How do i get a book published? About how much will it cost me to get it published?

Question

I want to write a book but don't know how to get it published. Can you help?

Answer 1

You have two big tasks ahead of you - writing the book and publishing it. If you get to the stage of publishing, do NOT go to a self-publisher like lulu or any of a thousand others. They are not really publishers, instead they are printers. They will charge you to print copies of your book and you will have the job of selling them yourself - ie YOU carry a box of books around to every bookshop you can find and convince them to sell some. Most will tell you to go away. You'll sell some to your aunties but none to people you don't know.

Instead, try to interest a real publisher. They will market your book for free, while you busy yourself writing a second best-seller. They take a commission for sale of your book, you don't pay a cent until they sell some.

See my blogs on my website for some more information about writing and publishing - written 2-3 weeks ago. Aslo see Predators and Editors website and Absolute Writers website for excellent advice on all things writing and publishing.

Well, what are you sitting here reading this for? Get writing!

Answer 2

There is some great advice here, on not paying to pub your book. Go to a real publisher, they pay you-is that great or what??

I'll add. First, write your book. If you've never written one before this is going to be a real treat, and an eye opener to boot. Join a writer's group, online or in your area, you can google or Yahoo search for these. This will be another treat, and an eye opener. There seems to be a ton of stuff to figure out at first, then it gets a lot easier, not the writing though, that stays the same. There are things you can torture yourself with that are a lot less painfull, but once you get into writing you won't be able to remember what those things could possibly be. And then, there's nothing more fulfilling than slipping that stack of 500 pages into an envelope and sending it off, not much that's scarier either. You'll understand all this once you finish your first novel, trust me.

Answer 3

Look for sites dealing with this specific topic.

There are a lot of details you need to straighten out before submitting the book; like manuscript format, what paper to use, how to write a cover letter, and so on. It seems like a lot, but it's really very simple. You just need to make sure you follow those guidelines, because publishers get so many submissions and could overlook yours if it's not formatted according to the guidelines.

You also need to decide what publisher to send it to, and find out what their specific guidelines are. Some publishers prefer that you submit to only one publisher at a time, which can be a pain because they sometimes take several months to accept or reject a submission. You also need to consider how much money they usually pay for a first novel, because it may not be worth it to sell your book for less than the time you put into writing it. Or you may want to send it to an agent first. There are a lot of decisions to work out at this stage, but you may want to just put it in the mail and start work on your next book. The worst that could happen is it gets rejected--or they accept it, but they don't offer enough money. My opinion is that it's better to have a novel in the mail than in the drawer--and certainly better than having one in your head that you haven't yet written.

The best answer, though, I think, is that it could take years to find the answer to this question. Everyone wants to know how to get a book published, and few figure it out (by actually getting a book published). Just look for websites devoted to this specific topic, subscribe to writing magazines, and try to form relationships with published writers. Publishing short stories would also help a lot.

How much will it cost? No more than the copies of your manuscript, the self-addressed stamped envelopes (SASE), and the cost of shipping. Don't ever pay to get published--that's either "vanity press" (a big faux pas) or a scam. You can walk into a bookstore and say with confidence that every book in there is good enough for someone to buy, because the publishers bought the books from the writers and the bookstore bought the books from the publishers. With self-publishing, the reader has no such assurance.

Answer 4

Look at The Writer's Market, a lengthy but very informative book with agents, publishers, and articles related to certain genres. If you would rather have more control on your book, you could look into self-publishing. It's time consuming, can be pricey and requires you to also advertise and market yourself to get the books out.
Subscribe to Writer's Digest, a great mag for writers which also has lots of ads and features for publishing packages etc.
The cost depends on how you go upon publishing your book, but don't worry. Your story will sell itself to the best of its ability, make it the best impression of yourself and good luck!

Answer 5

hi, i would recommend self-publishing. I self-published a book of poetry through http://www.lulu.com/
Lulu are completely FREE and very easy to use. You can then buy a global distribution, or ISBN, which will put your book on Barnes and noble, borders, amazon.... i really like lulu, i think they are great. They also offer a great customer service if you get stuck. Once published with them, you automatically get the copyright, and u keep all rights to it.
If you think they are too good to be true (which was my original opinion) you can view my book at http://www.lulu.com/dchooper
Hope this helps. Good luck with your writing.
For any more information about Lulu you can contact me at [e-mail] (if you do contact me, put Lulu in the subject line, or i might report as spam)
Cheers, Deanna.

Answer 6

If your publication is regarded well, you receives a commission for anybody to post it. If your publication isn't regarded well, they are going to go back it to you with a thank you however no thank you letter. If they believe it has advantage to be offered they are going to paintings with you to pleasant track it for grammar, punctuation, or even content material. If you can't get any one to post your publication and pay you, there may be whatever referred to as a Vanity Press ~ that is wherein you'll pay to have anybody post your publication ~ I have no idea the fees, however shall we embrace $2000.00 for might be two hundred copies of your publication. Have your publication learn via all forms of persons, no longer simply your mothers and fathers when you consider that they already believe you are excellent ~ have it learn via anybody who will provide you sincere suggestions. Then do what you'll to make it even larger and ship it off to a writer for attention. There could also be a main issue that if you don't have any evidence that YOU wrote the publication and while, anybody might thieve your publication thought for his or her very possess. So you have got to do study on how you can safeguard your publication from different persons claiming they wrote it. Now, having stated all that, even the first-class publishers will say no to a well publication. I have a buddy who might no longer get a publication released it used to be became away via all forms of publishers so she opened her possess publishing corporation, published the publication and has offered 5000+ copies when you consider that she knew who her goal viewers used to be and he or she went to them straight to present it to them ~ at a fair fee. Research on the web for reviews approximately what number of pleasant authors might no longer get released after which a few small writer grabbed up the rights to the publication and films had been made and all forms of well matters occurred after that! J K Rowling (Harry Potter) wrote her first publication on paper napkins in a espresso save while she used to be out of labor and on welfare. Good good fortune!

Answer 7

Go to this site: http://www.lulu.com/
Costs look pretty reasonable to me.