Book publishing

[hunnybunch]

I've written a book and would love to get it published. Does anyone have any idea of how i would go about doing this?
Many thanks

[andy-hughes]

As a first step, send a sample chapter and covering letter to any publishers which publish the genre of book you have written but ...

be prepared for a seroiously large number of rejections. Every published author tells tales of being able to paper their walls with rejection slips from publishers before getting a break. Stephen King famously wrote stories under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman, and the novels sold moderatly, as opposed to his huge best-sellars under his own name. As soon as the publishers revealed that bachman was King, the Bachman books all became overnight best-sellers.

Publishing is highly competetive, but publishers are always looking for that next worldbeater, so be persistant.

Best of luck!

[saxy_jag]

Nip down to the library and get yourself a copy of the Writers' and Artists' Yearbook 2007.

Go through the relevant chapters, noting all the publishers and/or agents who are likely to take on your work, and contact them. Whether you do this one or several at a time is up to you, although some people do get a bit funny about that, especially if the work is likely to be taken up quickly (although as a first timer, I'm not sure how you're meant to judge that).

The usual submission is two or three chapters of your work (or maybe 10-15,000 words), plus a one page synopsis and a covering letter. WAYB gives plenty of advice on this.

Many publishers, especially the larger ones, will not accept work directly from would-be authors, only considering manuscripts passed to them by agents. Checking their websites or their entry in WAYB should tell you who accepts what.

Agents don't necessarily accept unsolicited work. Often you will need to contact them and ask whether they would be prepared to consider reading your book.

As Andy points out, be prepared for many rejections, no matter how good the book is.

Contd.

[saxy_jag]

You could consider the the self-publishing route. However, it's full of pitfalls and potholes and you really need to do some homework if you're not to get ripped off.

Many publishers/agents will not consider something that's been self-published - they form the impression that if you've had to resort to that, then your book is rubbish.

There's a fine line between 'vanity' publishing and private- or self-publishing (and whatever other names people give it). Generally, if you are approached by a publisher who tells you your book is very good and could sell loads of copies and make you famous; if they say they would like to publish your book - but you have to pay them, then they're usually playing on your own vanity in order to make some sales.

There are companies who will publish your book if you pay them to - Lulu, Trafford and Authorhouse are just three - and will offer services such as editing, typesetting and marketing at extra cost. They don't pretend to make you into a best-selling author. But the bottom line is that if you want to sell lots of copies then you're going to have to put in a lot of work, and you may not even make a profit. However, this route can work if you're selling to a smaller market, say a community group, school or the staff of a private company.

You could also try looking out for the numerous writers' web forums. My favourite is Writers Dock - http://www.writersdock.co.uk/ They have over 3000 members, amateur and professional, and it's well worth a look.