If you are serious about getting your novels published, I would highly recommend you read some nonfiction books that deal with the fiction publishing industry. Many of these books focus on specific genres (non-fiction, chick-lit, fiction, mystery, etc.) and will give you great advice on breaking into the industry. Several famous writers have written non-fiction books geared towards helping new writers get published.

Here's a list of useful books to help you learn more about the industry:

"Get Organized, Get Published!"

"Get Published Today"

"The Everything Guide to Writing a Book Proposal"

"The Writers Little Helper"

"So, You Wanna Be a Writer?"

Because I have no idea what genre your novel is, the above books are general and deal with improving your writing, how to get published, and how to write a book proposal. These books will help you out.

Also, you should join a writing critique group in your local area. (They also have several online groups you can join. Most are free to join, but some do have membership fees.) The critique groups will help you zone in on problem areas and help you learn and improve as a writer.

After you've gotten your cleaned up your manuscript, send a few sample chapters to a literary agent. You can find agents in the Writer's Market. Although you could submit your book to the publisher directly (You can also find a list of publisher's in the Writer's Market), agents are more experienced and can a better price for your manuscript. Plus, many publishing houses have lots of manuscripts to go through and they often cannot get to unsolicited manuscripts (hence, your book may never be read). Agents are experienced in dealing with publishing houses and editors and can help break this barrier. They do take a commission off the book, but at least the book will be sold (hopefull

Be ready to deal with rejection. It will happen a lot. Not all agents will accept you as a client, but you've just gotta keep plugging and chugging along! I actually work in the publishing industry, so I know a little about how everything works :-)

I hope this helps! Good luck with your novel.

- Asian Chick

www.askanasianchick.com