Writing Mastery

5 Responses to “How does one get a book published?”

1. Persiphone_Hellecat // Oct 1, 2009 at 4:08 am

   The first thing to do is finish up the book and do a second or even third draft to get the book in perfect condition.

   The question of publishing gets asked here so many times during the day. First go buy yourself a copy of Writers Market. Really spend some time reading it and getting a feel for how the publishing business works.

   Beyond that, if you go to Resolved Questions here, and use keywords publisher and publishing, you will find a wealth of information stored from previous answers. You can print them out and study them.

   Good luck to you. Pax – C.
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2. alexigeorge // Oct 1, 2009 at 4:56 am

   Start with short articles. If you already know the topic, you can begin by outlining the topic, and write short articles. After refining your articles, find magazines that would be willing to publish your articles, and get feedback. Later on, you can develop each of your articles into chapters for your future book. Happy writing.
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3. Super Kitten // Oct 1, 2009 at 5:32 am

   Self publish it you can look up info on here about that, sometimes there are some serious writers groups around in your town and you can sometimes go to conferences and meet other writers, this is where you will get your good advice and also your options and they may even help you edit it.
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4. Obi_San // Oct 1, 2009 at 5:48 am

   First you need to finish the book and edit it (repeatedly). I recommend that, once you finish, you put it away for a month without looking at it. Then go back and reread it, and begin to edit and rewrite. That extra time will give you more perspective and a fresh look on what you wrote.

   There are two types of publishing: Tradition and Self-Publishing. You will first need to decide which of these methods you want to pursue. Each has advantages and disadvantages that need to be researched. For instance, traditional publishing can be a very long road, littered with MANY rejections. Self-publishing will guarantee you a printed copy of your book, however you will not see it in a brick-and-mortar bookstore.

   http://www.lulu.com is, in my opinion, the best self-publisher around. You can set up your book on their website, for free, and they will print copies as they are purchased. They do not edit your book, so you will need to take care of that on your own. This will also NOT get your book in a traditional bookstore, although you can purchase a very affordable package that would allow sale of your book through online bookstores like Amazon.

   "Writer’s Market", along with "The Guide to Literary Agents" are my two suggestions for diving into the traditional publishing market. I suggest looking for an agent first because they are the best step through the publishing door. You will create a submission package that matches the agents preferences (some, for instance, just want a query letter and synopsis in your first contact with them while others want more). Once you find an agent that is willing to represent you, they will market your book to publishers. Remember, in traditional publishing you should not be paying for anything! They get paid when you get paid!

   Also keep in mind that this can be a long process. You will probably not get a lot of positive responses right away, and the rejection can be disheartening. But keep it up and you will find a home for your story!

   The publisher you’ll use does not have to be located in the same state you live in (in fact, most authors do not live near theirs). So don’t let distance be a worry!

   You do not need to copyright your book before you query agents. The publisher who prints your story will take care of the official paperwork, but the copyright is already yours the moment you put the words on the page. Don’t waste your time or money copyrighting something which you will most likely have to edit and rewrite repeatedly after you get an agent and publisher.

   Here are four websites that can help. Read them thoroughly (especially Miss Snark– love her!) and research, research, research! These can help you determine if the agent is legit or not:
   http://misssnark.blogspot.com/
   http://www.agentquery.com/
   http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/
   http://www.publishersmarketplace.com

   And don’t think about taking an agent from this list, they are SCAMS:
   http://www.sfwa.org/beware/twentyworst.html

   Good luck, and happy writing!
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5. Ernesto // Oct 1, 2009 at 6:15 am

   I have looked into this during the last 3 years myself and have come to this conclusion: It is not realistic to expect to get published by a major publishing house since they only print a limited amount of books per year and it is more rare to publish someone on their first book. The older "vanity" printing firms will charge you so much to publish a certain amount of copies of your book (which means you can get stuck paying for books that may not sell) but I think there is a better way. The newer more practical way to go is to find a independant publisher which will publish your kind of book ( fiction or non-fiction, true crime, romance novels, biographies ect..) on a "print on demand" basis. For example the two publishers I have narrowed down for myself will charge from $1300 to $2300 for packages for a paperback that can include designing your cover for your book, including pictures or art work you supply, and giving you a few copies of the finished book, setting up distribution of your book on places like internet sites for Barnes and Noble, Amazon.Com. Borders and other places, even arranging for radio promotion or book signings. There is no real inventory needed as in traditional printing because as orders for your book come in they are printed individually on electronic set up presses. You keep the rights to your book which means that you could still sell it to a major publisher should one want to publish it. The details like getting a copyright are taken care of also. There may be a few services not provied but their websites will usually explain all of that and of course they will send you their rules for submission or else you may be able to download them. They also have reps you can talk to. I think this is the best way to go myself. Do a search for "on demand publishing" and you will find some prospects.
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