How to get past the gatekeepers at the publishing house

Writing a novel is easy compared to finding a publisher or an agent for your work. Here we’ll uncover a few tips and tricks that might help you get past the gatekeepers at the publishing house. A lot of books about writing have been written, most of them full of do’s and don’ts. We don’t think you have to obey every rule. It’s more important to write a compelling story that your reader can get into and will want to finish than ensuring that you have crossed all your t’s and dotted all of your i’s.

Of course if you don’t want to self-publish your work, then you’ll still have to meet some of those publisher requirements, at least for the first 5 pages of your book. Your job is to get them hooked to your book.

1. Reduce or eliminate adverbs

Adverbs can weaken your paragraphs. There is nothing inherently wrong with them, but the overuse of adverbs is not always met with excitement at publishing houses. Some publishers have a real dislike for words ending in -ly. If they don’t love your story from the first word, then seeing too many adverbs may tip the balance in favor of putting your manuscript in the trash pile. You don’t want it to go there.

2. Eliminate the word “to be” to make certain paragraphs stronger

The word ‘to be’ and all of its deviations (am, are, is, was, were, has been etc.) are perfectly fine to use. They make up a huge part of the English language, so it’s not surprising that they end up in your book thousands of times. But if you discover that one of your paragraphs doesn’t convey your meaning well enough, consider eliminating “to be” and replacing that with something else. It might actually help. But please don’t spend the rest of your life trying to eliminate ‘to be’ from your entire novel. It might just end up sounding stilted and still not get you published.

3. Show and don’t tell

If you have ever read any writing advice, you’ll be familiar with the show-don’t-tell bit. Readers want to be part of the action and see it happen. Sometimes telling is necessary in order to condense your story and get the information across but in most cases showing is preferred. Here is an easy way to differentiate between the two: Can the camera see this? If a camera would capture what you’re conveying, then you’re showing and not telling. If you want to get your manuscript accepted, consider eliminating too much telling at least from the beginning of your story.

4. Replacing “said” and “asked”

Some writers dislike the use of ‘said’ and ‘asked’ and will go to great lengths to replace them with fancy words nobody has heard of before. A better idea might be to eliminate the need for them by using descriptive sentences inside of your dialogue instead. Here is an example: “Yes” James sat down. “I think we should move forward with this.” Without using ‘said’ or ‘asked’, we know that James is talking. At the same time we know what he’s doing. That’s much better than browsing the thesaurus for synonyms of ‘said’ and ‘asked’, inevitably distracting the reader from the actual dialogue.

5. Use a deep POV

Most books encourage you to use a first or third person point of view, not an omniscient point of view, and definitely not a second person POV. Of course you can choose whatever POV you want, but if you want your manuscript to get published, sticking to first or third person POV is your safest bet. To ensure that you’re not accidentally using omniscient POV, you should use a deep POV: EVERYTHING that happens in your story should be seen through the eyes of your character’s viewpoint. By the way, it’s fine to switch the viewpoint to a different character for your next chapter, too, as long as you don’t confuse readers by adding too many of them.

6. Transport your reader

Your reader wants to get lost in your book. They want to feel with your characters. In order to transport them, you have to write stuff that matters. If it matters to you, then you should write it. Don’t be afraid to explore your characters’ vulnerability. Don’t try to follow a lot of rules. Instead, you should stick to your own style of writing.

Don’t forget it’s your story

In the end, it’s your story. If you have to tell it from an omniscient POV, then that’s what you need to do. If you prefer telling over showing, that’s fine, too. Following these tips doesn’t guarantee that you’ll get published. Not following them doesn’t guarantee that you’ll never find a publisher, either.

Some publishers might ask you to change aspects of your book to publish it. Then you’ll have a choice to make. You don’t have to do what they ask you to do. It’s your story. Now is the time to tell it and tell it well.