Question Asked: How Do I Publish My Book?
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Jul 25th, 2008 |
First and foremost, protect yourself. Copyright any finished version of your book before sending it to anyone, even your mom. Spending the money to do so may seem like a waste, but it may come back to save you down the road if someone tries to steal your work.
With that said, getting a book published (assuming this is your first book), can be difficult. If you’ve written a good book, publishers should want to publish it, and pay you for it.
There are many “subsidized” publishers out there, that will put anything into print, assuming you pay for the majority of the costs to do so.
You should start by finding a publisher that you’d want to publish your book for you, and check out their website. The majority of websites will have information on their process, and where to send your manuscript to. Keep in mind though, that some companies won’t accept a manuscript if it’s not from some sort of literary agent. That helps them filter out some of the lesser quality books that they may get.
An important thing to keep in mind when trying to get a book published is to “never settle”. We all know you’re excited to get your book published, and would love to take the first offer you get, but that’s not always the best thing to do. If you’ve got a publisher that’s interested, have a professional, or a lawyer go over the contract to ensure that you’re not getting (for lack of a better word), screwed.
Things you’d want to look for are monetary compensation, up front cost (if any), movie rights, copyright ownership, and promotional backing.
It’s great that a publisher wants to put your book in print, but if they’re not going to pay you, make you pay up front, keep the copyright and movie rights, and not back it with any promotions, what good is the book? People won’t generally buy it on the back shelf at Barnes & Noble (except maybe my wife, she seems to buy every book on the planet.)
Once you’ve sent your manuscript to a publisher, it’s important to follow up. Try to send it via a trackable method (FedEX, UPS, DHL, etc), so you can be sure it arrives properly, and find out who signed for it. Once it’s there, give it a week, and call the publisher. Ask to speak to someone who reviews manuscripts. When you get that person on the phone, the important thing is not to nag them. You don’t want to be that person who says “Did you read my manuscript yet? Isn’t it great?” You simply want to introduce yourself, and make sure that they’ve personally received your manuscript, and ask what the general timeframe is for their reading it.
They’ll probably tell you that they’ll get back to you in 4 to 6 weeks, which is normal.
In the meantime, you should have sent your manuscript off to dozens of publishers. Think of it the same way as applying for a new job. You don’t only apply to one company, you set out a bunch of feelers, and see if there’s any takers. Shopping a manuscript (or even a screenplay, for that matter) should be thought of the same way.
The important thing to remember is, it won’t happen overnight. And, it might not happen at all. Don’t get discouraged, and keep trying. While some companies may turn you down, eventually someone will love what you’ve written, and want to put it out there for others to read.
Here’s a couple of links that will get you contact information for a few hundred publishers; start there:
http://www.bookmarket.com/newnovels.htm
http://www.everywritersresource.com/general.html
Hope that helps, and good luck with your manuscript!
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