/lit/ - Literature

>>6946984
1. write a book
2. send it to publisher
3. ???
4. failure, because you're not black, female, lgbt or talented enough

>>6947006
How do I let the agent know that I'm black in my query letter?

>>6947022
If you know what you're doing, it would already be incorporated into your text.

>>6946984
question of my life

>>6947028
this, or if you're not that smart attach a photo

are really black though?

>>6947006
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/06/catherine-nichols-female-author-male-pseudonym

>>6947046
Oh totally! sounds like a well-controlled experiment over a reasonable set of data! No problems with that experiment :-)

>>6947055
>muh narrative

>>6947006
So do you write (and send) the whole thing or just excerpts?

>>6946984
1. write your work
2. die
3. wait a century
4. ???
5. profit ;^)

I'm assuming it would help to write short stories and submit them in contests too

>>6947006
As I understand it it's mostly this, but repeat steps 2-4 at least 20 times before any success.

What I'd like to know is, what sort of format should the thing be in? Different publishers have their distinct style guides, but do you put in the contents? Dedications? Footnotes and Acknowledgements? Or just the meat? For fiction, at least.

>>6947759
Does it cost money to send it to a publisher/agent each time?

>>6947784
stamps are pretty expensive tbh

>>6947784
Never pay anyone money to look at your manuscript, those are scams.