FAQ’s
Let’s Get Published (and the website http://www.letsgetpublished.com)
was created by Nigel Edwards to answer a perceived need. Editors, publishers,
and literary agents are very busy people who have little time to peruse the
thousands of MSP’s that are sent to them every week, world-wide. This makes it
very difficult for new, and even existing authors, to get their attention. The
idea is that authors can make a simple presentation through a common portal that
editors, publishers and literary agents alike can access easily through their
web-browsers. This reduces the need to engage in correspondence individually
between authors and any number of publishing houses/agencies, thus reducing
costs in terms of time and money to both author and publisher alike.
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The benefit of Let’s Get Published is that there is a
single, consistent presentation format. There are no gimmicks or quirks to get
used to. There is no fee involved to authors, though we expect interested
publishers/agencies to pay a nominal finders fee to Let’s Get Published (and
it really is nominal!) if they sign a contract with a Let’s Get
Published member.
Also, we like to think that Let’s Get Published
will become a useful home to authors the world over, where they can meet and
exchange ideas with like-minded souls.
Plus, of course, it's FREE!
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To start with, you need to be a member of Let’s Get
Published in order to submit your work for presentation. Once you have signed up
it’s easy to send a sample chapter or three to Let’s Get Published and see
it displayed for the publishing community to review.
Also there are unique features like our Blocka
Beta’s, Snippets, plus a fully functional forum, blogs, members’
Quote Of The Day, and more.
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You can, and we wish you well. There are an awful lot of
personal websites out there, and yours will be one of them. But if you are
serious about wanting to be an author, and want to increase the chance of being
‘spotted’ in the crowd, then joining Let’s Get Published is one way of
doing just that.
Certainly Let’s Get Published can make no
commitment that you will be picked up by a major publishing house – that’s
very much down to the quality of your work – but we will do our best to help
you on your way. And remember, it’s free!
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We try to make ourselves known in a number of ways.
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Firstly Let’s Get Published will contact people in
the publishing industry directly and tell them of the service we offer.
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Secondly we will link to various internet sites where
we believe there is mutual benefit.
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Thirdly, and most importantly, we hope that our
members will spread the word themselves. A personal recommendation is worth
vastly more than any mail promotion!
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No, Let’s Get Published is not a charity.
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In these early days Let’s Get Published does not expect
to make money. Our aim is to establish a presence on the internet, and become
the first choice for editors, publishers and literary agents to find exciting
new talent. That said, eventually Let's Get Published does hope to turn a
profit, though the business plan for this is still being developed.
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Hopefully you wont want to – but if you do want to
terminate your membership just click the Delete button in the members area, and
your account will be discontinued. Furthermore, Let’s Get Published promises
to remove any and all work posted by you to the site.
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Copyright in the UK (which is where Let’s Get Published
is based) states that an authors’ work is theirs from the moment it is
written, and continues until 70 years after the authors’ death. We can’t
speak for the legal situation in other countries, but from our point of view -
no matter where you live - whatever you post on Let’s Get Published, if you wrote it, it’s yours!
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Submissions can only be made by registered members. Just click on a Sign-up link to join. Once you’ve done that you get access to the members area, where you will find a link to the submissions page. Simply fill in the short form, attach your work as a file (which must be in .RTF format) and send it in. That’s it! No fees, no fuss.
Regrettably Let’s Get Published accepts submissions only through the form provided inside the members website.
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When you send in a submission to Let’s Get published it is received and briefly reviewed to ensure it conforms to our acceptance criteria, which are:
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The submission must be original.
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The submitter must have the permission of the author to make the submission (if you are the author then that is
self-evident).
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The submission must be in .RTF format. If it’s not, then we wont even look at it. Sorry, but this is a necessary
defense against virus infection.
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The submission must not be likely to cause offence within its’ classification category. For example, if your writing is intended for children it must not contain any serious profanity, or explicit descriptions of sexual practice or violence. Of course, we appreciate that everyone has their own boundaries and ideas of what is acceptable, but Let’s Get Published reserves the right to deny publication where it sees fit.
Once past these hurdles the submission will be uploaded
for review.
The Let’s Get Published website has two sections – one is for the general public, and the other is for members only.
Every member will have their submissions displayed in its’ entirety (assuming it meets our stated conditions) inside the members area. Don’t worry about lack of visibility: Let’s Get Published will be providing select publishers and agents special guest access to review member submissions.
In addition, Let’s Get Published will display a small number of submissions in the public viewing area – but these will not be the full submissions. For example, if you submit three chapters of a novel, only the first chapter might be released in the public viewing area. To see the rest, a reader must become a member.
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Good question. Here’s a few tips:
The first thing is to make sure it is spell-checked and contains no grammatical errors. Remember that possible decision-makers could review your work, and you should do everything you can to ensure it is error free.
Be sure that your submission meets our criteria (see ‘What happens to my submission?’ above).
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We have provided a facility to split your submission into logical parts.
This helps us handle your submission more easily. You can submit as follows:
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Introduction - this should comprise a simple statement that you have the right to
present the work. This is important. If you do not
make this statement then we will not be able to display your work. Also,
please supply a short synopsis of the body of the work (two or three paragraphs at
most), and how complete the work is (50%, 75%, Complete).
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Public - this will be the (or equivalent of the) first chapter of
your work. If it is a just a short story, or a poem, this may be all you
need to submit. This will be shown in the public area of the site. When you submit a novel to an agent, for instance, they will normally ask for a synopsis and/or the first three chapters for review.
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Member - this is the (or equivalent of the) first three chapters of
the book. This will be displayed in the members area of the site.
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If you wish, you can also submit a small graphic, to promote your
work.
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Please note that all submissions must be in English. This is because Let’s Get Published does not have either the time or the ability to
handle non-English writing. We apologise for this, and hope one day to be able to accommodate other languages.
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Don’t send your whole manuscript! This is common sense. You need to maintain control over the whole of your work, and you should never submit the complete MSP to any site unless it is part of a contractual agreement.
Send only the minimum asked for on the submissions form.
One word of warning: spam. We all know about it and we all hate it. If you insist on including your name, email address or website in either your submission or introduction, please be aware that you run the risk of leaving yourself open to abuse from internet morons. We sincerely recommend you guard yourself by using only your Let’s get Published member-name (login ID). We reserve the right to
replace such contact information from any submission we receive with just your member name, for your protection. We promise that any comment on your
work received by Let’s Get Published will be forwarded to you if at all possible. It is for this same reason that Let’s Get Published recommends you use our service, rather than post your work on your own website. You can use
our public face to present yourself in confidence!
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Extracts from a Let's Get Published press release:
Let's Get Published is a website created to help authors,
editors, publishers, and literary agents get together. In this day and age it
would be foolish to ignore or discount any form of communication.
“Every author knows how hard it is
to find a good literary agent or publisher,” says Nigel Edwards, founder of
Let’s Get Published, “and a major reason for this is the lack of time that
good agencies and publishers have available to explore new writing.”
Literary agents and publishers
are busy people. They actually want to
discover and promote successful writers. A major reason cited for not taking on
new talent or accepting new manuscripts for review is the lack of time
available; and the biggest reason for that lack of time is the sheer volume of
reviews agents and publishers are asked to conduct. Imagine the mountains of
packaged (frequently unsolicited) MSP’s
that land on their desks every day.
There is a
real barrier, where agents and publishers in their offices are surrounded by
walls of paper that prevent new authors from getting in! And what do the
authors, do? They send them more paper! Day after day after day. So what can be
done to ease the situation?
Instead of writers sending out manuscripts to agents and publishers, why
don’t the agents and publishers go
directly to the manuscripts? Absurd? Not at all; the medium to do just
that exists with the world wide web. Writers could publish work samples
on their own websites – but how are the agents and publishers to know where to
look? There are millions of writers and thousands of agents worldwide. What’s
needed is a common portal, or meeting place, which is exactly what www.letsgetpublished.com
provides.
It’s
simple: authors present up to three chapters of text plus a short synopsis to
Let’s Get Published, who display the submission on the internet; copyright, of
course, remains with the author. Literary agents and publishers can then browse
the categorized submissions at their convenience, without having
to battle with reams of hard copy, without having to waste time unwrapping
parcels of MSP’s and dividing them up between the available genre specialists
in the office. They don’t even need to be in
the office, since the web is universal. The benefits don’t end there, though.
Agents and publishers can look for and find authors when they want.
There’s no more need to rewrap MSP’s to return to sender, or write the
obligatory note of rejection.
Nick
Daws (http://www.mywritingblog.com/writer/),
author and publisher says “I think Let’s Get Published offers a useful
alternative to the regular methods for publishers and authors to find each
other. It allows literary agents to quickly and easily assess an authors’
skill-level and the marketability of their writing in a neutral and objective
arena.”
Even
if you are a traditionalist, and prefer to conduct your reviews using hard copy
MSP's, can you afford to ignore any opportunity to find writing talent?
Let's Get Published is a medium for doing that. After all, if you browse the
online content, you can always print off samples to review if you wish. Once
you've found the marketability you are seeking, one email to Let's Get Published
provides you with the authors contact details, and then you will be able to
review the whole of their work in whatevr medium you agree to. Don't let this
opportunity go to waste.
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Let's Get Published. The web portal for both published
and unpublished authors of all genre, fiction and non-fiction: sci-fi, science
fiction, crime, romance, poetry, westerns, children, comedy, religion, cookery,
cuisine, history, health & beauty, sport & fitness, politics... whatever
your area of interest, you will find a welcome here!