Please do not send your manuscript without contacting us first.  Use the comment block below to contact us or send an email to info(at)mdbooksusa.com.

In your email please include  the following:

• Your full name
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Before submitting an inquiry, please review the information below to assure your manuscript lines up with our publishing interests.

MD Books USA is particularly interested in:

• Any manuscript written by a physician or other health professional, fiction or consumer non-fiction
• Certain manuscripts by non-health professionals, but relevant to the medical field
• Other manuscripts of outstanding merit

Genres in which we are interested

• Stories of achievement, success, or overcoming
• Fictionalized accounts of medical situations
• Medical mysteries of merit
• Spiritual and faith-related books
• Consumer manuals on health topics
• Books for health professionals other than textbooks

Genres in which we are NOT interested

• Vampires, new age, withcraft, atheism
• Murder mysteries (unless they are elevating or uplifting)
• Books containing adult language, gratuitous violence, promiscuity
• Medical textbooks

Writing a novel is not for sissies. Sure, anyone can tell a story, but can you do it without putting your reader to sleep? Storytelling dates back to the dawn of humankind. When you ask someone what they did today, you’re looking for a story, not a statistical analysis of the day’s activities. Who did you meet? What happened at work? Why do you care? Characters, plot, motivation – all reasons we like a good story. Don’t forget this when you’re writing your book.

So far I’ve completed one novel and written half of another, and another, and another. It’s much easier to begin than to finish.

Here’s what I’ve learned from finishing the novel that is now under contract with an agent:

1. Choose a topic you’re passionate about. You’ll be spending weeks, months, years at the task. If you’re not passionate about your story you may lose interest before you finish – and when you think you’re done, you won’t be.

2. Write quickly. It won’t be perfect, so just don’t worry about that. When I finished my first manuscript, I thought it was perfect. I’m a member of Mensa after all! Wrong! Step #3 is as important as any other.

3. Put your manuscript away and don’t look at it. Take a break for a month or two. Reward yourself with a vacation or something else fun. You won’t be able to look at your manuscript objectively until you’ve been away from it for at least several weeks. Get it out of your head so you can approach it fresh when it’s time for step #4.

4. Have fun with editing. Laugh at your mistakes. Don’t get too attached to specific words or phrases. There’s a million ways to tell the same story, and odds are, you haven’t found the best one on the first go-around. Eliminate anything that interferes with the flow. Read it out loud and see how you like the sound. Be ruthless with adverbs and flowery language. Simplicity is always best.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4. Going over your work once will result in dramatic improvement. Doing it twice is the icing on the cake. Even twice may not be enough. You learn as you go, after all, and by the time you get to the end you may have a different opinion of the beginning. But don’t edit your book to death. Unless it’s a classic that will stand the test of time, when you’re sick of editing, move on. Your next novel may be better yet.

 

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That’s it. Nothing magical. Just perseverance and elimination of ego. If you get this far, finding an agent and publisher should be a piece of cake. 

Copyright 2010 MD Books USA

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A few years I knew none of this.  That’s good news, isnt’ it?  You can learn it, too.  Don’t do it the hard way, like I did.  I learned as I went along, though making mistakes really cements the lessons in your mind, doesn’t it? 

Here are 7 tips to get you started on the right track.

1.  Prepare your manuscript as a Word document from the start.  Then you won’t have to transfer it later.  Use good margins (at least 1″), double-spacing, and don’t forget to put the title of your book, your name, and page number in the header.  If you print it out and have no page numbers, you will knock it on the floor and regret your lack of foresight. (Yes, I did that.)  Oh, and don’t bother formatting your work until the very end, when all the edits are completed.

2.  When you think you’re finished writing, but your manuscript out of sight for at least a month.  I know you think it’s perfect, but it isn’t.  (Yes, guilty again.) Time away will clear your mind and allow you a little detachment.  Then you’ll be ready to sacrifice some of those precious adverbs.  You will need to kill many of your favorites, so get over it.

3.  When you go through your work again you’ll see some glaring errors.  Fix all you can, then put your MS aside for yet another month – or more.  But it can’t get any better, I hear you thinking.  Wrong again.

4.  Repeat the process once more.  Twice, if you’re obsessive-compulsive.

5.  Now check for spelling errors and typos, not just those that spell-check finds.  Use your own brain and you’ll find at least several that spell-check missed due to context or otherwise.

6.  Now that you’re sure it’s perfect (but it probably isn’t) format it if you like.  For self-publishers this is mandatory.  For professional results, hire a typesetter if you can afford to do so.  For traditional publishing, do not format your work.  A simple Word document is best since more edits will definitely be suggested.

7.  While you’re waiting for the next step, take a vacation.  You deserve it.  And believe me, your work is not done by any means, so take a break now before the next wave hits.