Shutterstock / Stokkete©Caroline Sheldon is a popular literary agent who represented the late talented author Elaine Everest. This is her advice on how to get your first book published.
Getting your first book published – particularly in this day in age – is a no easy feat.
Coming up with a good story idea, writing it down, then re-writing and editing your first novel, is only the first step. The much bigger task is getting a publisher to notice and buy into your work.
Literary agent Caroline Sheldon has been in the business for decades. She set up The Caroline Sheldon Literary Agency in 1985, which has since become part of the RCW Literary Agency.
Caroline has been previously shortlisted for the prestigious Literary Agent of the Year Award, and many of her clients have won awards.
Caroline Sheldon has decades of experience as a literary agent.
Here’s How To Get A Book Published!
Essential Reading: The Writers and Artists Yearbook
The Writers and Artists Yearbook is still the bible of what agents and publishers are looking for, so I would buy a copy if I was embarking on a career.
Join A Writers’ Association
If I wrote in a particular genre, I would join any professional organisation aligned to that genre – for example the Crime Writers’ Association or the Romantic Novelists’ Association.
Write The Perfect Cover Letter For A Book Submission
I would write a very clear and practical submission email including:
- a seven-line summary of the book
- a paragraph about yourself and why you wrote the book
- a brief suggestion of what genre the book might be considered to be in – romantic, crime, cosy crime, literary for instance
- if you think the book would be enjoyed by readers of another successful published writer.
- mention any successes – a writer’s prize even if very local, a mention in the local newspaper.
Submit Your Book Far And Wide
I would always submit fairly widely – you don’t know who spends a lot of time reading and who not.
Choose The Right Agent
Sometimes people do well approaching the agent of another writer in the genre – many authors are generous enough to mention their agents in their acknowledgements. If you’re starting from the beginning, smaller agents might be more responsive.
Lean On Your Writing Community
I’m afraid it is a pretty cold world out there. I believe quite a number no longer reply – don’t call us, we’ll call you. But to ally with other authors via bigger organisations or smaller writers’ groups will hopefully make the world less forbidding.
Caroline Sheldon represented the late talented author Elaine Everest, and helped publish her final book ‘New Horizons for Woolworths Girls’.
