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Why It’s Hard To Get Published

By on April 24, 2019
Why It's Hard To Get Published -Writer's Life.org

We all know that it is hard to get published, but do we truly understand why? Often it can be easy to get overwhelmed by the mammoth task of trying to get published, and to give up before we’ve even really tried. The seeming impossibility to get a publishing deal can make many authors feel like there isn’t any point, or perhaps do themselves a disservice and not try as hard as they might. Or blame the wrong things when they see those rejection letters start to pile up.

But do we understand the core reasons as to why it is so hard to get published? Is there anything we can do to change our fortunes? Let’s take a look.

Here are some of the most common reasons why a publisher or agent might decline publishing your book:

The writing is not good enough.

There isn’t a market for your book.

The topic has already been written about extensively.

They can’t take on more than one or two new titles at a time.

While these reasons are all valid and truthful, there are also more significant reasons at play. For a start, the competition is too fierce. There are so many people out there who are trying to get their book published that you have to write something truly exceptional to be given a chance. Secondly, many publishing houses simply aren’t willing to take a risk on a new author. They need their books to sell, to bring them guaranteed revenue. They focus on the latest novels of their current, famous authors to make sure that their sales and profits remain high.

Of course, the publishing industry itself is also creating challenges for new authors. If a book makes it into a bookstore, it is up to the publisher to ensure those books are sold. If they aren’t, after a certain period the books get returned, and the publisher must give a refund for the unsold copies. This is a unique operation - and not the case for other types of retailers and manufacturers. People can buy books online, can purchase eBooks and can resell the novels on sites like Amazon once they are done reading them. This creates problems for bookstores trying to sell physical copies of their books.

Many big publishers nowadays can also create their own content. So the distributor becomes the producer. Take Amazon, for example, they produce lots of their own content, market and distribute it themselves, and while they allow other content creators to publish via them, they don’t put any resource into promoting of helping others work do well.

It’s no wonder, therefore, that new writers have trouble finding a way of fitting in and having their voices heard. Perhaps until the day that the industry operates changes, it might continue to be so and always be a genuine struggle for writers to see their work in print.

bethany cadman

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadman.co.uk

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