I’m thrilled to invite best-selling author and floral photographer extraordinaire, Georgianna Lane to the blog today to answer your questions about how to become a published author! Georgianna is the author of several stunning lifestyle/travel books (with more on the way!) including: Paris in Bloom, New York in Bloom, London in Bloom, Vintage Roses, Peonies, and Dahlias. Her mission is to uplift and inspire with beautiful words and images which has certainly been accomplished with her breathtaking books. If you haven’t had the chance to pick one up, I know you will just adore them!

Today Georgianna will be imparting her wisdom, advice, and recommendations as she responds to your writing career questions submitted on Instagram. See below for her helpful tips:

Writing Career Tips: Q&A with Georgianna Lane

1. How should I submit my work to an agent or publisher?

Georgianna: Most agents and publishers will have a section on their websites with information for submissions. Each will list specifics of the submission process and nearly all can be done electronically these days.

If you don’t see the information on their website, it’s perfectly acceptable to write and ask for details for submission.

You don’t want to waste an opportunity and first impressions really do count. So make sure that you have a compelling, clear idea of your project, have the body of work to back it up (online portfolio, etc.) and that you include biographical information (skills, stats, products, social media engagement) to show why you are qualified to create this new work. It would be helpful to also include any market research showing what publics would be interested in the project and why.

For the initial email pitch, you can keep it simple with a brief outline of your project, links to your portfolio, bio, social media, etc.

Later, if the agent or publisher is interested, you’ll be asked to submit a full proposal, which is a separate subject in itself.

Above all, be fully professional in your approach, thank them for their time and make sure you have NO typos or grammatical errors in your presentation! It’s a good practice to have a trustworthy, literate friend or even a professional proofreader side check such submissions.

2. How long does it take to write a book?

Georgianna: This is very much a subjective answer. Every writer works differently. Some authors crank them out in a few months and some take many years. I would say that the average is about a year to create a manuscript, and then another year to go through the editing, marketing and production process with the publisher prior to release. My books take a minimum of a year but usually closer to two years and I work on several simultaneously.

3. Can you provide tips for self-editing?

Georgianna: I have worked in and around book publishing for many years. Before I was a published author, I was an Art Director at a literary agency in Hollywood and we oversaw numerous bestselling books. In all my time in this field, I have never seen a single person that could effectively self-edit their work. Everyone needs an editor and preferably also a copy editor and style editor. These are specialized, expert roles and no one expects an author to be exceptional at all of them. So, by all means, write your manuscript, and edit it yourself for message, meaning and grammar until you are happy with it. Then hand it off to a pro editor and don’t be surprised or offended if they find numerous points to correct. Ideally, they will be only grammar and style points, and errors that you missed, while not changing the sense of your writing or your personal “voice”. So, make friends with your editors as they are there to make you look better than you would without them.

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Georgianna’s books are available worldwide. You can order them from Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or Target!

4. Do you have any recommendations if I don’t have writing conferences readily available to me?

Georgianna: You really do not need to attend an in-person class to get started on writing. The internet is filled with vast resources, many of them excellent, to get you started, including courses, workshops, podcasts and webinars. I would also recommend joining writing groups of people also starting out, as their support, encouragement and yes, critiques, can be invaluable. The most important thing is to start writing! You can always improve and refine your work but if you don’t develop the habit and discipline of writing, you will struggle. Don’t wait until you are a trained “writer” to start writing!

5. Do you recommend going with a traditional publisher or self-publishing?

Georgianna: This is a question that depends on so many factors. It’s actually a huge topic and both options have their advantages. If you are happy working with professionals and feel comfortable with allowing them to take charge of bringing your work into the world, then a publisher can do miracles and it can be a wonderful relationship. If you are uneasy relinquishing control of any aspect, then you might look into self-publishing, although that requires additional skills that are beyond the scope of most first time authors.

“You really do not need to attend an in-person class to get started on writing. The internet is filled with vast resources, many of them excellent, to get you started, including courses, workshops, podcasts and webinars.”

6. Do I have to work with an agent in my area?

Georgianna: No, definitely not. These days we are so fortunate that everything can be handled electronically. I travel constantly and my agent lives in California. We do everything via email and electronic transfer. Occasionally, we’ll chat on the phone to cover specific points, which is wonderful and we enjoy catching up, but that’s not the main way we interact. So, feel free to contact agents anywhere in the world!

7. How can I get established authors to write a forward in my book?

Georgianna: The simplest way is to ask them! Or go through their agent or editor with your request. Successful authors are extremely busy so be considerate of that and try to approach their administrative personnel first. But likely, unless you are an established author yourself, you won’t get a full forward written by them. A nice blurb (quote) for the back cover, for example, is more possible and also valuable.

An exception would be if your book is very technical or scholarly and you’d like an authority or senior faculty to contribute as a form of endorsement. Then you might get a forward or preface but they’d possibly want to be paid.