Get Your Book Published
How to Get Your Book Published–7 Critical Issues
Author: Patricia Benesh
As a writer, you probably are confused as to whether to try to get your book published traditionally by a commercial publisher or to self-publish. To make your decision a bit easier, consider your goals and expectations-and the following seven points.
Acceptance
A large commercial publisher will not consider a manuscript unless it is represented by a literary agent. While some small independent presses do accept “unagented” manuscripts, that door is closing fast since the number of independent presses has shrunk by 50 percent in the last decade. Your query letter and synopsis are critical in getting the attention of literary agents. Because literary agents get 200+ queries a month, it is not surprising that 99 percent of submissions are rejected. Yet many rejected manuscripts are worthy of publication, as self-publishing authors are discovering. On the other hand, since self-publishing is open to anyone, there is a flood of low quality books that will have little or no readership-giving self-publication a bad reputation.
Control
Once you sign with a traditional publisher, you lose some or most control of your manuscript.The publisher has influence over the title, the cover, the content, the pricing, the promotion, distribution, and timing of the aforementioned–and may hold some copyright–as determined by your specific contract. With self-publishing your retain control of your manuscript.
Upfront Costs
A traditional publisher does not require you to pay any printing costs. In addition, you should not pay any costs to your literary agent before the sale of the manuscript to a publisher.Your agent makes his/her money (usually 15%) as a percentage of the advance (if any) and sale of your book. With self-publishing you bear all the publication costs for formatting and distributing your book. The cost varies depending on the vendor and services you choose. A vendor may try to “upsell” you on editing, cover design, marketing, publicity, etc. Realize, most vendors make their money by selling extra services you may not need.
Turnaround Time
On average, a traditional publisher requires 12-18 months to publish your book. Figure another 6-12 months to secure a literary agent (if you can). So with traditional publishing, your manuscript will not see the “light of day” for a long time. In addition, with all the publishing acquisitions by global enterprises, your project could get caught in the middle of a merger and be abandoned altogether. With self-publishing, you can have your book overnight in some cases.
Book Store Presence
With self-publishing, getting your book into bookstores is extremely difficult. One reason is that bookstores work on a business model that requires they return unsold books to the publisher–and they don’t want to deal with individual authors. If you have your heart set on seeing your book in Barnes and Noble or Borders stores, self-publishing is not for you.
Promotion and Selling
Regardless of how you publish your book, you are responsible for promoting and selling it. New writers are often surprised to learn that commercial publishers do not actively market and promote their books–that they expect their authors to do the work.
Royalties
A traditional publisher normally pays 15% royalty on book sales–plus your literary agent gets 15% of your royalties. When you self-publish, you earn a higher profit (25-100%). The amount you receive depends on how you sell your book and can be complicated by several layers of distribution fees.
The key to getting your book published successfully is to match your realistic expectations with publishing industry requirements and costs. Regardless of your decision, be sure your manuscript is in tip-top shape–professionally edited–before you submit to literary agents or embark on self-publishing.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/publishing-articles/how-to-get-your-book-published-7-critical-issues-3325918.html
About the Author
Patricia Benesh is the visionary behind AuthorAssist which draws English-speaking writers from around the world. A seasoned writing coach of more than a decade, she offers personalized service and resources for writers, whether they choose traditional publishing or self-publishing. She helps writers ensure their material is ready for publication and promotion.
Among her clients is Thomas Steinbeck (son of John Steinbeck). A former professor at The Johns Hopkins University, she holds a doctorate from Johns Hopkins. She has published extensively in books, journals, and business periodicals. She has spoken at numerous US and international conferences and is recognized in Who’s Who in Education.
Patricia offers complimentary feedback on your book at AuthorAssist.
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Definitely. I don’t know what percent of people who write a book get published but I do know that 100% of people who don’t try don’t get published. It will be a great learning experience either way.
Ok, first, “author” “writer” it’s just semantics. I’ve had books published but prefer “writer” because it seems to refer more to what I “do” than what I’ve “done.” Don’t worry about it.
You won’t find reliable information on the internet to help you get your book published but there are some books on the subject that would be helpful. Most things from the Writer’s Digest Press are ok.
I’m assuming your book is fiction so let’s start there. It must be complete, edited and revised as much as you think it needs. After you’ve finished the book (not before) you go back through with a critical eye until you’re getting sick of it finding words, sentences, concepts that need improving. Get someone else who knows writing, not a friend or family member to read it and make suggestions. Revise again. If you can find a local writer’s group check them out. some are very good. Now you’re ready to look for an agent. Those listed in AAR’s listing are usually reliable. The Association of Author’s Representatives has and enforces strict rules of ethics and behavior. There are agents who are not members who are also good but it’s harder to be sure. I know at least one good agent who is not a member. Remember that an agent gets paid out of the money they make for you. If they want your money first, run! There are a lot of writer scams out there. If a agent says, “I love your book but it needs editing, let me refer you to someone to fix it for you. Again, run! It will sound so logical but, Run! No matter where you find them or what you think, check them out on the website Writer Beware! It’s part of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer’s of American but they take and record complaints against agents and publishers of all types. There are publishers who will take unagented manuscripts but few major ones will and that’s where you want to start. Be very careful but there are some good manuscript contests that winning will get you a look by a publisher. The best source of publisher info is the annual Writer’s Market books and, probably the best source of contest info is Poet’s and Writer’s Magazine (their listings, not the classified ads.)
Just a side mention, as far as I’m concerned, the very best book a fiction writer can read and reread and keep by their desk is The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler. It’s about the writing, especially the characters, not publication but it’s a great resource.
Remember, in writing, inspiration is in the rough draft but the art is in the revision. Also, nothing is more important in this craft than perseverance. With enough of that, everything else will come. Keep at it!
I’m afraid I don’t live in Texas.
However, I would recommend a book called “Writer’s Market”. It lists publishers for all different genres in different states…I’m sure you could find something in there.
Or, even Yellow Pages lists stuff like that. Look up “book publishers” or something.
Or, if all else fails, Google will save the day.http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Book+publishers+in+Texas
If you find an interesting publisher, go to their website and read the submission guidelines.
Good luck! (:
First of all, write, write, write. Though it varies from genre to genre, the average first time novel is 80,000-100,000 words (judge your novel’s length by word count rather than page count because page count varies depending on font size, page size, margin size, etc., but word count is a constant).
Once you’ve finished your first draft completely, put it away in a dark draw (or if you’ve typed it then don’t open the file) for at least two months. And when I say don’t look, I mean it. Think of something else. Start another story. Just forget about your first draft until those two months have passed. Then – and only then – get it out or open up the file and read through it. This way you’ll be looking at your novel with fresh eyes. I guarantee that you’ll spot some errors, inconsistencies, characters that were introduced into your novel and were never followed up, plotlines you meant to develop but forgot to do so and general parts of your novel that make you question your sanity when you wrote it. But that’s okay. That’s what redrafts are for. Print out your novel if you can and make notes in the margins where you need to edit the story. Do as much of the editing as you can and then get someone else to look at your story.
Once you’ve done that, you should consider finding an agent. I would recommend attempting to find an agent rather than approaching a publisher yourself as many publishers – particularly the large publishing houses – don’t accept unsolicited manuscripts. Plus, it’s an agent’s job to get your novel published – that’s how they earn their own money – so who better to try selling it to the publishers than someone whose job is to do that exact thing? Check out this site for some useful information on literary agents: http://www.spacejock.com.au/LiteraryAgent.html
Your agent will use their inside knowledge to find the best publisher for you. Some publishers specialise in certain genres, for example, non-fiction, fantasy, horror, etc.; therefore, if you send a fantasy novel to a non-fiction publisher you’ll probably be rejected. If you don’t get an agent then you can find out what publishers’ specifications are on their websites. If you want to find a publisher yourself then look at some of the publishing houses on your favourite books and research them.
However, have real expectations about agents. Here is a quote from http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/agents.asp about agents:
‘Literary agents spend most of their time handling the business of their existing clients. A typical agent might take on as few as two new authors a year. At the same time, most agents receive around fifty to a hundred manuscripts every week. That means they reject the large majority of submissions without even reading them. They may not read as much as the first page. If that sounds depressing, then you also need to realise that getting an agent is the only way to getting published. Very few publishers have any real interest in unsolicited contributions.'[1]
Remember: you do NOT pay the agent or publisher – they get a cut out of what is earned when your book is sold. If an agent or publishers ask for money to market/sell your book it’s probably a scam.
If you opt for finding yourself an agent or publisher, you will at some point probably have to send in a covering letter, synopsis, sample of your novel and possibly a query letter beforehand. Always read the submission guidelines meticulously before you send anything; if you can’t follow those then you won’t endear yourself to the publisher. These can usually be found on their websites.
Some helpful websites are:
http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/agents.asp
http://www.writersservices.com/mag/06/From_publisher's_1.htm
http://www.writersservices.com/res/ri_publishers_agents.htm
http://www.ehow.com/how_2255417_write-cover-letter-novel-submission.html
http://theswivet.blogspot.com/2008/03/on-word-counts-and-novel-length.html
http://www.spacejock.com.au/LiteraryAgent.html
http://fictionwriting.about.com/od/thebusinessofwriting/tp/agenthowto.htm
If you look at those and do some research on publishing in your country yourself, you should find yourself becoming more informed.
Publishing is a very tough industry and it requires you to develop a thick skin. You will in all likelihood be rejected at some point, but don’t give up. Stephen King’s first novel was rejected by Doubleday and J.K. Rowling’s first Harry Potter novel was rejected by a many publishers, including Penguin, Transworld and HarperCollins. They both ended up published and look at where they are now – bestselling authors.
Well, I hope this has helped you! Good luck with your writing 🙂
Publishing is an incredibly hard and difficult process (unless you self-publish, which can be done quite easily at lulu.com) but there are a few steps you can take. The first would be to look for a writing contest (they’re everywhere – universities have them all the time) and enter it. In fact enter all that you can find – they can only help you. The other key step to getting published (and this is much harder) is to find an agent who will read your work and shop it to publishers. Winning or doing well in a contest will help you there – agents are busy and don’t like to read if they don’t think something is in it for them.
Good luck. And don’t forget about Lulu.
The first step is writing a story that’s well-told. Then without name-recognition, you can sell your story. Presuming you have an excellent query letter and an agent, if your story isn’t well-told then you won’t get published no matter how perfect your margins and formatting is.
Check out “Story” by Robert McKee. His book is used at the top film schools to teach how to write a story.
The short answer is don’t send an unsolicited manuscript. In other words, you have to establish prior contact with an editor. this is best done through an agent.
But look, if you’re serious about writing, follow this link and buy the book:
http://www.amazon.com/Writers-Market-2007/dp/1582974349/sr=8-2/qid=1156871714/ref=pd_bbs_2/002-0745678-1856003?ie=UTF8
This link will get you to this year’s Writer’s Market, which should be your bible. It lists all publishers, and if I remember correctly it also separates them by region and the kind of work you do. For example, if you’re writing a suspense novel and you’re in Atlanta, you will be able to search for a potential editor according to those criteria.
The book also includes industry standards for marketing yourself, commanding wages, etc.
You really should buy this if you are to pursue a career in writing.
If you want to self publish, then yes, you will have to pay to have it done. You can search for “self publish a book” or “self publishing” to find companies who will do this for you. When your book is done, you will send your finished document to them, pay a fee for however many copies you want, and they will print and bind it, and then you’ll have however many copies you want of your finished book.
The other way to get published is to submit your work to publishing companies, and if they buy your book, then they will pay YOU. If this is the kind of publishing you meant, there’s no need for the author to pay anything to the publisher. The company usually pays an advance to the author, and then the author also receives a percentage (royalties) from the book sales.
What does it take to get your book published?
I just want to know if my book will be good enough to get published. It’s fiction.
How Do you get your book published?
ok, I obviously know how to write a book (clarifying for some people)
How/where do you get it published. Do you show up with your book printed out on computer paper, saved on a floppy or scan drive to the publisher? Thanks again guys
Books on How to Get Your Book Published?
I’m looking for recommendations for a good book that helps you be a published writer. Anything about getting books published.
How do you get your book published once you write it?
I am a first time author. My book’s coming along, but what do i do to get it published? I’ve looked it up, but can’t come up with any decent information! Help me please!
<3 me!
Does it cost to get your book published?
Okay I am writing a book called Aisias and I want it to get published, how might I be able to do that? And also will I have to pay at all?
How can you get your book published?
Hi , can you please tell me the best way to begin researching how to get your book published and sold in stores ? Is it as hard as people say it is ???? Thanks for your help 🙂
Is it a realistic goal to want to get your book published?
I love writing, i always have, and i am rather good at it. I have a big Imagination and i was wondering how often it is that people actually get their book published. Yes, i know that its extremely hard to write a book, and there is lots of time involved, just wondering if i set a goal to get the book im writing published, if that would be realistic or not. thanks for your input!
How do you get your book published in Texas? And are there any age requirements?
I’m 14 and would like to get my book published. Its young adult fiction. Are there any rules?