How to get Published?

[Lemur]

Step 1: Write book.
Step 2: Send to agents.
Step 3: ????
Step 4: Profit!

[Yoyoma1910]

What kind of book?

[Somebody Else]

Vanity publishing. It's the way forwards. Otherwise, well - try getting an agent to pick you up (most publishers won't even bother with first timers), there's a reasonable chance of success - I mean, well, one in a hundred might get through... (To the agents accepting them, that is... still have to wait out on the publishers).

But if you do go for the agency way, they usually require a cover letter, saying a little about who you are, what your story is, &c., a synopsis (preferably with a chapter outline), and 2 or 3 chapters (if you've finshed the entire manuscript, go ahead and send it in, they'll read as much as is required to decide whether to reject or not).

I've been the guy reading submissions - it's the lowest paid job in the office (I got free tea). In two weeks I took in 80 odd submissions. I rejected 80 odd submissions.

But hey! You might be the next J.K. Rowling... There's never any harm in trying.

[Warluster]

It is very hard. A publisher usually looks at the first line, then the next, etc for the first twenty - fifty pages, and if they like every single line they'll publish you. Depends on what the publisher does. As has been suggested, you just send the manuscript off to several publishers and hope they accept them. First time they don't, but they offer constructive cristiscm and then you go from there.

Step 4: Profit!

Not always guranteed; usually its more rewarding seeing your book get published. (Though I am sure a lot of people would disagree )

[desert]

On second thought, I have never been published.

[King Jan III Sobieski]

Vanity publishing. It's the way forwards. Otherwise, well - try getting an agent to pick you up (most publisher's won't even bother with first timers), there's a reasonable chance of success - I mean, well, one in a hundred might get through... (To the agents accepting them, that is... still have to wait out on the publishers).

But if you do go for the agency way, they usually require a cover letter, saying a little about who you are, what your story is, &c., a synopsis (preferably with a chapter outline), and 2 or 3 chapters (if you've finshed the entire manuscript, go ahead and send it in, they'll read as much as is required to decide whther to reject or not).

I've been the guy reading submissions - it's the lowest paid job in the office (I got free tea). In two weeks I took in 80 odd submissions. I rejected 80 odd submissions.

But hey! You might be the next J.K. Rowling... There's never any harm in trying.

I'm unemployed; I'll work for minimum wage if free tea is involved!!! PM me if you guys have any openings!

I'd like to write a book too. I think I'd start out trying to publish papers, first, though...

[LeftEyeNine]

It read "How To Get Punished" at first sight and I was...uh...well...excited for a moment.

[Yoyoma1910]

You could always go the academic route...





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[Fixiwee]

You could always go the academic route...





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Hu? What's wrong with that?

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

Vanity publishing. It's the way forwards. Otherwise, well - try getting an agent to pick you up (most publishers won't even bother with first timers), there's a reasonable chance of success - I mean, well, one in a hundred might get through... (To the agents accepting them, that is... still have to wait out on the publishers).

But if you do go for the agency way, they usually require a cover letter, saying a little about who you are, what your story is, &c., a synopsis (preferably with a chapter outline), and 2 or 3 chapters (if you've finshed the entire manuscript, go ahead and send it in, they'll read as much as is required to decide whether to reject or not).

I've been the guy reading submissions - it's the lowest paid job in the office (I got free tea). In two weeks I took in 80 odd submissions. I rejected 80 odd submissions.

But hey! You might be the next J.K. Rowling... There's never any harm in trying.

So you do submissions..... If I send my book to you, would you do me a favour and pass it along?

[Somebody Else]

So you do submissions..... If I send my book to you, would you do me a favour and pass it along?

Did - it was a while ago, and on work experience. (Just goes to show how important the role is in the company...)

[Decker]

So Somebody Else, was there any specific reason for dismissing 80 odd submissions? Besides like, bad ideas, horrible grammar, etc...?? Any tips you could give out?

[Strike For The South]

Buy your own printing press.

[Somebody Else]

So Somebody Else, was there any specific reason for dismissing 80 odd submissions? Besides like, bad ideas, horrible grammar, etc...?? Any tips you could give out?

There were a lot of really outlandish ideas - for example, the first submission I looked at was a story about how Hitler and Eva escaped the bunker, to go off and live in Brazil for a while, until Mossad found them and shipped them off in a crate to Israel.

Speaking of which, I am a bit of a Nazi when it comes to syntax and grammar - poorly written work offends me (and I don't mean spelling, that can be easily rectified).

Some were so dull they was a trial to read - nothing like dismissing a book after the 3rd line...

I remember one was entertaining, well written, &c. - but it was somewhat lacking in plot, so that failed.

Market forces are also an issue - publishing is a business, and if a book won't catch the mood, it won't sell. That, and telling the same story as someone else is a problem - if a big name author has just published a book on a subject, no-one is likely to do well trying the same thing.

Thing is - a book has to be entertaining, it has to be something that someone is happy to sit down and read - so if I couldn't happily do that (and I did have a sofa and endless tea), then the submission failed, and I read pretty much anything. (Although I'd have dismissed James Joyce for being a loon)

If you have written something, the best thing to do is to try it on your friends first - if they like it, then send it to several agencies. (Try friends first because it's cheaper... but they could be biased, of course). It's also worth checking what the agencies specialise in - it's no good trying to get specialists in children's literature to promote a hard-boiled detective novel... As I said before, most publishers will simply ignore any submissions - they have agencies to sort out the dross.

Remember, everyone thinks they have a book in them. In most cases, it's just gas.