Compare costs, quality, and success rates. If you are targeting a specific genre, such the children’s market, try to find publishers that specialize in the field of children’s books and who had published other African writers. For the ultimate level of protecting your best interest, examine literary agents who only get paid when your book gets published. In all honesty, these types of literary agents and agencies are few and far in between and many only extend this offer to a limited number of authors, but you do not have to worry about losing money. I think though, that new African writers need to endear themselves to the local audience and worry less about international acceptance. This is where local publishers need to step up to the plate. I understand that in Nigeria local publishers are quick to procure publishing rights to new writers only after such writers have been published abroad. There is no incentive for these local heroes to take on any green horns for the fear of loosing money.
Unfortunately, this only hampers the progress of new writers.
Now, I have had the benefit of reading a few materials from aspiring writers from Nigeria because I am editing an anthology and because I do get submissions to this website. A common mistake is that many send in poorly written and unedited work and hope for the best. The reality is that it is quite difficult to get a book published, especially if you are an unpublished author. A sloppy manuscript is not going to cut it with a busy editor. If you wish to be successful, there is a lot of time that must go into your work. Simply writing a book, poem or short story isn’t enough. You need to do the proper amount of editing, proofreading, and so forth. It can be very time consuming to get published. I returned a few manuscripts with comments and the writers gave up immediately. Giving up after the first, second, third, or even fourth rejection is a mistake that many new authors make. It is no secret that rejection hurts. The last thing that any author wants is someone to state that a manuscript isn’t good enough. Having that in mind as a guide, a rejection should motivate you to revise your work. Did you know that many of the most well-known authors today were first greeted with rejection letters? Giving up is not the way to go.
You might want to self-publish your book. I know there is a stigma associated with self-publishing. In my opinion, if you have tried unsuccessfully to find a publisher, then go ahead and self-publish. As a matter of fact, you might be able to sell your published book to another publisher after you have proven yourself as not only a good writer, but also as a writer who is able to sell. With this said, let us look at self-publishing. Keep in mind, once you have decided to self-publish, that you are now not only a writer, but also a book designer, printer, marketer and distributor. Of course you are going to get help from some professionals in the trade, but the final decision is yours. Now you are wearing many hats and your wallet is open.
In order to have a successful self-published book you need to find a good editor to look your manuscript all over. There are many kinds of editors. If you have written a novel or other works of fiction, a developmental editor in addition to straightening out the mechanics will also help you rewrite confusing and awkward chunks of text to better create a flow of plot and structure. A medium copy editing editor will do all of the above including editorial comments on style, structure and content. A good copy or line editor will help you with proof reading and the general mechanics of your manuscript to produce a near perfect document that is ready for the printer. If your manuscript needs more than proofreading of grammar and punctuation, you have work to do and need to move your publication date. If you failed to do the above noted procedures, your book is likely to be full of errors and substandard. (To be continued)
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