TRANSCRIPT

The publishing process is so slow. I mean it's like incredibly slow. For example, I signed a contract for a picture book manuscript in 2021. And that book is scheduled to be released in 2026... although I'm not even sure if that's going to happen.

I've also received rejection letters from publishers after books had been published by a different publisher.

So to me, this reality of the sluggish pace of publishing makes getting published a numbers game. The more manuscripts you have on submission, the more likely you are to have the one manuscript that catches the attention of an agent or editor at the exact right time. If you pin your hopes on one manuscript and wait for every response to come back from agents and publishers, your journey to getting published will take an impossibly long time.

Now this doesn't mean to crank out manuscripts. Far from it. Go through the process I discussed in earlier videos about writing. Make each new manuscript better than the previous one. The stronger the manuscript, the better your chance of getting an offer.

So to counteract the publishing industry's pace while increasing your odds of getting published follow what I call the Rule of 3.

Just a side note, The Rule of 3 applies to you only if you don't have an agent. If you have an agent, they'll submit manuscripts for you.

The Rule of 3 is the exact process I followed since I began writing picture books back in 2018 up until I signed with my agent in 2023. And over the course of those five years, the process resulted in the sale of 12 manuscripts to five different publishers. It's a simple and thorough process to help you move towards your dream as efficiently and quickly as possible. And here it is:

1. Always be working on one manuscript.

2. Always have a manuscript on submission to agents.

3. Always have a manuscript on submission to publishers.

And I will break down the Rule of 3 in more detail in the next video.