How To Get Your Book Published

You wrote the next great book didn’t you? Congrats! Now it’s time to get it published. How does one go about this? Here are some great places to start.

Hire A Literary Agent
According to publishing expert Jane Friedman about 80% of books acquired by New York publishing houses such as HarperCollins and Penguin are sold by agents. If this is the market you’re looking to get into, hiring an agent is your best bet for breaking through.

Utilize Online Resources

Writers Market
By signing up for Writers Market, you’ll have access to over 9,000 listings for book publishers, magazines, literary agents, conferences, and more. This service isn’t free though – a monthly subscription costs $5.99.
Publisher’s Marketplace
Described as “the biggest and best dedicated marketplace for publishing professionals,” this website is read by 40,000 industry insiders. By becoming a member you receive contact information for thousands of agents, analysis of deal histories of these agents, representation records for over 30,000 authors, and much more. There is a monthly membership fee of $25 – however this is month-to-month, meaning that there is no long-term commitment.
QueryTracker
This website has approximately 200 publisher listings and 1,000 agent listings. You can also explore agent data. The best part? The basic service of this website is free!

Do You Research
Make sure you know the correct genre, category, and audience for your book. You want to submit it to the right publisher. You also want to make sure that the book isn’t redundant in angle. Sure, there may already be many books out there on your topic, but no other author as your perspective.

Have A Query Letter
Publishers are not going to read the entire draft of your book right off the bat. Because of this, you need a query letter. This letter should be no longer than one page and should cover who you are, a general gist of the book, and what the market will be for this book. Yes, you are thinking correctly – a query letter does sound a bit like a cover letter!

Make Sure Your Manuscript Is Visually Appealing
Just as cover letters and resumes need to be formatted correctly and look good, so does a manuscript. Despite the saying not to judge a book by its cover, if your manuscript looks unprofessional, there’s a great chance that a publisher will not give it a second look.

Attend Writing Conferences
By attending writing conferences, you will be able to meet agents and editors in person. Be sure to find conferences in your area where you have the opportunity to meet with an author, editor, or agent whose work correlates with your book. The Write Life shares 29 great writer’s conferences for authors, bloggers, and freelancers.

Getting your book published is not an easy process. It takes dedication, perseverance, and time. Just because one publisher rejected you does not mean that you should give up. Try a different publisher. Don’t believe me? J.K. Rowling received “loads” of rejections before finally getting Harry Potter published. Could you imagine a world without Harry Potter? I can’t. Thank goodness J.K. never gave up, and you shouldn’t either.