# Ready to submit, but no credentials to speak of.



## Subcreator (Jan 26, 2013)

I've just finished my first novel_A Song of Shadow and Flame_” , and I'm nearly ready to submit it to agents. I'm feeling a little trepidation, however, since I've never published any short stories, I don't have any publishing credentials to put in a query letter.

Along the same note, I have a blog, but since I'm pretty apolitical and new to the business of writing, I don't really have anything I can see worth posting. Sure, I have plenty of ideas for my stories, just not for a blog, which I know could help boost my marketing presence. I could put up posts about world building, but I'm not sure how much of Yma (the world of my novel and planned sequels) I should reveal online.

Basically, I'm trying to figure out how to successfully query an agent when this is my first novel, which I've worked on for about five years (including one complete rewrite), in a world that has been built continually for fourteen years, and when I have no professional credentials to fall back on.

Am I just being too self-conscious about this?

”  _I should mention that the “song” in the title_ A Song of Shadow and Flame_ does actually pertain to the story itself, if that matters. _


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## Kevin O. McLaughlin (Jan 27, 2013)

You're overthinking it. Once upon a time, the standard advice was to go write short stories, get some credits, go write more short stories, see those published in major zines, then write and submit a novel.

That stopped being the case a couple of decades ago in SF/Fantasy, although some old guard writers still recommend it.

Although the short story market IS opening up again over the last couple of years, it's not really any harder to have your first publication be a novel than it is to have it be a short story. And it's easier to get a novel published than it is to get a short story into a pro market.

Send it off. To...um...a LOT of agents. Remember that "no reply" is the standard form of agent rejection these days.

Oh, and start working on your next book. Tomorrow.


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## Caged Maiden (Jan 27, 2013)

How to Write a Query Letter  you could start here...


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## Chilari (Jan 27, 2013)

I don't think you need to worry too much about credentials. It can't hurt to have a short story published somewhere or a website for any agents or publishers who fancy googling your name, but really you should focus on the book. Let it speak for itself.


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## Subcreator (Jan 27, 2013)

Thanks for the advice. I am kind of wondering about the question I have regarding blogging. I want to do it, partially because I want to get my name out there, but mostly because I want to blog about worldbuilding. However, I'm not sure how much I should include about the world if I'm trying to get a series about it published. I don't mean anything actually in the stories, just examples of Yma as they pertain to the topic of worldbuilding.


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## Chilari (Jan 27, 2013)

I'm not sure "here's my world" will be all that attractive to readers on its own. Without the books available to read it's meaningless, and without characters it could be very dry. Perhaps the way to do it would be to write short stories involving some element of worldbuilding. Or you could discuss a certain topic within worldbuilding, targetted at writers, and use your world as an example.


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## Devor (Jan 27, 2013)

Chilari said:


> I'm not sure "here's my world" will be all that attractive to readers on its own. Without the books available to read it's meaningless, and without characters it could be very dry. Perhaps the way to do it would be to write short stories involving some element of worldbuilding. Or you could discuss a certain topic within worldbuilding, targetted at writers, and use your world as an example.



I don't know, I think there's a market for worldbuilding materials if they're well presented.  For instance, I remember finding a bestiary on the Dr. Who webpage with the BBC.  It depends on the audience.  Gamers, who trend younger, tend to be into that kind of thing.  There's also a lot of creative types looking for inspiration, looking for ideas that make an impression with how creative they are.

Don't get me wrong, though.  To be worth doing, you'd need a lot of truly creative ideas.  You couldn't just present encyclopedic filler, which I think is how most people view worldbuilding.

Oh, and like they said, don't worry about credentials.  They're nice if you have them, but even when they're there, they're pretty secondary.  Novels and short stories can even take different skill sets.  What they'll see with your credentials is how well you can work to market yourself, which can be a plus.


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## Nihal (Jan 28, 2013)

Devor is right about the worldbuilding. I'm a concept artist and sometimes I must fill the role of storyteller - but using images to tell things. The majority of my public (besides the client)? Other artists, professionals and students alike.

The general target public of the finished main product - game, book whatever - couldn't care less about the lore and the creation-related material.

There is a market but your target is different. I would guess they're lore-affectionates, really curious fans, hobbyists, other professionals and people of other creative fields (such as illustration and concept art).


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