alternatives. One is to have material submitted by an attorney, another is to have a writing buddy who serves as your agent (all it takes is some letterhead—who’s to say that he or she can’t be a part-time agent?).

Old rule 4: You have to employ a publicist or PR agent to get good publicity for

If you’re not selling as much of your writing as you’d like, it may be because you’re playing by old, out-dated rules. Here are six rules that you may want to break if you want to have a breakthrough success with your writing:

Old rule 1: You should submit a book manuscript to only one publisher at a time.

It takes most publishers months to reply, so it could take years before you find one who wants your book. There’s nothing wrong with making simultaneous submissions, unless the publisher’s website explicitly states they will not consider these.

Old rule 2: Self-publishing is only for people whose work isn’t good enough to find a commercial publisher.

These days, print on demand and other self-publishing options often make sense even for books that could also be published by traditional publishers. The reason is that the Internet gives you a new way to distribute self-published books around the world. And often a self-published book goes on to be published traditionally after it has sold enough to demonstrate that people want to read it.

Old rule 3: You can’t get anywhere without an agent.

Yes, it’s useful to have an agent fronting your material, but there are alternatives. One is to have material submitted by an attorney, another is to have a writing buddy who serves as your agent (all it takes is some letterhead—who’s to say that he or she can’t be a part-time agent?).

Old rule 4: You have to employ a publicist or PR agent to get good publicity for y

at a time.

It takes most publishers months to reply, so it could take years before you find one who wants your book. There’s nothing wrong with making simultaneous submissions, unless the publisher’s website explicitly states they will not consider these.

Old rule 2: Self-publishing is only for people whose work isn’t good enough to find a commercial publisher.

These days, print on demand and other self-publishing options often make sense even for books that could also be published by traditional publishers. The reason is that the Internet gives you a new way to distribute self-published books around the world. And often a self-published book goes on to be published traditionally after it has sold enough to demonstrate that people want to read it.

Old rule 3: You can’t get anywhere without an agent.

Yes, it’s useful to have an agent fronting your material, but there are alternatives. One is to have material submitted by an attorney, another is to have a writing buddy who serves as your agent (all it takes is some letterhead—who’s to say that he or she can’t be a part-time agent?).

Old rule 4: You have to employ a publicist or PR agent to get good publicity for

for people whose work isn’t good enough to find a commercial publisher.

These days, print on demand and other self-publishing options often make sense even for books that could also be published by traditional publishers. The reason is that the Internet gives you a new way to distribute self-published books around the world. And often a self-published book goes on to be published traditionally after it has sold enough to demonstrate that people want to read it.

Old rule 3: You can’t get anywhere without an agent.

Yes, it’s useful to have an agent fronting your material, but there are alternatives. One is to have material submitted by an attorney, another is to have a writing buddy who serves as your agent (all it takes is some letterhead—who’s to say that he or she can’t be a part-time agent?).

Old rule 4: You have to employ a publicist or PR agent to get good publicity for

shed books around the world. And often a self-published book goes on to be published traditionally after it has sold enough to demonstrate that people want to read it.

Old rule 3: You can’t get anywhere without an agent.

Yes, it’s useful to have an agent fronting your material, but there are alternatives. One is to have material submitted by an attorney, another is to have a writing buddy who serves as your agent (all it takes is some letterhead—who’s to say that he or she can’t be a part-time agent?).

Old rule 4: You have to employ a publicist or PR agent to get good publicity for

alternatives. One is to have material submitted by an attorney, another is to have a writing buddy who serves as your agent (all it takes is some letterhead—who’s to say that he or she can’t be a part-time agent?).

Old rule 4: You have to employ a publicist or PR agent to get good publicity for your writing.

In my book, Do Something Different, published by Virgin Books, I documented 100 case histories of how writers and others used cheap and creative techniques to get publicity for their product or service. All you really need is a good imagination and a bit of daring, and you can come up with ways to call attention to your book.

When you realize that something is holding you back from the writing success you want, take a minute to make sure you’re not playing by outdated rules. It can be the difference between failure and success.