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Harold Underdown: 7 quick tips for beginning writers

1. Work on your manuscript: Writing the perfect query letter and targeting just the right publisher or agent is useless if the story isn’t ready.
   

2. Follow the rules and don’t be “clever”–and that means read submissions guidelines and standard practices.
   

3. Do your research: look beyond the names you already know.
   

4. Ignore the odds: persistence is no guarantee of success, but giving up too soon IS a guarantee that you won’t get published.
   

5. There is no one sure-fire path to publication. Find your own. Everyone’s path is different.
   

6. You don’t need an agent, except in particular circumstances.
   

7. Think outside of the/your box: what about magazines, nonfiction, and other paths?
   

8. Bonus tip: Conferences and workshops like The Crash Course in Children’s Book Publishing give you a leg up.

   

   Posted on: August 28, 2015

   Tags: crash course, faculty guest post, getting started, Underdown, writing tips