The Pre-Publishing Process
Attempting to have a work published may prove to be one of the most grueling tasks you have ever undertaken; but it is worthwhile, if you do it right.
I wish that I could take credit for the following suggestions and wisdom that I am about to share with you, but I can't. I learned them during my personal experience trying to discover what to do and how to do it.
The initial advice came from a friend of one of my adult children; who happened to be a commercially successful author.
The rest, I obtained from many, many books borrowed from the local library.
Ready! Set! Go!
1) Prior to even thinking about being published, make sure that you have created something worthy of publication.
This requires a lot of time and effort dedicated to reading, writing, rewriting, evaluating, polishing, re-evaluating, and then rewriting again.
No matter how original or good your ideas may be, if the final product is full of misspellings, poor grammar or punctuation, and bad sentence or paragraph structure, no mainline publisher will accept it. Copy editors are supposed to spot and correct the occasional error; not salvage a mess submitted by an undisciplined or lazy would-be writer. That is a job for a ghost writer.
2) Don't waste your valuable time or that of others. Narrow down your potential choices by finding out which publishers specialize in which genres.
3) Eliminate publishers in name only. There are books and magazines that provide lists of mainline publishers who can help you achieve your goal and a separate list of those that claim they can, but actually can't.
4) A mainline publisher is the premiere option, but certainly not the only one. I possess only a cursory knowledge of the alternatives; so they are not included in this posting. I only post what I know; or at least think I do.
Do some investigative research to determine if an organization is truly what it claims to be.
A mainline publisher directly employs or sub-contracts personnel who specialize in acquisition, copy & conceptual editing, layout & graphic design, printing, distribution, marketing, and publicity. Some also include recording studio technicians and professional narrators. The publisher will provide the names of its personnel along with their contact information and sometimes even their picture.
Mainline publishers also have an actual physical location and will provide an address along with directions how to get there.
4) Eliminate the internet as a search tool for evaluating publishers. 97% of all submissions are rejected.
Some people do not take rejection well and tend to seek revenge by spending hours on Google, websites, or blogs defaming publishers who had the audacity to reject their work. 95% of their claims often prove to be lies. The remaining 5% just aren't true.
5) Never send a publisher an unsolicited manuscript. Most, if not all, are forwarded directly to the trash bin.
Send a one-page query letter expressing your desire and providing a brief, yet enticing, overview of your book.
You will either receive a polite rejection letter or a request for a copy of your manuscript.
6) If your manuscript is rejected, your search continues. If it is accepted, you will be offered a contract and a retention copy. Have your attorney look it over before signing.
Once you have signed and returned the author's contract to the publisher, the real work begins; but that is another subject entirely. (It is covered in the very first post of this blog - How a personal challenge became a published novel...). If curious, check it out.
As I confessed at the beginning of this posting, this information and advice did not originate from me. I am not an expert in this field. Throughout my life, some of my best ideas have come from others.
Whether or not you choose to accept this information and advice is your prerogative. There may be better options. Seek them out. I hope to read your book someday.
I wish that I could take credit for the following suggestions and wisdom that I am about to share with you, but I can't. I learned them during my personal experience trying to discover what to do and how to do it.
The initial advice came from a friend of one of my adult children; who happened to be a commercially successful author.
The rest, I obtained from many, many books borrowed from the local library.
Ready! Set! Go!
1) Prior to even thinking about being published, make sure that you have created something worthy of publication.
This requires a lot of time and effort dedicated to reading, writing, rewriting, evaluating, polishing, re-evaluating, and then rewriting again.
No matter how original or good your ideas may be, if the final product is full of misspellings, poor grammar or punctuation, and bad sentence or paragraph structure, no mainline publisher will accept it. Copy editors are supposed to spot and correct the occasional error; not salvage a mess submitted by an undisciplined or lazy would-be writer. That is a job for a ghost writer.
2) Don't waste your valuable time or that of others. Narrow down your potential choices by finding out which publishers specialize in which genres.
3) Eliminate publishers in name only. There are books and magazines that provide lists of mainline publishers who can help you achieve your goal and a separate list of those that claim they can, but actually can't.
4) A mainline publisher is the premiere option, but certainly not the only one. I possess only a cursory knowledge of the alternatives; so they are not included in this posting. I only post what I know; or at least think I do.
Do some investigative research to determine if an organization is truly what it claims to be.
A mainline publisher directly employs or sub-contracts personnel who specialize in acquisition, copy & conceptual editing, layout & graphic design, printing, distribution, marketing, and publicity. Some also include recording studio technicians and professional narrators. The publisher will provide the names of its personnel along with their contact information and sometimes even their picture.
Mainline publishers also have an actual physical location and will provide an address along with directions how to get there.
4) Eliminate the internet as a search tool for evaluating publishers. 97% of all submissions are rejected.
Some people do not take rejection well and tend to seek revenge by spending hours on Google, websites, or blogs defaming publishers who had the audacity to reject their work. 95% of their claims often prove to be lies. The remaining 5% just aren't true.
5) Never send a publisher an unsolicited manuscript. Most, if not all, are forwarded directly to the trash bin.
Send a one-page query letter expressing your desire and providing a brief, yet enticing, overview of your book.
You will either receive a polite rejection letter or a request for a copy of your manuscript.
6) If your manuscript is rejected, your search continues. If it is accepted, you will be offered a contract and a retention copy. Have your attorney look it over before signing.
Once you have signed and returned the author's contract to the publisher, the real work begins; but that is another subject entirely. (It is covered in the very first post of this blog - How a personal challenge became a published novel...). If curious, check it out.
As I confessed at the beginning of this posting, this information and advice did not originate from me. I am not an expert in this field. Throughout my life, some of my best ideas have come from others.
Whether or not you choose to accept this information and advice is your prerogative. There may be better options. Seek them out. I hope to read your book someday.
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