A Beginner’s Guide to Publishing Your Book

Many of us dream of writing a book someday, but there is a long way to go from idea to autographing the first editions for your fans (or even your family members). So how do you achieve this? No two writers’ paths to publication are alike, but most of them follow the same general path.

While you will face many obstacles along the way, here is the basic process of writing and publishing a book – from its earliest conception to the day you lovingly stroke the spine while it sits on the shelf of your local bookstore (assuming you very lucky). There is much more than that – entire websites (many websites) exist only to outline the many, many steps involved – but it will give you a simplified overview. (Step one: don’t quit your day-to-day job. ) Note. In this post I assume that you want to follow the path of traditional publications. Self-publishing is a completely different undertaking with its own unique risks and rewards.

Different approaches to nonfiction and fiction

If you are planning to write a novel, expect to complete the entire manuscript before even considering hiring an agent, let alone a book deal (this is also true of memoirs). Typically, agents want to see a book as a “finished” project before they decide to work with you. If the manuscript is promising, an agent will work with you to revise it and submit it to editors at various potential publishers. Once your manuscript is accepted by the publisher, the real editing process begins.

If you are writing a documentary work that will likely require a certain level of research – be it an interview, an archive search, or a piecemeal report – you will most likely send a project proposal and plan to an agent. As writer and publishing expert Jane Friedman writes, your proposal is essentially a business plan explaining why a publisher should invest time and money in your project:

Instead of filling out a manuscript, you should write a book proposal — for example, a business plan for your book — that will convince the publisher to contract and pay you to write the book.

This is only part of the business side of preparing a book for printing. However, before doing this, you must write this and build the network.

Build a Writing Network First

If you want to turn your passion for writing from a hobby into a professional profession, it’s a good idea to join a Writing Group. This is especially handy for those looking to write fiction. A group of writers can help you analyze your story and get feedback on what works and what doesn’t, as well as suggest how you might solve the problem. What’s more, your group can provide professional resources, from contacts to agents and information, for publishers or editors to search for books like yours. While an agent and editor will analyze your book to make it as available as possible for sale and publication, a team of colleagues will help you transform the content into a project you are proud of.

If you’re just starting out, consider signing up for a class. Writing a book is not an easy task. It’s not easy to sit down to write yourself, every day for weeks or months on end, and walk away with a clean draft without a little outside help. There are tons of resources at your disposal to help you, from the Gotham Writers Workshop (which is based in New York City but offers online classes) to various classes on Course Horse or MasterClass (which include pre-recorded courses with leading published authors such as James Patterson, Margaret Atwood and Neil Gaiman).

Immerse yourself in the publishing world

Especially if you are writing fiction (although it is certainly useful for nonfiction authors as well), you will want to familiarize yourself with whichever corner of the publishing world suits your project best. Look for other books similar to the one you are writing. (In industrial parlance, they are called comp title – “comp” is short for comparable.) Do a little bit of research to see who wrote books like yours and how they received critical acclaim. Figured out which agents would like to work with writers in your genre and compiled a list of dream publishers you would like to work with. It is important to understand how similar books have succeeded in the market in order to understand whether your project will disappear and die in the bud; After all, book publishing is a business, and publishers are only interested in releasing a product to the world if it fits their business model and seems financially viable.

Consider subscribing to Publishers Weekly and / or Publishers Marketplace. Both titles are chock-full of industry tidbits of which house publishes which author and which editor gets hot new titles ready to compete for the coveted spot on the New York Times bestseller list.

Find an agent

This follows from the previous section, since the presentation of an agent requires a huge amount of publication research. If you want to be published, you will need to find an agent, which will require a fierce dedication to Google searches. You should collect about fifty contact details of agents and ideally place them all in a large spreadsheet. You want to make sure your agent is capable and respected because he will be your advocate for the publishers – you expect them to advise you on the details of any contracts you come across and weed out offers from publishers that may not be booming. After you have compiled a list of agents you would like to work with, write a letter of inquiry describing your book or project, which is essentially your only chance to convince the agent that your life’s most cherished job is worth the line.

Here’s a little more about what a request letter includes from the editors of NY Book Editors.

A request letter is a one-page letter sent to literary agents to get them interested in your book. You have one page and 300 words (or less) to convince the literary agent to fall in love with your story, then request your manuscript.

This letter is short, sweet, and definitely to the point.

Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to cram the gist of your 80,000+ vocabulary into about 300 words. It’s impossible to talk about a mission!

Just know that you will face a lot of rejection from the agents you turn to. Agents regularly receive requests from aspiring writers, so it may take some time before your project hits someone’s desk and grabs their attention. But once your letter gets carried away by an agent, you have a strong, well-connected advocate in your corner who will then help you customize the manuscript before sending it to the editors – at which point you’re likely to run into even more rejections. … Some books are donated by dozens of publishers before they find a home. There is also a chance that you will have to completely “fix” your project and work on something else, but if you already have an agent, he can help you focus on the idea that is more likely to succeed.

Aside from the Cinderella stories, few people make the bestseller lists with their first book read. There are no sure things in the industry – except for the fact that you will never get published unless you get the job done.