If you are a new author who has just finished your first book, or perhaps only thinks about writing one, chances are you could use some advice on how to go about getting it published. In this article, we will discuss how to look for a publisher, how to approach one, what a literary agent can do for you, and other related things.
For a new author, trying to publish a book can be rather intimidating. Many do not know what to do and where to start. I often meet people who tell me they have thought of writing a book, but the idea of getting it published scares them off. “I’ve got something to share,” they say, “and I’m pretty sure I could write it down well enough. But I wouldn’t know the first thing about publishing it.” Some are even certain that they’ve got no chance of ever getting published because they are “a nobody,” a person with no writing credentials, no experience, no established name.
The latter is a legitimate concern. It is pretty hard for a newbie to make it in the world of book publishing. But here is the good news: no one is born with credentials and experience, every writer had to begin somewhere. Credentials can be earned. Yes, you will have to learn a lot and work hard, but if you are determined to succeed as an author, you have a chance. If your book was worth writing, it is worth fighting for, wouldn’t you agree?
Now let us take a look at what you will need to do.
1. Know your market
First of all, you need to know exactly for whom you have written your book. Publishers call it your “target audience.” Who will be interested in reading your work? To whom will it appeal the most? Single moms? Homeschoolers? Teenagers? Young adults? Why do you think this particular group will benefit from your book?
Of course, we would want everybody to read our book, but we need to be realistic. With non-fiction, the potential reader is usually defined very strictly. If it’s a business ethics guide, then your target audience is businessmen, professionals. If you have written a book on parenting, then you are targeting parents, possibly including future parents as well. Yes, some other people may pick up your book as well, out of curiosity, but they are not your primary audience. And what the publisher wants to know, at the very beginning, is whom they are going to sell the book to.
With fiction, the audience is usually broader, but it still needs to be defined. Perhaps your novel appeals to both adults and children; very good. In that case, you should explain why you believe it is so, and present it as family reading material. If you have written a thriller with a romantic sub-theme, it might interest both women and men, which you will need to state, and explain, when presenting your book to a publisher. Science fiction and fantasy usually appeal to teenagers and young adults, romance (of course) to women, war novels to men. Suspense and thrillers work for both, but still tend to be either “men” or “women” fiction, and the publisher will want to know which one it is.
You might want to do some research, online or at your local library, and see how books similar to yours are marketed. Knowing your competition is always helpful. It is very likely that your future publisher will ask you this very question: “What are other works similar to yours? In what ways is yours different?” In that case, you will need to be prepared to speak for your book and do a brief comparative analysis.
2. Find the right publisher(s)
Now that you have determined your book’s market and know how to present it, it is time to look for a publisher. What you do at this point is very simple: you look who publishes books of the kind you have written. Yes, it sounds easy enough, but you have no idea how many submissions are rejected because the author sends something that is out of the particular publisher’s field. If you submit a novel to a publisher who only works with non-fiction, you will waste your postage, and the editor’s time.
Your best helper in the search is Writer’s Market, or, if your book is written for Christian audience, Sally Stuart’s Christian Writers’ Market Guide. Both are available in bookstores and online (www.writersmarket.com and www.stuartmarket.com). These two sources are invaluable. They not only give you the publishers’ names and contact information but also list every publisher’s field, submission guidelines, current needs, and other useful tips.
As you browse through the listings, you will come across some professional terms you might need explanations of. Let me help you to navigate through them.
You will see that some publishers accept no unsolicited manuscripts, no unagented manuscripts, or require agent representation only. For now, you will need to scratch those out. It means that this particular publisher does not accept manuscripts directly from the author, they only work with literary agents. You don’t have one, so you can’t submit your work. (We will discuss the subject of agents later.)
No simultaneous submissions means that the publisher does not want you to send your manuscript to anyone else while they are reviewing it. Since the reviewing process usually takes several months, I would recommend that you look for publishers who state Simultaneous submissions OK first, so that you can offer your book to several. If and when you receive a rejection letter from all of them, you can move on to those who want exclusivity.
Multiple submissions means more than one manuscript from one author. Some publishers are open to that, others prefer to review your books one at a time. Since you probably have only one work to submit anyway, you don’t need to worry about that.
You will see that some publishers state Query first, others want a Proposal. Query letter is a brief introduction of yourself and your book, asking the publisher whether they would be interested. Book proposal is a more detailed presentation of your work. Most publishers have their own specific guidelines for what they want to see in a proposal, but usually it consists of the following: Cover Letter, Author’s Bio (or Resume), Synopsis, Sample Chapters, and Promotional / Marketing Plan. We are going to look at each one of these in the next section.
3. Approaching the Publisher
Query Letter
A query letter needs to be brief and to the point. Some publishers provide guidelines for it; most don’t. Your query letter should state the title of your book, explain what the book is about, mention the target audience and the length of the work (calculated in words).
Make sure there are no typos and misspellings. This is your first contact with the publisher, and as you know there is no second chance of making the first impression. Make sure your query is professional, clear, and short, no more than half a page. It can be just one paragraph, but it needs to be written well.
Some publishers accept query letters via e-mail, others prefer them mailed. You can find that information on the publisher’s website, or in the Writer’s Market.
Book Proposal
o Cover Letter. Cover letter is your introduction. It should be no longer than one page. If you had sent a query before and now are sending your book proposal in response to the publisher’s invitation, it is good to begin by thanking them for it. If this is your first contact with the publisher (some do not ask for a query), your cover letter can be an expanded version of your query letter. It is good to include any writing credentials, if you have them – published articles, short stories, anything, no matter how small. If your book is non-fiction, you can list as credentials any kind of experience you have in the field. For example, if your book is on children and parenting, and you have worked for eight years as a school teacher, make sure you mention that.
o Author’s Bio / CV / Resume is not always necessary, but sometimes publishers specifically require it. If the publisher’s guidelines do not mention it and you have included enough information about yourself in the cover letter, you don’t need to make a separate Author’s Bio page. However, some authors find it easier to write a brief bio separately. It does not need to be very detailed. What the publisher wants to know is your education, work experience, any writing-related experience, and previously published works. If you don’t have anything published yet, don’t feel intimidated. Remember, everyone has to start somewhere.
o Synopsis. Synopsis is a summary of your book. Publishers usually specify in what form they want it, telling you the number of pages (usually 3-4), or asking for a chapter-by-chapter synopsis. For fiction, you will have to briefly re-tell the plot, squeezing it in the required number of pages. Yes, you will feel like you are ripping all the beauty off of your story. You will worry that the publisher will not be able to see how good it is when it is reduced to a simple skeleton, something like, “John meets Kate. They start dating. She finds out that he used to work with Jane.” Don’t worry, the publisher will not judge the quality of your writing based on the synopsis; there are sample chapters for that. Synopsis is only needed to look at the quality and consistency of the plot.
For non-fiction, synopsis usually consists of expanded table of contents. You list the titles of every chapter or section, and provide a brief summary for each.
o Sample Chapters. This one is self-explanatory. The publisher will tell you how many sample chapters they want (usually 3), you print them out and enclose in your package.
o Promotional / Marketing Plan. This is probably the hardest part of the proposal to put together. If you are like me, you don’t want to think about sales, promotion, and marketing, you just want to write your books. Unfortunately, it does not work like that. We authors are required to be involved in the marketing process, we have to prove that we have given it some thought and come up with some good ideas. Good marketing plan is no less important than the quality of your writing these days.
What sort of things can you put in your promotional plan? Any kind of promotional activities you can think of (and realistically live up to): creating a website, speaking at your local library or book club, advertising in a magazine, arranging to be interviewed on your local radio station or maybe even trying to shoot for national radio – you can always start local and then attempt to go national. If you really hate to organize all that stuff but have the finances to hire a publicist to do it for you, put it down in your promotional plan as well. The publisher will see that you are going to have a professional taking care of your publicity campaign.
o Endorsements. Some publishers might ask you if you have any endorsements for your book, another annoying thing that is usually difficult for a new author. If you are new and unknown, how in the world are you supposed to get some big shot read your yet-unpublished book and endorse it? Fortunately, most publishers understand that, but some don’t. To please those few, you will need to find someone in a position of certain authority to review your work and write a brief paragraph stating why it is good. It does not have to be a celebrity (although if you manage to get an endorsement from one it will help a lot), it can be your college professor, a local author, or your local radio host.
The Waiting Game
When you have submitted your book proposal, yet another much-hated part of the process begins: The Waiting Game. (And you thought writing that book was hard…) Both writers’ guides I have mentioned provide the publishers’ average response time, and you will quickly notice that it is usually calculated in months, not weeks. “Responds in 3 months to queries,” for example, how about that? Yes, that means you will have to wait for three months after you’ve mailed your query to hear back from the publisher maybe inviting you to submit your proposal. Then you send the proposal, and the waiting game starts again.
You might be tempted to make a follow up phone call or send an e-mail; don’t. Editors do not like to be bothered, especially before the stated response time has passed. It is usually recommended to wait out that response time + one month. If you still haven’t heard back from the publisher, send a polite e-mail checking on your submission status. If it goes unanswered, send it again in two weeks. After that, let go. Consider it a rejection, and move on to another publisher.
4. Finding an agent.
Now let us go back to the question of literary agents, what they do, and how you get one. A literary agent is someone who helps the author to sell their book to a publisher. In other words, you give the agent your manuscript and they do the work of finding a publisher for it, presenting your book, and negotiating a contract.
Do you need an agent? Not necessarily, but a good agent can be very helpful. In fact, finding a good agent can be the making of your writing career. You can approach publishers on your own, but, as I have already mentioned, many of them only accept manuscripts from agents, not authors, so there is basically no other way to have them consider your work. Experienced agents know all the ins and outs of the publishing industry, they have established reputation. The problem is, getting a good agent to represent you can be just as hard as getting published.
The first thing to remember as you search for an agent is that there shouldn’t be any upfront charges. No reading fees, reviewing fees, submission fees, or whatever they call it. If the agent wants money to read your work, chances are, that’s how they are making their money instead of earning commission from selling books. As you approach an agent, ask them about it, and if they want you to pay something upfront, move on. There shouldn’t be any monthly bills for representation, either. Agents are supposed to be paid when you are paid – that is, when they have found you a publisher and you have signed a contract. You receive your advance payment, and the agent receives their commission from it (usually 15%).
Unfortunately, there are also incompetent agents as well as dishonest ones, so another thing you should do is to take a look at the agent’s professional background and accomplishments. How long have they been in the business? Who are their other clients? How many books have they sold? To what publishers?
To get an idea of what a good agent should offer you, check out the Canon of Ethics of AAR, the Association of Author Representatives (http://www.aar-online.org). You will see that, among other things, AAR prohibits its members from charging any reading fees. I am not saying that any agent who is not an AAR member is questionable, but if their terms do not follow similar guidelines you need to be careful.
I want to end this article with a word of encouragement. Don’t get too upset about the rejection letters you will receive, every writer has their own collection of them. If they don’t, it only means that they angrily tore those rejection slips instead of keeping them.