Product Description

Novelists, often unfamiliar with how to successfully submit a novel to publishers or agents, are guided through the steps of creating synopses, queries, and sample chapters. Lyon includes successful synopses representative of all the genres and mainstream fiction, some from well-known authors.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1299148 in Books
• Published on: 1997-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 298 pages

Amazon.com Review
Marketing is not usually a novelist's specialty. But unless you are among a very lucky few, you are going to have to market your book like crazy in order to get it published or even looked at. In The Sell-Your-Novel Toolkit, Elizabeth Lyon shares the wealth of information she has garnered as a book-marketing consultant and independent book editor. First, she says, make sure that your novel is good and ready; Lyon believes that "only one percent of the novels submitted for publication are both structurally correct and appropriately polished."

Once you have utilized all the resources you can muster to fine-tune your prose (writer's groups, freelance editors, books about writing, and long hours at the computer), you've got to start thinking like a marketer. You'll need a catchy title, an alluring synopsis, and a knockout query letter (writer James Axtell calls the query "the single most important piece of paper a novelist writes"). Lyon's instructions for synopsis and query writing are accompanied by several annotated examples. You will need to write and stick to a marketing plan, and you will need to research agents and publishers. Too many writers submit their work blindly, not understanding that "finding a publisher," as Lyon writes here, "closely resembles a job search. You wouldn't think of approaching a company about which you know nothing." Pay attention to who is publishing the kind of fiction you are writing; look on the acknowledgments pages of those books for leads on agents. And whatever you do, try not to get discouraged. After all, says Lyon, "substantially more people fail for lack of persistence than for persisting too long." --Jane Steinberg

Customer Reviews

Don't send out one query until you've read this book!
I first met Elizabeth Lyon at a writer's conference and found her to be a profoundly wise yet down-to-earth woman with an expansive knowledge of the publishing industry. In this book, she shares with us her expertise through explanation, example, and recommended reading. I'm thankful that there are people like Elizabeth who make the road from writing to publishing much more easy to navigate. I highly recommend this book to anyone before they send out one query/manuscript.

The keys to selling your book
Writing guru Elizabeth Lyon has done it again! This destined-to-be bestseller specifies exactly what is needed to capture the attention of the publishing world. The toolkit not only details practical instruction and advice, but also supplies dozens of successful queries and synopses that will lead the aspiring writer directly toward the finish line. Based on years of coaching writers, Lyon knows what approaches open an agent's heart and a publisher's wallet. What more could you ask for!

Extremely useful!
I have the Sell Your Novel Toolkit" and keep it within arm's reach because I find it so valuable whenever I'm ready to resubmit my manuscript. I was very impressed with the book's approach because I definitely got the feeling that Lyon has a sincere interest in helping writers achieve their dream. Reaching publication is probably more of a challenge than it ever was before, but people like her are an inspiration to not give up, and she shows us how to go about it in an easy to follow manner.