The following is provided by Paula Boyd, author of the award-winning Jolene Jackson Mystery Series.

22 Things Every Writer Should Know

There are always exceptions to every rule, but knowing what you are up against can help avoid mistakes that court rejection.  Here we go:

1. Your manuscript is not perfect.
2. The editor or agent reviewing your work is not perfect either, but he/she (while naturally jaded) is genuinely looking for a story to get excited about.
3. The person reading your query reads a lot of queries and has very specific ideas about what he does or does not want and is not easily excitable. While most editors are experienced professionals, they are still human, and too much or too little coffee, lack of sleep, fight with significant other or general malaise MAY affect opinion on any given day. Translation: a rejection may not mean your submission is awful and you should take up underwater basket weaving. In fact, the late Rick Hanson was rejected by an agent with just such advice right before he sold what became a five book series. On the other hand, any bit of personal feedback received should be carefully considered.
4. An awkward or stiff cover letter says your book will be too. Be sure your cover letter has the same tone as your book. (Note: I am turned off by quotes pulled from the manuscript in both queries and synopses.)
5. The basic query letter should contain: Hook. Spiel. Credentials (if any). Close. (And not necessarily in that order. Some really good query letters start out “Did you know there are over 6 million carp fishers in the United States and no books about it? My romantic suspense novel, Hook, Line and Stinker….” Others jump right in “Jane Doll didn’t intend to find the dead senator washed up on the beach…” There are many options, of course, but you get the idea. (I prefer to be impressed by your story first and credentials (if any) last. These would be especially important if you were an award-winning carp fisher and wrote the novel above–but ONLY if the story itself was already dynamite.)
6. A query letter should be no more than one page.
7. Reviewing and responding to queries takes a phenomenal amount of time. Do not submit a query or manuscript “just to see what happens.” If you aren’t 100% sure your manuscript is a good as it can be, don’t send it anywhere. You’re wasting everyone’s time and your money for postage.
8. What do you expect to gain from submitting this query? This is not a no-brainer. Some people submit a query just to bounce a story idea off an editor. Don’t. If you don’t have a completed book with a well developed plot it will show. First time authors rarely get a contract without a completed manuscript. Of course we’ve all heard the stories of an author getting a contract and significant editorial assistance with only a story idea or the first three chapters. Don’t bet your career on it.
9. 9. Do not, even for a second, think that an editor or agent will help you “fix” a manuscript if they like it. Yes, it happens, but not very often. Editors do not have time to edit anymore so the manuscript must come to them in the best possible shape. Furthermore, while they might like to help every author who submits, the reality is they have to be doing work that brings in money.
10. If you are receiving feedback or critiques where sentence structure is the focus, you are not ready to be formally submitting work yet. The construction of the sentences should be transparent. Your reader should never once have to think about how those words were put together, only that they conveyed the right thoughts, actions or dialogue to move the story forward and keep them intrigued.
11. Hire a freelance editor to review your work before submitting. The unfortunate term “book doctor” gives a mythical kind of connotation to what is simply a freelance editing service. Let’s be very clear on this. You do not ship a manuscript to a book doctor and receive in return a sparkling reconstructed ready to submit product. This is editing. Plain and simple. The types of editing done, deliverables provided and costs vary widely. The best way to find a good freelance editor is through personal referral
12. If you are working really hard to make sure you have all the setting and character info in your first few paragraphs of your opening chapter, you are not ready to be submitting the manuscript. Hook your reader from the first sentence and fill in the background information naturally as the story unfolds. No one-I repeat, no one-is intrigued by an “info dump.” If your initial reaction to that statement is “but I have to tell” then you are not yet ready to be submitting to editors.
13. Look at the opening lines of your favorite books. What about those made you keep reading? Is your work presenting the story in a similar fashion or are you trying too hard to “write?”
14. How often do the words “was,” “heard,” and “felt” appear in your writing? (We are discussing YOUR writing, not MINE!) “She heard a noise” isn’t very enlightening. How about: “A burst from a revving engine, then the screeching squeal of rubber on asphalt.” Do a search for all these passive words (at a minimum) and see if you can make the sentences more active and dramatic.
15. Do not rewrite the first three chapters five thousand times and never finish the book. The companion to this is to not make your first book you’re life’s work. Or if you do, understand that you are writing it for yourself. Do not ask for critiques from friends on version 43 of the same story. There is no point. The odds of ever getting that book published are very slim. If you succeed, good for you, but I feel you will be far better served to write more new stories than rehash the same old one. You are limited on what you can learn from reworking the same material for years. New ideas and new stories bring about new lessons and new opportunities.
16. Do you understand POV? Different genres and writing styles allow different approaches to this, but whatever the style, POV must be used consistently in the manuscript. As simple as it sounds, it can take a long time to truly get a good understanding on the POV issues.
17. THE BIG ONE: The above items will only make sense to you when you are ready for them. Writing is a huge endeavor that takes many years of working on craft to become proficient in. You can’t learn everything at once. You may read through this and think everything seems rather obvious, but if you find one thing that really resonates with you, that’s great! That’s what you’re needing right now. Read these same words a year from now and something different will leap out. That is the nature–and the wonder–of writing. Because you see, as we write we are certainly learning about the craft, but we are also exploring the many different pieces of this thing we call life. As writers, we examine life, put our unique view on it then transfer it to the page in hopes of touching others.
18. THE REALLY BIG ONE: There are no rules. Of course there ARE rules, and we must understand them, but we also must not allow the rules to control the story. If you are consciously thinking about structure, you’re on the wrong side of the brain to be creating an exciting story. If you do analyze your work using a structure technique, only do that when editing, not when writing. Remember, a really good story will tell itself in its own way. Do spend significant time learning the rules, perfecting your craft, and finding what “system” works best for you but don’t let the rules control you. Become a blank sheet and write what’s in your heart. If you’ve put the work in learning the craft, that will come through naturally and all you have to do is become the conduit for your unique story to come through.
19. Before you send off a submission, ask yourself if you would spend $10,000 out of your own pocket to put that book into print. If the answer is yes, you may or may not have a salable product. If the answer is no, I guarantee that you don’t. This is the trap that Print on Demand (POD) publishers set for authors. If you’ve been receiving rejections for years, this may seem like being handed the keys to the castle. It can be, but more often than not, eager new writers send off manuscripts that really aren’t ready to be seen by the masses. It is an amazing fact that the very same mistakes that are completely invisible in a manuscript become flashing neon lights in a printed book. (I would know.) There are many other aspects of POD that I won’t address, but I do urge major caution in jumping into this type of publishing. You’ll get a book in print, but it might not be a book you’ll be proud of for very long.
20. Are you willing to market your book? If the answer is “no” or “I expect the publisher to do that,” please do not submit your manuscript. For one, you don’t understand the industry and need to spend time learning the ropes. Join a writers organization (or several) and go to writers conferences where you hear editors and agents speak on the issue. Enter contests sponsored by these organizations where you can get a critique of your manuscript. You’ll learn a lot. You’ll become a better writer and a better author and will understand that authors have to do a lot of things besides write–whether they like it or not!
21. Books do not sell themselves. Authors must understand the marketing and promotion required to make their books successful. The publisher, particularly a small publisher, cannot sell enough books by putting ads in magazines or catalogs to pay for the ads, much less sell through a printing. Author events and aggressive name building sell books, and it is rarely a fast process.
22. What are your goals in getting a book published? Again, this is not a no-brainer. Really do some soul-searching on this one. Do you want to prove to your mother or your brother that you can? Want to flaunt the fact that you are now a famous author at your high school reunion? Prove to yourself that you are a writer and have finally “made it?” All of these are fine motivators, but if the phrase “I want to have a career as an author” or something similar isn’t attached to it, you’re chasing the wrong brass ring. Know what outcome you expect going in and what effort you’re willing to give for it. It is neither a crime nor a personal failure to never have a book published. Many of us need writing to keep us sane. That doesn’t mean it has to be printed and bound to have value. The flip side is that I truly believe anyone who wants to be published bad enough-and is willing to work long enough and hard enough-will eventually be published. Again, you must understand what you want from this path you’re on and what you’re willing to do to achieve your goals.

The publishing industry is not for the faint of heart. You need skin thicker than an elephant’s, the determination of a fire ant and an unfailing belief in yourself. And remember, we learn from our mistakes.

Hope you found some of this helpful!

I wish you all the best!

Paula