Avoiding Pitfalls: How To Get A Book Published
One of the most frequent questions asked by budding writers is, "Just how do you get a book published?" Learning how to get a book published is not a complicated affair, but there are pitfalls that you must avoid in order to be successful. The landscape is littered with would-be authors who wanted to know how to get their book published and who have been exploited by unscrupulous individuals -- so some careful planning and thinking beforehand is essential. Just What Is Your Book All about? The process of how to get a book published successfully actually begins long before you contact an editor or publisher! In the beginning just focus on the question of what it is that you intend to write about. In order to write well you need to write with passion and purpose. Many beginning writers focus in on how to get their book published, but are in reality trying to promote a book idea that has been improperly executed. How To Get A Book Published: Is There a Market for It? The second step in learning how to get a book published is to think about the market for your book. Just how many people will be interested in this topic or subject? Believe me, a commercial publishing house will be intensely interested in the question of the potential market for your book -- and it will be very difficult for you to interest them in your book idea if the market is very small. Commercial Publishing Houses or Self Publishing? The next critical point in how to get a book published will be reached by you when you contact a publisher or printer. You have two choices in how to get a book published -- you can either choose to have your book published by an established commercial publishing house or you can choose to self publish your manuscript. How to Get a Book Published by a Commercial Publishing House If you choose to approach a commercial publishing house, you'll first need to contact the publisher to get contact information about the person who is the acquisitions editor. The acquisitions editor is the person who makes decisions regarding what new books will be accepted for publication. The acquisitions editor is also well-versed in how to get your book published and properly marketed -- but be aware of the fact that acquisitions editors are very, very busy people! You should begin your relationship with them by requesting their guidelines for submission. An important part of the process of learning how to get a book published involves learning to work with this acquisitions editor. You may find it necessary to send a query letter to the editor first, which outlines the concept of your book and which may also contain an excerpt or 1-2 sample chapters. Your concern may be with how to get your book published as soon as possible, but the editors will be thinking about its marketability -- will it sell? Be aware that if the potential market for your book is small the publisher may not be interested in publishing it at all. How to Get a Book Published As a Self Published Author How can you get a book published by self-publishing? Self-publishing can be a good option if the book that you have written does not have widespread appeal -- if the market for your book is small, or interest might be low. If you are interested in learning how to get a book published through self-publishing, you must be very careful in choosing a company to work with, as there are many scams and rip-off artists that prey on the desire that many people have to see their work in print. Whether you choose to self publish or make use of a commercial publishing house, remember that how to get a book published successfully largely depends upon you -- and the decisions that you make -- at the beginning of the writing process. Here's to your success! |
