How to Get Published? Think Big!

What with the recession and the de-stabilising effects of digital publishing, writers are finding it harder than ever before to get their books conventionally published by one of the traditional houses. Editors' hands are tied by the marketing departments, who seem to blindly read the runes of what was successful last year to try and predict what will be successful next year, rather than judging each submission on its merits. The result is a succession of pale imitations of recent hits (Jane Eyre Laid Bare? Don't get me started).

The common consensus appears to be that editors are looking for something BIG. It doesn't seem to matter what, providing it comes super-sized. So here are a few thoughts about how you might go large in literary terms.

• Find a so-called 'high concept' for your story. This is an idea – a stroke of inspiration – so simple yet profound that it can be conveyed in one succinct sentence. Think One Day by David Nichols: charting the development of a couple's relationship on the same date over twenty-five years.
• As well as a high concept, you need high stakes: your protagonist must stand to gain or lose massively as your narrative plays out.
• High drama wouldn't do any harm, either. Don't swerve away from the big scene, leaving it to your readers' imagination; wring out every bit of intensity that you can. You need strong characters wrestling with big issues and overwhelming emotions.
• It might help if the scope of your story is wide: Hilary Mantel has made the court of Henry VIII her own in Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies. Both books describe a personal story that is played out on a vast canvas and has national and historical significance. Find a big stage for your characters to act upon.
• Most importantly of all, even if you are working on a grand scale, don't confuse drama for melodrama. Guard the integrity and emotional truth of your characters and remember the importance of the small, but telling detail. It's like painting an epic fresco with a miniaturist's brush.