Finding a publisher

Agents
Most publishers will look at work that comes through an agent only. It is worth researching these agents very thoroughly and submitting your work to them rather than to a publisher. If you submit your work to a publisher and it is rejected, it is therefore very difficult for an agent to approach them again.

It is best to ensure your work is as good as it possibly can be, then submit it to agents. If they feel confident they can sell the work, they will take you on for a percentage of the royalties they expect to receive from your work. Therefore, they work on the basis of selling your work. They will usually command a 12.5%–15% commission, which is well worth the enormous amount of work they put into this process. Their knowledge of the industry and contacts are invaluable to you as a writer.

An agent’s reading of a manuscript will be affected by practical as well as literary considerations, such as:

• can they find a publisher for the book using their existing contacts?
• will the commission from selling the manuscript to a publisher convince them that you are a good investment?

Research agents in the same way that you research publishers. It is worthwhile to approach the agents of writers in similar fields to your own and in particular agents of writers you like. Reference lists of agents are available from:

The Writers MarketPlace (see books and journals)
Writers’ Centres
Driftwood Manuscripts

Resources and references

Associations
The Australian Society of Authors
The Writers' Centre of your capital city
Information and advice on contracts
The contract advisory service of the ASA

Writers’ Centres
An Australian Guide to Getting Published (see books and journals)
Australian Book Contracts (see books and journals)

Next:
Books and journals