As part of Manuscript Month, author and GrubStreet instructor Lori Goldstein is our official Mentor of the Month this May and she’s offering multiple opportunities to support writers on their publishing journey. On May 13, she’ll lead two sessions: a free Q&A, How to Stay Positive on Your Publishing Journey, and a craft seminar, What It’s All About: How to Write a Novel Synopsis, designed to help novel writers tackle this key element of the query process.

Lori is also celebrating the launch of her novel Romantic Friction on May 6 at Porter Square Books: Boston Edition, with a special pre-event reception for writers, instructors, and book lovers, followed by a conversation with author Victoria Lavine and select student salon readings.

Finally, if you have a question about the publishing journey or business side of publishing, Lori is creating a video to address community questions — submit yours here.

As an author and instructor, I’m excited for writers to focus on the mission of GrubStreet’s May Manuscript Month: learning to navigate the publishing landscape. There’s so much out there about how publishing “works” but it’s hard to sort through the noise. Enter Manuscript Month with instructors, agents, and editors stepping in to help.

That publishing is a business should come as no surprise. Yet many writers grapple with this inherent truth. Because what that means for us, as writers, personally, is that our books are actually commodities. Ones we hope to sell and that we hope others will buy. This holds true for both traditional and self-publishing. In order to have a career as an author, we must have products in the marketplace. Products? Are you telling me that my book, the one inspired by my grandmother, or about parenting my child, or the struggle for fertility, or the magic of first love, are you saying that piece of my heart and soul is akin to a pair of leggings or a lawnmower?

Yes, yes, I am.

Let’s unpack this little truth bomb together as I share three things I wish knew before my first novel released in 2015. The first is before I started writing, the second is while I was writing, the third is after the agent and book deal. These are all good things too—because they are entirely under a writer’s control, which can’t be said about everything associated with the business of publishing!

Before You Begin Writing: Understand Genre

We’re told to write what we know and what we love. And you do need to be a consumer of the content you are creating. I’m a scaredy cat. Considering I can’t even watch the trailer of a horror movie, I’d be ill-suited to write something in that genre. However, from a business standpoint, considering what you want to write is more complex. Let’s say you love all categories and genres. You want to write middle grade fantasy and adult rom-coms and adult science fiction. Great, right? Maybe. Because if you are seeking an agent, not all agents represent all genres. What happens if you land an agent with your rom-com but they don’t represent your middle grade? Evaluating what you want to write and what type of agent you need to represent your body of work is an important decision to make before you send a single query letter.

But there’s even more at stake. Because after the agent and the first book deal (yay!), you will have a contract that will detail what you can put on submission next. Nearly every traditional publishing contract has an option clause. These vary, but the gist is, your next book (often your next “fiction” or whatever category you are writing in; sometimes more specific to genre, like “historical fiction), must be submitted to your current publisher first. And, if they like it, which you hope they do and you accept another deal, you will likely be releasing that next book in a year (for fiction). You won’t have much time to be dabbling in other genres. Add to that the idea of building a brand. You want readers loyal to you and your work. This goes for both traditional publishing and self-publishing. Backlist is key. And in most cases, readers tend to stick to one or two genres as their favorites. And while there are of course exceptions, readers may not follow you from romance to science fiction or from YA to adult (and an editor may not want to take the risk). If you want the readers who love your work to keep reading your books, you need to deliver the type of books they want and expect from you.

What’s the takeaway? If you could only publish books in one category and one genre for your entire career, what would it be? That’s where you should center your efforts first. Spend time building that brand, and then, down the line, expand or change as the market and your interests shift.

While You Are Writing: Craft Your Hook

Fiction writers, both pre-published and published, struggle to answer the question, “What’s your story about?” Many concentrate on theme or feelings, but people who ask this question—readers, agents, and editors—want to know your plot. Because that’s what’s going to help them decide to read your book (the substance of a memoir or nonfiction requires the same). There are thousands of books about greed and love and grief and even generic plot devices like capers or spies. What’s your unique spin on a universal theme? What is your book about tangibly? A heist to steal the Mona Lisa by two rival mafia groups; a boy who can grow flowers with his thoughts but keeps this secret from everyone including his parents; a woman who loses her child to a car accident — where her sister was driving.

Did you notice how those short (but specific) premises centered on plot but also happened to convey theme without having to say it? And conflict? That’s what a one-line hook (also called a logline or premise) should do. You need to be able to describe your book in this tangible way in under thirty seconds, think under fifty words. The more you add in, the more confused a reader becomes. It’s simply too much to absorb and isn’t necessary. If a reader is hooked, they’ll wait to read the book to learn more.

Here’s my premise for Romantic Friction, which I wrote as part of my initial plotting, something I highly recommend. If you can’t write a premise at the start of your process, it can be a sign of the story elements you’re missing, like an inciting incident, conflict, antagonist, and twist.

When a bestselling fantasy romance author whose series has become a cultural phenomenon learns another author has used AI to write like her—and that readers love it—she bands with her fellow authors to preserve their art the only way they can: by committing a felony.

What’s the takeaway? You will need this skill at every stage of your writing career. In classes you take, in swapping pages with critique partners, in pitching contests, in writing the flap copy for your novel, at bookstore events and festivals and to pitch your next book to the marketplace, your agent, and your editor. Learn this skill and hone it with every book.

After the Writing: Organization Matters

As a generally Type A personality, even I get overwhelmed at the level of organization and attention to detail it takes to engage in the business of publishing. For those seeking traditional publishing, this starts with the agent search. You must research agents to find ones who are a good fit for your book; understand their submission guidelines and requirements; note dates sent, responses, and if and when you can query another agent at that agency. This may sound simple, but since there may be upwards of 100 agents you could potentially query, that’s a lot to track! If you don’t find a system that works for you and that you will be faithful in updating, you risk querying the same agent more than once, missing agents you wanted to query, or mislabeling your sent query, as just a few of the dangers. This system can be anything from an Excel spreadsheet to a paper notebook. The key is finding one that you will use.

The same holds for after you get an agent. While that agent will guide the process of submissions to editors, you understand your book better than anyone. Take advantage of those skills you learned in querying and do the same research and tracking for editors. Publisher’s Weekly and Publisher’s Marketplace remain the jumping off points for editors and the types of books they acquire. Track similar books, their imprints, and editors and note which ones might be a fit for this book (or a future book), and then once you are on submission, update your system with notes and responses.

If you are self-publishing, organization is essential for tracking each of the components that you are responsible for from developmental editors to copyeditors to cover designers to production and much, much more. You should keep track of every potential collaborator even if you choose to work with someone else for this book. You may need them in the future. Don’t rely on your memory or a messy inbox!

For both traditional and self-publishing, the organization rockets to another level once you begin promotion. This involves compiling lists of individuals and places that can help you promote your book. A sampling: bookstores, local media, national media, authors for blurbs, authors for social media posts, podcasts, book festivals, bookstagrammers, BookTok, event calendars, book clubs, and more. On top of that, you’ll need an updated Web site, and if you book events, you’ll have to continuously update them, not to mention make graphics for each and post on social media. And we haven’t mentioned swag yet…or one of the biggest organizational endeavors that should be a simple undertaking: an invitation to a book launch event (virtual or in person). Until you do this, you will have no idea just how disorganized your contacts are!

What’s the takeaway? Organization is hard work, but fortunately, much of it can be done in advance. You can take a pause from writing to research agents before you are done, editors too. You can research self-publishing collaborators during the same phase. And at every phase, you can be noting all the people and places for promotion and getting your spreadsheet, notebook, or other system in place. And that inbox! Clean it up now. Your future self will thank you.