It is said that everybody has a book inside them, but the chances of being published are very slim.

Publishers and literary agents are inundated with unsolicited manuscripts, called the slush pile, and only a handful will be pursued. But there are tips that can help budding authors to stand out.

Jonathan Lloyd, of Curtis Brown, one of the country’s leading agents, advises aspiring writers to do their homework.

He said that most publishers would not consider unsolicited manuscripts. He said: “If you aspire to be like Marion Keyes, you can write to say that you ‘much admire Marion Keyes and have written something only half as good but would love you to read it’.”

Writers should submit bound manuscripts with double spacing. Make sure that the covering letter has all names spelt correctly.

Ion Trewin, of Weidenfeld & Nicolson, suggests that writers also get as many people as possible to read their work: “Get them to tell you whether they liked it, whether they got to end of it.”

But if you are rejected repeatedly, there may be a reason: so don’t give up the day job.

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