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.