Raphaëlle Giordano, Stephen King, Polina Panassenko, Mélissa Da Costa… Does reading this list of names ring a bell? What do all these authors have in common? That’s right: they all achieved success with their very first book. It’s inspiring, isn’t it?
Well, after all, why not! Let’s dream, dear first-time novelists; let’s talk about literature and success, let’s talk about the recipes that have worked, what has worked for some in recent years, and let’s imagine our first novel published by a publishing house, sold in hundreds, or even thousands of copies.
So yes, it’s true, not everyone can be Françoise Sagan. And publishing a first novel at just 18, which then becomes a masterpiece of French literature like Bonjour Tristesse with Julliard, doesn’t happen every day! However, all kinds of first-time authors exist. While some stand out more in the statistics (like teachers, researchers, journalists, or screenwriters), there’s no single path common to all young authors who have achieved success with their first book. In truth, there are as many author stories as there are successful novels. There’s no single subject, theme, writing style, technique, or formula… In short, no foolproof way to find a publisher. There is the art of writing: talent and a lot of hard work. A mind that is both creative and methodical. A mind that can also be shaped over time.
In this article, we will present our advice on how to maximize your chances of success when you decide to send your first novel manuscript to publishing houses.
Take the time to (re)work on your manuscript
Writing a book—whether it’s a novel, non-fiction, or children’s book—takes a lot of time. But even when that work is finished, your manuscript isn’t necessarily ready to be sent to publishers.
Revise your text before submitting it to a publishing house
The revision stage of a manuscript is just as important as the writing itself. As an author, you need to be aware of this so you can dedicate the necessary time to rewrite your manuscript. Publishing houses don’t expect to receive perfect manuscripts (since they don’t exist), but your manuscript must be as flawless as possible in terms of narrative structure, pacing, and the consistency of your characters and plot.
That is why a careful proofreading of your book is essential before you can send a manuscript to one or more publishing houses.
The Proofreading workshop offered on Edith & Nous is an excellent way to get feedback from a publishing professional on your text to support you in the rewriting of your manuscript and allow you to present the most polished version of your literary project to publishers.
What if a publisher helped you prepare your first novel before sending it?
Publishers don’t expect a perfect manuscript, but rather a structure, a rhythm, and compelling characters, and this work is rarely accomplished in a single rewrite. In Extenso’s support program places a professional editor at your side while you rewrite: three rounds of your manuscript, generally spread over six months, each including a full reading, a reader’s note, and a one-hour interview. It is designed for authors who have completed their manuscript.
Practicing writing
There are many ways to practice writing and refine your writing style. As an author, these exercises can be extremely beneficial in helping you improve your manuscript before submitting it to a publisher. You can participate in writing workshops, where you’ll receive feedback from professionals on specific topics, or you can complete writing exercises that will introduce you to writing techniques while boosting your literary creativity.
Which publishing houses should I choose?
First-time authors don’t all find a home with the same publisher. However, some publishing houses, such as Actes Sud and Buchet-Chastel, boast slightly higher than average statistics in terms of first novels published. The Belgian publisher Diagonale explicitly positions itself as a publisher of first-time authors, with the slogan “publishers of (first) novels.”
But generally speaking, the vast majority of literary publishers are looking for new authors and new novels. As a first-time author, targeting only publishers specializing in debut novels is both haphazard and somewhat risky. Unfortunately, vanity presses have used this as a selling point to rake in as many manuscripts as possible… And if you’re looking for a proper publishing contract, some publishers should be avoided.
Defining the editorial line of publishing houses
Start by going to your local bookstore and browsing the novels, reading a few pages, and studying the back covers to better understand each publisher’s editorial line. Select the publishing houses that resonate with you that could publish your story.
You can also visit the websites of publishing houses that interest you and delve deeper into your research to distinguish between those that publish texts of the same genre as yours and those that don’t. Each house has a more or less broad editorial focus; it’s up to you to determine which ones best suit your manuscript!
By conducting all this preliminary research before submitting your manuscript, you’ll be better equipped to understand each publishing house’s editorial focus and therefore send your manuscript to editors likely to be interested in your literary project, thus giving it a chance. Conversely, sending your manuscript to every possible publishing house without knowing if your text’s genre interests them won’t help you find an editor any faster!
However, keep in mind that it may be more difficult to attract the attention and curiosity of very large literary publishing houses, and it will also not be easy to find your place with small publishing houses that publish fewer than ten books a year.
Follow the shipping instructions
Each publishing house is free to establish its own rules for submitting manuscripts: by mail, by email, via a form with a specific format, a mandatory or optional synopsis, a manuscript department open at a specific time and closed for the rest of the year… In short, there are as many conditions as there are publishing houses! This is why it is very important that you strictly adhere to these regulations, at the risk of having your literary project rejected by a publisher for purely technical reasons.
Indeed, it is pointless to send a manuscript by post to a publishing house that only wants to receive texts by email!
The timing of the edition
The publishing process is undeniably lengthy. Some publishing houses receive 3,000, 4,000, or even 6,000 manuscripts a year. Editors then have to review all these manuscripts and sort through them, keeping only the texts they wish to add to their catalog. This colossal task is very time-consuming, which is why the publishing world’s timeline doesn’t always align with that of authors, who, eager and excited at the prospect of receiving feedback, would like things to move faster.
The new players in the book industry
To find new authors, publishers continue to use traditional methods. But today, new solutions are emerging that attempt to redress the imbalance between the number of manuscripts received and the time available to read them and respond to authors.
Since November 2020, Édith & Nous has offered publishers a new alternative by bringing together hundreds of manuscripts (unpublished or self-published) on a single platform, sorted by genre and keywords. This way, your manuscripts are no longer buried under a pile of emails or letters, but are visible to over a hundred publishers.
Inspiring journeys
There are many examples of authors who have successfully achieved great success with their first novel. These inspiring journeys, marked by both resilience and hard work, prove that getting a first novel published requires patience and dedication to the literary project. Publishing a first novel and gaining the trust of a publishing house is not easy, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible!
Raphaëlle Giordano
In 2015, French author Raphaëlle Giordano, a personal development specialist, published her first novel, * Ta deuxième vie commence quand tu comprends que tu n’en as qu’une* (Your Second Life Begins When You Realize You Only Have One) , with Eyrolles, a publisher she was already collaborating with on other personal development books. By 2020, her debut novel had sold over 2.2 million copies. Not bad at all for a first book!