Cheryl Cowtan on Writing

Literary Mama: Calls for Submissions Round-Up: June

In a previous post, I submitted a link to a list of publishers at  http://myperfectpitch.com . It's a great resource that seems to be kept up to date. You can also narrow down the list by searching genre, which I did. The returned list of approx. 35 fantasy publishers included companies from the UK, Canada and the US. Almost all were active, and were accepting submissions. Awesome stuff. So, the next step was for me to match myself to the perfect publisher for my book. Clicking the links took me directly to the submissions page, which is very convenient. This page always provides all of the important details for authors on word count, formatting, submission requirements etc. However, I quickly learned that I needed to look at the publisher's entire site in detail for a number of reasons listed below: Book Covers cheap looking novel covers (cartoonish) out-dated looking novel covers (1950/60 style) novel covers with poor layout design (basics of design elements no evi...

I completed my high fantasy novel manuscript, The Precious Quest , months ago. Then began the submission process. I submitted the full manuscript to DAW Books. Why DAW? Because they were accepting complete manuscripts without needing a query letter or a synopsis. After DAW's rejection, I had to write a synopsis. The second submission went to Medallion Books. I loved the way they embrace technology and cross mediums for their clients. This one required a synopsis, which was harder to write than I thought it would be. However, I did it and submitted. And now I wait. Each publisher takes approximately 3 to 6 months to respond, and many do not take simultaneous submissions (submitted to more than one publisher at a time). That means, I'm doing a lot of waiting, when I'm really just anxious to see my novel published. So, am I tempted by self-publishing? Not a chance! Traditional publishers are my best bet for marketing and distribution. I want to spend my time writing more...

Thanks to an ingenious author, an updated database of publishers is available to you (and me) for free. http://myperfectpitch.com/fantasy-book-publishers/

Present yourself to your readers online by creating a multitude of professional profiles. Remember that whenever a reader hears of your book, reads a review on your book, or reads your book, he/she will probably search you online. Set up your profiles on the following: facebook which will give you a personalized URL  http://www.facebook.com/cheryl.cowtan LinkIn which provides a more structured, but more detailed space for your qualifications Google+ offers another place to have an online presence https://plus.google.com  Twitter  https://twitter.com/ All of the above will allow you to interlink between the profiles, which will attract search engine attention. Plus, you now have access to all of the potential readers and supportive writing colleagues, publishing houses and book reviewers.  facebook - over 900 million people twitter - 140 million active users Set up your profiles with pictures you want your readers to see. Make sure there are n...

What Motivates People Other people, of course!  So today, I want you to read through my contest blogs and follow the instructions. I want you to find a contest that matches a piece of writing you have sitting somewhere collecting dust. Then I want you to polish it according to the submission guidelines of the contest and submit to the contest.  Then, post everything in a reply to this blog. Tell me what you sent, where you sent it etc.  Looking forward to hearing from you. :)  Need a little more help?  Let's look at a contest together.  First, here is a list of Canadian writing contests.  http://www.canauthors-ottawa.org/contests.shtml From here, I'm going to choose Red Tuque Books because:  http://www.redtuquebooks.ca/RTevents/ShortStoryCompetition.pdf   I'm hopelessly patriotic I do wear Tuques The contest deadline is not over until December I have written short stories about Canada, and I am Cana...

How to Keep Track of your Contest Submissions Keeping track of your writing submissions is smart. Keeping track allows you to stay organized and on task with your submission strategy. You'll need to provide a list of published work to some publishing companies, you also need to keep track of your submissions so you don't double submit, or miss timelines. You won't always get a rejection, but if two months go by, past the publisher's response time, then you know it's time to submit that piece to another publication. Don't let your work sit and collect dust. Once you start submitting your work, you should keep track of the following: title of work submission date submitted to (URL to access site/publisher/magazine you submitted to) estimated reply time from publisher other details (contest closes, reading price paid, winning amount, accepts simultaneous submissions?) Outcome (published, rejected etc.) Make sure to keep track of published date (you'...