Getting Past the Publishing Gatekeepers

by Hope Bolinger, Linda Fulkerson, Carrie Schmidt

Remember when Dorothy finally reached the Emerald City only to be halted by the Gatekeeper, blocking her hopes of seeing the Great and Powerful Wizard?

The path to publication is like that. Agents, and Editors, and Publishers, oh, my! Each one is a barrier between you and a publishing contract.

But what if you understood what agents, editors, publishers, and readers really want?

If you’re struggling to get past the publishing gatekeepers, this book will give you a behind-the-scenes peek at how to win the heart of each type of publishing professional. In fact, Getting Past the Publishing Gatekeepers won’t just give you a peek—it will give you a guided tour. In this book, four publishing professionals—an agent, a publisher, an editor, and an influencer—share what it takes to unlock each “gate” within the publishing industry.

Getting Past the Publishing Gatekeepers is a must-have resource for all aspiring authors, and it offers insights to help multi-published authors as well.

304 pages, Paperback

Published October 11, 2022

Reviews

[Karen Sargent · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my passions is helping aspiring authors take steps toward reaching their publishing dream. So many people had helped me along the way, so it's a privilege to pay it forward. The author team of GATEKEEPERS has made paying it forward so much easier. If a new author has a publishing question, I will refer them directly to this book. GATEKEEPERS isn't only for new authors, though. This inside peek into the industry has valuable information for published authors as well, especially the chapters by Carrie Booth Schmidt on reaching and keeping readers. I only wish this book were available when I first started writing!

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book!

I wish this book had been available when I started down the path to publishing. Even now, with twelve books published, this book had a lot to say that I will use-about marketing, about readers. But for those just starting that journey-new writers, new authors-there is a world of information in this book. You will be so glad you read it. Agents, editors, publishers? It's here. Query letters, one sheets, platform? It's here. Writing well, newsletters, influencers? It's here. Start your writing career a jump ahead of others by reading this book. It's the help most of us were looking for back when. Now available!

[Felicia Ferguson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Peek Behind the Curtain

These ladies know their stuff and their refreshingly open honesty is inspiring, informative, and in several instances, laugh-out-loud funny. (Apricot jam versus dark chocolate raspberry cream truffles, anyone?) I’ll be referring back to this book often and have already joined the mailing list to learn more.

[Heather Wood]

As an indie author, I got this book mostly for Carrie's section on what readers are looking for from authors, but I also wanted to know more about the publishing industry.
I have to say, I really didn't learn a whole lot from the first three sections (the agent, the publisher, and the editor) that I didn't already know. There weren't really "secrets" for getting published that aren't ones you already know, like learning the craft and following publisher guidelines. It got repetitious and I was frustrated by the repeated refrain "do your research" without instruction on where or how to do it. (Some of the authors did do a better job of telling you where to look for what they were talking about than others). Mostly it did nothing to tempt me away from staying indie forever. But I would say this book is more helpful to the author just starting out who doesn't already know these things.
I read Carrie's section, hoping to find out what I was doing right and what areas I had room to learn and grow, and I came away with a few things to keep in mind or start trying. I can't say whether the book as a whole was worth the money for the takeaways I gained, but I wanted to know what they had to say and now I know. ☺️

[Loraine Nunley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am an author getting my manuscript in front of the 'gatekeepers' of publishing so this book came at just the right time to give me some much needed advice and encouragement for the process. I attended a lecture with Hope Bolinger at a writers conference and I have followed Carrie Schmidt for years through her blog, blog tour company, and social media. I was very impressed by their individual voices coming through in the sections about agents and influencers. It was like I was sitting across the table from them. I found so much helpful information from all of the authors and would definitely recommend this book to authors wanting to get their books published.

The best piece of advice for me was that my story matters. Not just my written story, but my personal (me) story - the one that God is currently writing.

[Ellen Withers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every writer needs to read this book to understand the publishing business, as well as editing and agents and reader information.

[Cate · Rating 4 out of 5]

A definite need-to-read for any writer wanting to be traditionally published.

[Tim Suddeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very helpful book showing what publishers, editor, agents, and readers look for from writers. A very valuable read for writers with little publishing connections. I love the balance between being encouraging yet giving us the facts. Remember to be professional, that the people you encounter are humans, and you will do well.

[Mama · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great information for unpublished writers who are trying to learn and understand what happens next and how to bridge the gap to become a published author.