As a writer, you know that the hardest part of writing is often finding a willing audience--and harder still is finding quality publishing business sales leads. Getting your audience to pay you may be even more difficult than getting them to read your work. The key to publishing industry sales leads, however, is the same as finding any sales leads. You should tailor your work for the publisher you are selling to. That may sound like artistic suicide, but after some careful consideration and following a few easy steps to finding publisher sales leads, you can still be happy with your work, and get paid for it.
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done
Explore your options: Look at different types of publisher leads
If you write fiction, enter as many contests as you can, and send your work to literary journals. Submissions usually have fees, but these and your shipping costs are sometimes tax-deductible. Read rules and regulations carefully; they tend to change a lot from contest to contest. Only enter contests that you think you can win by reading previous winning entries, and only submit to journals you think your work fits with by reading recent issues. If you write a specific type of fiction, you may have even more places to submit to. Publishing sales lead generation is categorized on the web, so you can find out how to get your children's stories, erotica, poetry or inspirational fiction published, if you customize your search for something more specific. If you write nonfiction, publishing sales lead providers are always looking for you. Be careful whom you pick though; some publisher sales lead generation companies may run scams.
I recommend: Freelance Writing has an extensive list of contests and publishing business sales leads, and
Poets & Writers has some great lists of grants and awards available, as well as reputable
journals that accept submissions. Another great place to look for journals is the back of any Best American Short Stories collection.
Make it for them: Tailor your writing to fit your publisher leads
As with any job application (which is how you should look at responses to publisher leads), providing an excellent cover letter is crucial. Once you've tailored your letter for the company you're addressing, go back and check to see your work really fits by asking: Does it meet the word count specifications? Is it right for the age group/specific audience this company caters to? Is this company reputable enough for my work and/or will it pay well enough?
I recommend: Go directly to magazine and business websites to find out how to submit your work to them. If you want a generated list of publishing sales leads,
Online Writing Jobs.com, and
Craig's List are always good places to search. For cover letter help,
Free Resume Template is a good site.
Get it all out: Send your work to a few different publisher leads
Getting responses from fiction publishing sales leads often takes up to 6 months. Your next job is to find as many publishing industry sales leads as possible that are similar to the one you have just sent your work to. Be careful not to simply copy and paste cover letters, and make sure you keep a list of every place you have sent your work, and the fee receipts. These will be useful when doing your taxes, and in the case of plagiarism. Once a publisher has responded, make a checkmark next to it on your list. Once they have accepted or rejected your work, make another type of mark next to that one. Do not be discouraged by the number of rejections you receive. Your work just wasn't what someone was looking for at that exact moment.
I recommend: For writing help, try out some books or software on the subject from
MasterFreelancer.com. There are lots of online tutorials and blogs on how to improve writing, too, like the free online course from
Coping.org and a free writing help database at
LousyWriter.com.
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