However, agents and publishers see your book as a product. All that matters is that they feel they can sell enough copies to make a profit. This means that your book proposal must convince the agent or publisher that it is a viable commercial product. If you fail to do this. If you rust rely on the quality of your writing, or the strength of your idea, then you are doomed to failure.

So what can you do to fix this problem?

Firstly, ensure you are speaking to the correct people. Spend as much time as you can spare to locate an agent or publisher who works within your genre and has a track record of publishing the types of books you have written. If you pitch to the wrong people, they will say no. Secondly, make sure your book proposal sells your book. You can do this by ensuring that your cover letter offers a very clear and precise summary of your book, it’s genre, it’s potential readership, it’s place in the market and what you will do to ensure the book is a success.

Your Timing Is Off

If your book and book proposal are good enough, there is still one factor that needs to be in your favour – timing. It is perfectly possible that you are pitching to the correct agents and publisher, but they are not looking for the book you have written. The perfect publisher for you may have closed their doors to submissions, or they may not have the budget that month to commission your book. In fact, there are hundreds of reasons your timing may be off. If you are to get published, then you need a good book, a good book proposal and good luck!

So what can you do to fix this problem?

The answer is persistence. Make sure your book and book proposal are the best they can be. Do the research to find the best agents and publishers for your book. Then stick with it. Ignore the rejections, keep the faith and keep going. It can help to try and cut through the slush pile. For example, if you want to submit to a particular agency, work hard to find the name of the perfect agent within that agency. Then get on Google and try and find their email address, call in favours, ask friends, do whatever needs to be done to make the personal contact. Then once you have the email, be nice. Email and ask if they are accepting submissions, ask what is the best way to pitch your book, ask if they will accept a digital attachment. Ask anything, to try and build a tenuous personal relationship. This way, you will give your book the best possible chance of getting a fair assessment.

Need more actionable advice? Get your free weekly list of killer resources, straight to your inbox every Friday:

  • Pingback: Tweets that mention There Are Only Three Possible Reasons Why You Have Not Yet Been Published -- Topsy.com

  • Lexi Revellian

    There’s another answer to number three; self-publish on Amazon for Kindle while you wait. If your book is indeed good, you may find you lose interest in mainstream publishing altogether.

    Lexi

  • Lexi Revellian

    There’s another answer to number three; self-publish on Amazon for Kindle while you wait. If your book is indeed good, you may find you lose interest in mainstream publishing altogether.

    Lexi

  • rino

    Go self publish. Do it for yourself and friends. If they talk about it, share it, endorse it, then it’s good. Then worry about onselling it to publishers.

  • rino

    Go self publish. Do it for yourself and friends. If they talk about it, share it, endorse it, then it’s good. Then worry about onselling it to publishers.

  • http://twitter.com/scottmarlowe Scott Marlowe

    Ditto on the self-publishing comments so far. Validation comes from readers/readers’ comments and sales figures, not an agent or publisher rejecting your work b/c of their subjective judgement or “bad timing”.

  • http://twitter.com/scottmarlowe Scott Marlowe

    Ditto on the self-publishing comments so far. Validation comes from readers/readers’ comments and sales figures, not an agent or publisher rejecting your work b/c of their subjective judgement or “bad timing”.

  • Garysmailes

    Do people really think that self-publishing is a viable option for all books? If you write fiction, don’t have a large platform and still wish to reach a wide reader is traditional publisher not the best option?

    • Lexi Revellian

      Gary, I write fiction and don’t have a large platform. My novel, Remix, has spent 103 days in the UK Kindle top 100 chart, and I’ve sold more than 11,000 copies in five months. That’s one hell of a lot better than reaching no readers.

      I spent a year submitting to about forty agents and a handful of publishers. How long do you think I should have gone on trying for mainstream publication?

      • Anonymous

        It seems that you have taken route that has worked. Do you feel that the book would have sold better through a traditional publisher? Or was this never an option? Why do you think no publisher took on your book? What about missing out on pay-days like foreign rights sales?

        • http://lexirevellian.blogspot.com/ Lexi Revellian

          If a big publisher had bought Remix, of course it would have sold more than it has as yet. I did the editing, formatting, cover design and marketing on my own, I can’t get the book into bricks and mortar bookshops, and it’s still selling well. But the publishing industry didn’t want to know about my book, so issues like foreign rights are irrelevant (though I have had an approach from a Hungarian publisher).

          I think Remix was unlucky, in that it didn’t hit the right desk at the right time – and that’s a trick that’s getting more difficult to pull off every day. It’s not very genre-specific. But it is a good read – take a look at my 90 reviews on UK Amazon. Four agents read the full typescript, two of them having approached me. But they didn’t think they could sell the book to publishers. Publishers have very different criteria from readers, unfortunately.

          • Anonymous

            Would you suggest that writers try the traditional route before self-publishing?

          • Lexi Revellian

            No, I’d suggest they do both, if they are confident they have a publishable and polished book; publish for the Kindle on Amazon, and submit to agents. At least they won’t be wasting time when they could be making money, and good sales figures may impress an agent.

  • Garysmailes

    Do people really think that self-publishing is a viable option for all books? If you write fiction, don’t have a large platform and still wish to reach a wide reader is traditional publisher not the best option?

    • Lexi Revellian

      Gary, I write fiction and don’t have a large platform. My novel, Remix, has spent 103 days in the UK Kindle top 100 chart, and I’ve sold more than 11,000 copies in five months. That’s one hell of a lot better than reaching no readers.

      I spent a year submitting to about forty agents and a handful of publishers. How long do you think I should have gone on trying for mainstream publication?

      • Anonymous

        It seems that you have taken route that has worked. Do you feel that the book would have sold better through a traditional publisher? Or was this never an option? Why do you think no publisher took on your book? What about missing out on pay-days like foreign rights sales?

        • http://lexirevellian.blogspot.com/ Lexi Revellian

          If a big publisher had bought Remix, of course it would have sold more than it has as yet. I did the editing, formatting, cover design and marketing on my own, I can’t get the book into bricks and mortar bookshops, and it’s still selling well. But the publishing industry didn’t want to know about my book, so issues like foreign rights are irrelevant (though I have had an approach from a Hungarian publisher).

          I think Remix was unlucky, in that it didn’t hit the right desk at the right time – and that’s a trick that’s getting more difficult to pull off every day. It’s not very genre-specific. But it is a good read – take a look at my 90 reviews on UK Amazon. Four agents read the full typescript, two of them having approached me. But they didn’t think they could sell the book to publishers. Publishers have very different criteria from readers, unfortunately.

          • Anonymous

            Would you suggest that writers try the traditional route before self-publishing?

          • Lexi Revellian

            No, I’d suggest they do both, if they are confident they have a publishable and polished book; publish for the Kindle on Amazon, and submit to agents. At least they won’t be wasting time when they could be making money, and good sales figures may impress an agent.

  • Mark

    What do you mean by ‘good enough’? Is that a qualitative assessment, or are you using it as the equivalent of ‘marketable enough’? I think the latter, in large part because I don’t think you can claim the former.

    There’s an obvious fourth reason why your book might not sell, and that’s because all of the people who plan to make a percentage off your effort can’t figure out how to turn that percentage. It may be a well-written book, but if it can’t make its production money back, who in their right mind would publish the book?

    I got into this a while ago with Jane Smith, in the update and comments to this post: http://www.ditchwalk.com/2010/03/27/site-seeing-hprw/ . The word ‘good’ inherently implies a qualitative judgment, but that’s now what most publishers mean when they say a book is good enough to be published. Snooki’s ghost-written book was ‘good enough’ to be published before it was written, packaged, outlined or even conceived.

    It’s also possible in any given instance for your well-timed, well-proposed and well-written book to be passed over by someone who’s an idiot. Your assumption is that over time — meaning the months or years that the author doggedly pursues publication — somebody will recognize the merits of the work, but why are all those gatekeeping fools given a free pass while your list exclusively limits blame to the author? When 100+ publishers passed on Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was the author at fault, or were most of the people passing on the book thinking like conformist drones?

    I’ll grant that authors need to do their best. I won’t grant that when a book is passed over it’s always the author’s fault. Not hardly.

  • Mark

    What do you mean by ‘good enough’? Is that a qualitative assessment, or are you using it as the equivalent of ‘marketable enough’? I think the latter, in large part because I don’t think you can claim the former.

    There’s an obvious fourth reason why your book might not sell, and that’s because all of the people who plan to make a percentage off your effort can’t figure out how to turn that percentage. It may be a well-written book, but if it can’t make its production money back, who in their right mind would publish the book?

    I got into this a while ago with Jane Smith, in the update and comments to this post: http://www.ditchwalk.com/2010/03/27/site-seeing-hprw/ . The word ‘good’ inherently implies a qualitative judgment, but that’s now what most publishers mean when they say a book is good enough to be published. Snooki’s ghost-written book was ‘good enough’ to be published before it was written, packaged, outlined or even conceived.

    It’s also possible in any given instance for your well-timed, well-proposed and well-written book to be passed over by someone who’s an idiot. Your assumption is that over time — meaning the months or years that the author doggedly pursues publication — somebody will recognize the merits of the work, but why are all those gatekeeping fools given a free pass while your list exclusively limits blame to the author? When 100+ publishers passed on Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was the author at fault, or were most of the people passing on the book thinking like conformist drones?

    I’ll grant that authors need to do their best. I won’t grant that when a book is passed over it’s always the author’s fault. Not hardly.

  • http://www.whodareswinspublishing.com Bob Mayer

    Generally not good enough means not good enough. Yes, one can claim idiots in agents, publishers, but every single manuscript I’ve looked at where the author rants about that was, well, not good at all. Everyone thinks they can write a book and the hard truth is everyone can’t. I see that Writers Digest now has joined forces with Author House. So they follow Thomas Nelson and Harlequin to give those who think they are good enough, willing to spend money, but not will to do the hard work it requites not only to be good enough, but if you self-publish, do the hard work, a place.
    There is no easy path to being a successful author.

  • http://www.whodareswinspublishing.com Bob Mayer

    Generally not good enough means not good enough. Yes, one can claim idiots in agents, publishers, but every single manuscript I’ve looked at where the author rants about that was, well, not good at all. Everyone thinks they can write a book and the hard truth is everyone can’t. I see that Writers Digest now has joined forces with Author House. So they follow Thomas Nelson and Harlequin to give those who think they are good enough, willing to spend money, but not will to do the hard work it requites not only to be good enough, but if you self-publish, do the hard work, a place.
    There is no easy path to being a successful author.

  • http://www.thechroniclesofjoya.com Liane Carter

    Great stuff. And well done, Lexi. :)

  • http://www.thechroniclesofjoya.com Liane Carter

    Great stuff. And well done, Lexi. :)

  • YA writer

    This post irks me. Hate to say that, but you are missing the fact that there are gatekeepers who may let a writer in the gate (agent signing an author, for example) and then–because publishing is so touchy, so closed-off, so cheap nowadays–the agent never tries to place the author’s ms. Does that mean it wasn’t “good” enough? Agents are not even TRYing lately. I understand that it’s a risky business, but the poor authors! I sat on my hands for three freaking years watiting for my agent to try to sell my novel. She never did. Then she dumped me. And all this after telling me how “gorgeous” my novel was, how it was sure to win YALSA awards, etc. Agents now are working by consensus, in many cases, and if ONE person out of 12 has doubts that your book will sell fast and well, then they don’t even try! Also, this happens even after placing a ms. One marketing person raises a concern about something and the deal is off. It’s a crazy world out there. Don’t put the blame on authors. Put the blame on the people who keep authors from even having careers!

  • YA writer

    This post irks me. Hate to say that, but you are missing the fact that there are gatekeepers who may let a writer in the gate (agent signing an author, for example) and then–because publishing is so touchy, so closed-off, so cheap nowadays–the agent never tries to place the author’s ms. Does that mean it wasn’t “good” enough? Agents are not even TRYing lately. I understand that it’s a risky business, but the poor authors! I sat on my hands for three freaking years watiting for my agent to try to sell my novel. She never did. Then she dumped me. And all this after telling me how “gorgeous” my novel was, how it was sure to win YALSA awards, etc. Agents now are working by consensus, in many cases, and if ONE person out of 12 has doubts that your book will sell fast and well, then they don’t even try! Also, this happens even after placing a ms. One marketing person raises a concern about something and the deal is off. It’s a crazy world out there. Don’t put the blame on authors. Put the blame on the people who keep authors from even having careers!