It seems like the most obvious of questions: 'I've just completed my first novel. Which is the best publisher to approach?' Unfortunately, it's hopelessly naïve. It shows that, as a newbie, you've probably searched online for 'Publishers' and seen what an enormous list it can be. Or you've bought one of the books, like 'The Writer's Handbook', and seen the lists in there. You'll have noticed that most of them list the areas they're interested in, like 'Romance' or 'Crime Fiction', so you'll have been able to dismiss a few as potentially not interested in what you have to offer. The problem is that you'll have believed that other bit, the bit about them actually being 'interested' in new writers. It isn't true. It's what all publishers say, and maybe it was even true, once, probably back in the 1950s, but the fact is that most publishing firms devote little or no time to submissions from first-time novelists. Hardly any at all.
Unless you're already famous. Ah, you missed that bit out; when you said, 'I'm a first-time novelist', you should have added, 'And unknown'. The sad fact is that if Barack Obama retired from office tomorrow, and then wrote a novel, well, HE would be a 'first-time' novelist, wouldn't he? The difference between him and you is that he would have no trouble in finding a publisher. Think about it. Or anyone else who already has a high profile, because they're on TV for cooking, or gardening, or reporting. Or - let's be topical - it's nearly time for the Winter Olympics. Here's a guess: if the guy or gal who wins the jumpy-off thing, flying through the air on skis, then sat down and wrote a book - Or the person who wins the gold medal for skating. Or - well, practically, anyone who gets their picture in the paper and their story on the News, if they suddenly announced themselves as 'first-time novelists', they wouldn't be unpublished long.
It's a fact. Transferring from an area of fame into another is easier than starting from scratch. It's like Arnold Schwartzenegger, unfortunately. He was offered parts in films, and moved to Hollywood, but then, he had already become well-known: he'd been Mr Universe for two years in a row. Two. Not one. So that's one route. You want your novel published? Take up body-building. I'm not joking. Because what's the alternative? Believe the hype that publishers put in their 'Writer's Handbook' entry, or roll out at fiction conventions, you know, the spiel that says, 'Send us a chapter and a synopsis and we'll consider it'. No, they won't. They'll open your envelope, sure, but if they don't recognise your name, they'll fling your submission onto a pile, with all the rest, that will get considered someday, maybe, when someone has the time. But, of course, none of the over-worked staff ever does find themselves with spare time, so unsolicited material seldom even gets scanned, or looked over, let alone read in depth and considered seriously. Which means, looking on the bright side, that when it comes back, as it inevitably will, there's no reason to get depressed. Your work hasn't been 'rejected' - it hasn't even been weighed in the balance. Your envelope was opened, waited around for a while, then your Stamped Addressed envelope was taken out, the other bits put in it, a 'Rejection Slip' added, and the whole package sent winging its way back to you. You weren't even a possibility. Why would you be? They'd never heard of you!
Which is one good reason to join a Writing Circle. Not just so you can get moral support and helpful criticism, but also so's you get to hear about Writing Competitions and opportunities in magazines and book collections, where your work might get noticed. You'll also get feedback and criticism, of course. Help with your grammar and spelling, character development and dialogue might come in handy too. But what Best Seller ever got that way from being well written? No, that's chasing a ghost. Go down your local bookshop and open the books that are all selling well. How many of them are 'well written'? A few, maybe, but most books shift volume because of their subject matter or who they are written by: it's never a case that the book that's the best written achieves the most sales. It might get good Reviews and even win prizes, but the public don't want quality, they want star quality, and that's something else.
Faced with that uncertainty, there's only one real answer to the question: 'Who can be the publisher of my first book?' The answer has to be: YOU. You are the only person you can rely on to read your book and see its good points; to notice the clever bits and alert readers to them; to identify where it sits in the spectrum of genres and talk about it in the right forums. If there's one bit of advice that works in the modern world, it's this: if you are not well known, then by all means send off your manuscript to any agent or publisher that takes your fancy. But, while your waiting for a reply - and it might take months - take the opportunity to get your book up on one of the online booksellers that let you upload your text and turn it into an e-book, as well as look for the online print-on-demand publishers, especially the ones that don't charge you upfront fees, merely the cost of printing each individual copy. Then, when your work is available, you can spend your time - apart from writing the next book, maybe the next one in the series - to advertising yourself, your merits and your skills. A little bit every day, on book sites and social media, might actually get you noticed, and then the game is reversed: if you're famous, the publishers will come looking for you.
Of course they'll deny it. Traditional Publishers can get very snooty about online publishing, and some used to say, 'If it's already been published on the Internet, we won't touch it'. They can't afford to be so precious now. Think about 'Fifty Shades of Gray': it was selling like obscene hotcakes on the net, and publishers were falling over each other trying to sign the author up. She got a deal. The plain fact is they saw an opportunity to make money and they pursued it. After all, never forget the single most important lesson of all: publishers may promise you that they will make you rich, but that is never their major worry. The real obsession of their lives is to make themselves rich. So, when they say, 'This book is terrible', you have to translate that into real English. The real message is, 'This book won't sell enough to make us a healthy profit'. It's not a reflection on your skill, it's a prediction about how they see the market. And that, famously, can be wildly inaccurate too. Never forget: fifteen publishers - wise, experienced and professionally savvy - turned down Harry Potter because they thought it wouldn't sell. But that's not the end of the story: the publisher who said 'Yes' thought the books might sell a little and only ordered a small print-run. Of course, as history shows, they had to re-order printing more than five times in that first year, and that was only the beginning. But this is an important lesson: if you put all your faith in publishers, and their ability to spot a winner, you will be sadly disappointed. They didn't recognise J. K. Rowling, why would they spot your qualities? No, far better to get started on the internet on your own. There, you have the chance to prove yourself, build up a fan base, and 'break through' into the world of Traditional Publishing. Looking for the 'ideal' publisher, the one who will like your work first off, or even look at your work, is a hopeless quest, doomed to disappointment.